Swami Lakshmanjoo reveals the secret of Spanda-movementless-movement-an essential concept of Kashmir Shaivism. This teaching which is hidden in the body of the Tantras, was extracted by Vasugupta in his Spanda Karika and further elaborated by Kshemaraja in his Spanda Sandoha. Here, the reader is given a rare glimpse into the mystery of Spanda.
A central theme of the philosophy of Kashmir Shaivism is the highly esoteric principal known as spanda. Swami Lakshmanjoo tells us that the word spanda means established stable movement. That is, it is movementless-movement, vibrationless-vibration. It is this secret, mysterious and yet essential principle that Swami Lakshmanjoo clarifies and elucidates in his revelation of the two texts dealing specifically with this principle, the Spanda Karika and the Spanda Sandoha. The theory of spanda is not new. It was hidden in the body of the Tantras and extracted by Vasugupta, founder of the Shiva Sutras, and initiator of monistic Shaivism in the valley of Kashmir. Vasugupta composed the Spanda Karika, a text filled with the fundamental precepts (karikas) regarding spanda and the philosophy surrounding it. Kshemaraja, the chief disciple of the very important and central figure in the tradition of Kashmir Shaivism, Abhinavagupta, is the author of the second pivotal text regarding spanda, the Spanda Sandoha. This text is an extensive exposition (sandoha) on the first verse of the Spanda Karika.
This book, Kashmir Shaivism: the Secret Supreme, by the twentieth century's great philosopher saint Swami Lakshmanjoo, presents a systematic unfolding of the Tantric teachings of the ancient tradition of Kashmir Shaivism. This profound tradition, long enshrouded in secrecy, is so rich and detailed in its descriptions of what it reveals as the ascent of individual consciousness to universal God Consciousness that it has been characterized as 'a mystical geography of awareness'. Within the pages of this book is found the key of the oral tradition which unlocks its secrets and provides the reader with the tools necessary to venture into this wondrous landscape.
This profound text is concerned with the philosophy and practice known as Kashmir Shaivism. On account of its size and scope it is a veritable encyclopedia of non-dual Shaivism.Why was the Tantraloka written? In answer to this question Abhinavagupta tells us that, although in the schools of Kashmir Shaivism there are many wonderful and important ways and methods for attaining the supreme reality, yet in his time not even one was still existing. All of those ways and methods were lost. It is for this reason that he was requested by his colleagues and disciples to create a text that would illuminate and clarify all of these ways and methods of Kashmir Shaivism. To accomplish this, Abhinavagupta composed the Tantraloka, a text, which he tells us is filled with the complete explanation of the ways and methods associated with Kashmir Shaivism. That is to say that the philosophical understanding on the level of the intellect might have been existing, but the actual practical means or methods to be used to attain the supreme reality - oneness with Universal Being - to which they all pointed was lost. Abhinavagupta was intent, therefore, to revive the true understanding of these very important teachings, to make the practices that they embodied live again. For what is the use of a map if you have no way to reach the destination? Thus, Abhinavagupta gave us the Tantraloka to remedy this situation.The Tantraloka is composed of thirty seven chapters (ahnikas). Each chapter has it's own distinct topic. In this present volume - chapter one - Abhinavagupta lays the groundwork for the rest of his Tantraloka. Here are some of the topics Abhinavagupta examines in the first chapter: - The important Masters of the schools of Kashmir Shaivism. - The differentiated perception of all the means and methods (upayas). - The difference between knowledge, ignorance and liberation. - The essence of what is to be recognized, i.e., the real object to be known. - The oneness of Shiva and His energy (Shakti). - Introduction to the means and methods (upaya) for attaining full and pure knowledge where you perceive your nature as one with the universe. - True liberation in Kashmir Shaivism. - A discussion of the four states of means (upayas).- Three variations of absorption or trance (samavesha) as mentioned in the Malinivijaya Tantra. - The contents of each of the thirty seven chapters of Tantraloka.
This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1972.
Features/Benefits: * Includes free downloadable audio of original lectures. * Bhagavad Gita means The Song of God. It is a 700-verse Hindu scripture from the epic Mahabharata. * This is one of the most important of all Hindu scriptures. * This translation, as seen through the lenses of Kashmir Shaivism by the great Master Swami Lakshmanjoo, teaches that we ourselves are warriors in a great battle for liberation. This treasure of knowledge was one of the last works by Swami Lakshmanjoo. He said, "It was a new revelation of the supreme secrets, hidden in the Kashmiri recension of the Bhagavad Gita." Based on Abhinavagupta's commentary of the Gitarthasamgraha, "The Essence of the Gita", Swamiji declared that, "this revelation was initiated by his direct experience of the state of Universal God Consciousness. Here Swamiji reveals the unique and liberating teaching of Kashmir Shaivism which proclaims; "Freedom from all our miseries, as Abhinavagupta boldly declares, can neither be obtained through renunciation of the world, nor by hatred of the world, but by experiencing the presence of God everywhere." At last, the secret and profound meaning of the Bhagavad Gita "The Lord's Song" is being made available for the spiritual illumination of all humankind.
Utpaladeva's hymns, a spontaneous outpouring of devotion incorporating the core tenets of Kashmir Shaiva philosophy, are here completely absorbed and revealed by Swami Lakshmanjoo.
In the Vijnana Bhairava, Bhairavi (the Divine Mother) asks Lord Bhairava (God) to clear Her doubts about the essence of the path towards Self-realization. Compelled by Her sincerity and the simple yet penetrating insight of Her question, Bhairava explicitly reveals 112 contemplative techniques for entering into the state of God consciousness. In this multimedia study set, Swami Lakshmanjoo, an accomplished master of the Kashmir Shaiva school, not only translates the Sanskrit text into English but also lays bare the essential tricks involved in each of the contemplative techniques.
Description: This book is the distillation of over 16 hours of tape recorded audio lectures. It was Swami Lakshmanjoo's intent, in giving these lecture translations, to disclose in English the esoteric meaning of these 'Siva Sutras of Vasugupta as well as that of the commentary, called Vimarsini, by Ksemaraja, both of which were originally composed in Sanskrit. In attending these lectures it became obvious to this editor that Swami Lakshmanjoo was completely in command of his subject matter. Infact, his command of Sanskrit was superior to that of English, a condition he declared many times during his discourses. So, although absolutely fluent in Sanskrit many times he had to search for the appropriate word in English to clearly elucidate the Sanskrit texts. In fact on occasion he would tell us that he was not looking to translate the Sanskrit closely, but rather to give us the essential meaning of the text.
In this multimedia study set, Swami Lakshmanjoo, the fully realized philosopher saint of the long concealed and secret tradition known as Kashmir Shaivism, translates and illuminates Abhinavagupta's Paramarthasara. Originally a work of Patanjali, Abhinavagupta chose to revise and update this revered treatise in order to reveal the profundities of the Trika Shaivite doctrine. In the conclusion of the Paramarthasara Abhinavagupta tells us, "I have kept this Paramarthasara, in brief words, in one hundred verses. But although it is only one hundred verses in body, in the volume of knowledge it is more than ten million verses."
