O N Kaul
I started my entrance in the wisdom of Kashmir Shaivism as revealed by Swamiji Lakshman Joo in his book “Kashmir Shaivism The Secret Supreme’’. The very first chapter on Thirty-Six Elements (Tattvas) explaining five mahabhutas, five tanmatras, five karmendriyas, five pranas, three antahkaranas, prakriti and purusa thus covering 25 tattvas which is the limit of vedantin’s understanding of tattvas.Then according to Shaivism, this purusa is entangled in five ways which are termed as five kanchukas: niyati (place), kala (time), raga (attachment), vidya (knowledge) and kala (action, creativity). These five bondages of purusa are caused by purusa’s ignorance of his own nature and this ignorance is another tattva which is maya tattva. These five tattvas plus maya are his six-fold covering.
Pure subjectivity is found in the tattva known as Suddha-vidya tattva. This exists when Purusa actually realizes his own nature. Yet this realization is not stable. Pure subjectivity will come in the next two tattwas viz Isvra tattva and Sadasiva tattva. Finally we come to subjectivity in its purest form. These two tattvas are interdependent tattvas: Sakti tattva and Siva tattva.
Last is that Being which does not come in the cycle of tattvas that Being called Parama Shiva. Paramasiva is not only found in siva tattva or in sakti tattva, it is not only here not only there, you will find it everywhere. You will find it from the lowest tattva to the highest. It is all levels, and therefore no level. It is everywhere, that is why it is nowhere. The one Being who is everywhere, it is nowhere.
God originated, in the form of the causal body, thirty five elements as the matrix of human creation. These elements are the basic or thought forces required to create the astral and physical body. Nineteen of these ideas were manifested as the subtle astral body, which contains the ten senses; the five life forces; and the ego, feeling, mind, and intelligence. The remaining sixteen ideas were converted into the gross physical body of sixteen basic elements. In other words, before God created the physical body consisting of iron,phosphorous, calcium and so forth, and the subtle astal body of lifetronic composition. He had first to project them as ideas, the constituents of the casual body. Each of the three bodies has its distinguishing qualities. The dense physical body is the result of solidified vibrations, the astral body of energy and mind vibrations, and the casual body of nearly pure vibrations of Shiva Consciousness.
They physical body may be said to be dependent on food; the astral body is dependent on energy, will and evolution of thought; the causla body is dependent on the ambrosia of wisdom and bliss. The soul is encased in these three bodies. At death the physical body is destroyed. The other two bodies, the astral and causal, are still held together by desires and by unworked-out karma. The soul, wearing these two bodies, repeatedly reincarnates in new physical forms. When all desires are conquered by meditation, the three body-prisons are dissolved; the soul becomes Spirit.
Kashmir Saivism is a system of philosophy known as the Trika system. The word trika means “the threefold science of man and his world.” In the idea of trika, there are three energeis: para (supreme), apara (lowest), and parapara (combination of lowest and the highest). In the thought of Trika, therefore, it is admitted that this whole universe and every action in it, whether spiritual, physical or wordly, is existing in these three energies. The Trika system is comprised of four sub systems, the Pratyabhijna system, the Kula system, the karma system, and the Spanda system. These four systems,which form the one thought of the Trika system, all accept, and are based on, the same scriptures. These scriptures, which in shaivism are called agamas, are the ninety-two agamas of shaivism, the monistic Bharirava Sastras which are supreme (para) and which are sixty four in number; the mono-dualistic RudraSastras which are medium (parapara) which are eighteen in number; and the dualistic Siva Sastras which are inferior (apara) and which are ten in number.
Siva Sutras were revealed to the Sage Vasugupta by lord siva, they are also considered a divine revlation and as such are considered to be the most important agamas of Trika Shaivism. The Siva Sutras are divided into three parts corresponding to the three means (upayas) for attaining liberation (moksa). The three upayas for travelling from individual limited consciousness to universal God consciousness are sambhavapaya, saktopaya and anavopaya.
Ksemaraja disciple of Abhinavagupta has provided us a commentary on Siva Sutras. He begins with an introductory verse:
I surrender my body and mind to that supreme God consciousness of Siva, who is the whole universe and who is in many. It is from Him that the Rudras and the Ksetrajnas arise and it is in Him that they rest.
* Ksetrajnas are those being who have achieved the fullness of God consciousness through spiritual practice. Rudras are those being who are eternally filled with God consciousness.
The dual forces are the basis of the macro cosmos and micro cosmos. The micro cosmos is the human dimension. According to Yoga, the human body is a combination of tow important elements. One is the life force, or Prana Shakti, and the other is the mental force or Chitta Shakti.We are a combination of prana and chitta. When two forces are balanced, then life goes on absolutely smoothly. People in whom this balance has taken place are called saints or liberated beings, because they have transcended the duality of life.However when there is imbalance between prana and consciousness, as occurs with most people, then diseases of a physical, mental, emotional and psychic nature manifest.
In Tantra these two elements are known as Siva and Shakti. In Yoga they are called Ida and Pingla, the two great nadis that run within the framework of the spinal cord from its base at mooladhar chakra to ajna chakara at the top. The word nadi comes from the sanskrit word nad which means to flow. It does not mean nerve or blood vessel as is commonly believed. These nadis or flows cannot be seen as one sees the wire in a cable. They are imperceptible to physical eyes. However, they are definitely realities in the same way that flows of thought, passion, anger or love are realities.
The life proce and mental force permeate the whole body, not only the parts of the body which are perceptible but every atom and cell. When there is no prana there is instant death. Without chitta there is no awareness.Consciousness and prana move within the body, but normally remain separate. When they do unit, and are in perfect balance with each other at the top of the spinal cord, the mind undergoes a state of fission, and energy issue forth. There is an explosion of knowledge, a moment when you see everything as luminous.
The teachings of Siva Sutras are rich and detailed in their description of the ascent of individual consciousness to universal God Consciousness. Tantric test Vijnana Bhairava, the Lord, Bhairava, sets out one hundred and twelve techniques of spiritual practices to be used by an aspirant eager to realize the divine universal reality. These secret practices are revealed by Bhairava as the answers the questions posed to Him by His consort Bhairavi, the Divine Mother. It is said in Vijnana Bhairava: (P.117, Sutra 9 Second Awakening, Siva Sutras)
Take any one means, in this world of one twelve means (upayas) for entering in God Consciousness, and meditate according to that means. The fullness you experience by practicing consistently day by day on that means will give you perfect satisfaction and perfect fullness of Self.
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