Do you know about Kashmiri Shaivism? Kashmir Shaivism is a powerful and transformative non-dual, yogic philosophy that originated in Kashmir.The philosophy of Kashmir Shaivism arose and flourished between the 9th and 12th centuries. The first Shaivite works, written in the early ninth century, are attributed to Vasugupta, who wrote the Shiva Sutras. Somananda, who lived at the end of the ninth century, wrote the Vision of Shiva (Shivadrishti), and his disciple Utpaladeva, wrote the Ishvara-pratyabhijnakarika. Abhinavagupta, the most famous sage-philosopher of Kashmir Shaivism, lived from the middle of the 10th century into the 11th. Credited with giving Kashmir Shaivism its modern shape, he wrote more than 60 works, including Malinivijayavarttika and Tantraloka, as well as a number of profound commentaries. Ksemaraja, Abhinavagupta’s closest disciple, wrote, among other treatises, the Pratyabhijnahrdayam. Maheshwarananda, writing in the 12th century, composed the Maharthamanjari.After the 12th century, Kashmir Shaivism effectively ‘disappeared’ or went underground due to changing political and religious circumstances. However, in the last century it has returned to prominence under the inspiration of two great teachers. Another important Kashmiri Shaivite, Jayaratha (1150-1200 AD), added his commentary to Tantrāloka, a task of great difficulty which was his lifelong pursuit.He provided more context, numerous quotes and clarifications without which some passages from Tantrāloka would be impossible to elucidate today. Lalleshwari (1320–1392) was a female mystic of the Kashmiri Shaivite sect.She was a creator of the mystic poetry called vatsun or Vakhs, literally speech. Known as Lal Vakhs, her verses are the earliest compositions in the Kashmiri language and are an important part in history of Kashmiri literature. She inspired some of the later Sufis of Kashmir.She is also known by various other names, including Lal Ded, Lalla, Lal Diddi, Laleshwari, Lalla Yogishwari and Lalishri.Lalleshwari was born in Pandrethan (ancient Puranadhisthana) some four and a half miles to the southeast of Srinagar in a Kashmiri Pandit family.She married at age twelve, but her marriage was unhappy and she left home at twenty-four to take sanyas (renunciation) and become a disciple of the Shaivite guru Siddha Srikantha (Sed Bayu). She continued the mystic tradition of Shaivism in Kashmir, which was known as Trika before 1900. Her poems are known as Vakhs and have been translated by by Richard Temple, Jaylal Kaul, Coleman Barks,Jaishree Odin, and Ranjit Hoskote. Bhagwan Gopinath (3 July 1898 – 28 May 1968), born Gopinath Bhan, also called Bhagwan Gopinath Ji, was a mystic saint of early 20th century Kashmir in India. He has been called a jivanmukta (liberated soul)[2] and his spiritual state has been described as Shambhavi avastha (state of Shiva). Contemporary saints of his times have also called him an Aghoreshwar. It was sometime during 1946–1956 that he came to be called as Bhagwan by his devotees.In his teachings, he regarded the practice of self-enquiry (atma vichara) as highly effective in helping a seeker attain self-realization.He considered lust and ego as impediments in ones spiritual development and extolled the virtues of honesty and truthfulness. He wouldnt differentiate between religions and regarded Hindus and Muslims to be one and the same.His devotees believe that he had practised a form of spiritual practice called sanatana panchang upasana (also called panchayatana puja) in the beginning of his spiritual journey.Later,he might have practised some form of tantric spiritual practice like pranabhasya during this time. After seven such years of his spiritual practice, his devotees affirm that he had become, what they call in Hinduism, a siddha purusha (one who attains spiritual powers) .During his final years,During this stage, he is a said to have practised some technique of meditation that would seemingly help him control elements (called tattva) like fire and water out of the total 36 such elements enumerated in Kashmir Shaivism.Bhagwan Gopinath is not known to have made any formal disciples although he is said to have spiritually initiated a few seekers that would come to him seeking his spiritual tutelage. The first stream of modern Kashmir Shaivism was established by Swami Lakshmanjoo (1907-1991) of Shrinigar, Kashmir. He began his Shaivite studies at a young age, mastered Sanskrit and learned the texts under the guidance of local scholars who were in touch with the oral tradition. Lakshmanjoo built a reputation as a scholar and as a yogi. Acharya Rameshwar Jha, a disciple of Swami Lakshmanjoo, is often credited with firmly establishing the roots of Kashmir Shaivism in the learned community of Varanasi. Rameshwar Jha with his extraordinary creativity, innate familiarity with the ancient texts and personal experiences was able to provide easy access to abstruse concepts of non dualistic Kashmir Shaivism to the layman and scholars alike. His original writings of Sanskrit verses have been compiled and published as books Purnta Pratyabhijna and SamitSwatantram. The second stream of modern Kashmir Shaivism was inspired by Swami Muktananda Paramahamsa (1908-1982) who toured the world teaching the principles of Shaivism. Muktananda’s approach to Shaivism was grounded heavily in sadhana and spiritual experience. Muktananda had a significant impact on thousands of spiritual seekers, transmitting the experience of Shaivism through Shaktipat awakening. There is no doubt that he achieved the widest dissemination of Shaivite learning in history, both in his own work and in the still growing impact of his students.He endorsed Motilal Banarsidass to publish Jaideva Singhs translations of Shiva Sutras, Pratyabhijnahrdayam, Spanda Karikas and Vijnana Bhairava. He also introduced Kashmir Shaivism to a wide audience of western meditators through his writings and lectures on the subject. Philisophy of Kashmiri Shaivism- Tantras have been revealed by Lord Shiva through his five mouths namely Ishana, Tatpurusha, Sadyojata, Vamadeva, and Aghora. These very five mouths represent his five energies namely Chitshakti (consciousness), Anandashakti (Bliss), Ichhashakti (will), Jnanashakti (knowledge) and Kriyashakti (Action) respectively. When these aforesaid five energies of Lord Shiva unite with each other in such a way that each of these takes bold of the rest simultaneously, they reveal sixty four Bhairvatantras which are purely monistic. This very approach explained in these Tantras is called Kashmir Shaivism or Trika philosophy. Beliefs and practices of Kashmiri Shaivism Kashmir Shaivism is more than an intellectual system. It springs from the direct visionary experience of the sages. It proclaims that Supreme Consciousness is the underlying stuff of the universe. It begins in that experience and its goal is that experience. Kashmir Shaivism is a saving knowledge. It will transform you. — Swami Shankarananda. Some of the basic principles of Shaivism are: Everything is Consciousness. Nothing exists that is not the manifestation of Supreme Consciousness Consciousness incorporates the formless (Shiva) and form (Shakti) Consciousness is characterised by awareness Consciousness forms the universe by contracting into material existence and individual souls An individual can experience the state of expanded Consciousness through the spiritual awakening catalysed by a Self-realised master Through practice in a number of pathways or means, an individual can become steady in the state of expanded Consciousness while living his/her ordinary life
Posted on: Mon, 19 Jan 2015 07:30:00 +0000
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