Kashmir Shaivism

by Virendra Qazi

The philosophy of Kashmir Shaivism occupies a distinguished position

among the various schools of religious creed and thought. It provides the
complete analysis of human personality and delves into the deepest and
most comprehensive psychology of man. In this way, it makes the
greatest contribution to furthering of human understanding.

In fact, this universal philosophy focuses on relation between God, Nature and
Man, which transcends all the barriers of time, place and diverse human-
cultures. It leads to the highest level of self-realisation revealing the inner
most secrets of the nature of Self. It integrates all the aspects of life, which are
taken in totality. Thus, rather than negation and denial, it celebrates life.
Kashmir Shaivism is the only school of Indian philosophy which can inspire us
for both material and spiritual progress. Besides making valuable contribution
to the Indian culture, it is the highest spiritual philosophy discovered and
expressed in the world.

No doubt, Kashmir Shaivism is presently evoking deep interest in west, with

lot of pioneering research work at leading universities in Europe and the
United States. It is a matter of concern that nothing much is done in the land of
its birth, rather land of discovery of this philosophy. We should ponder over
this situation and consider the importance of this philosophy in this strife-torn
world. A thrill of self confidence, the spirit of bliss, surpassing all barriers of
caste, creed and gender, no look back, no regret, the inner journey, see
everything as creation of God, etc - how prominently and conceptually these
are emphasised in Kashmir Shaivism. It should be our solemn endeavour to
present this ancient philosophy in common man's language so that a
resurgence takes place with the goal of UPLIFTMENT at individual, social,
national and world as a whole. We can conclude without any hesitation that
Kashmir Shaivism is the religion of tomorrow.

EVOLUTION OF INDIAN RELIGIOUS PHILOSOPHY

It would be pertinent to look at the evolution of Indian religious philosophy.

We have Carvakas School which is the basis for lowest type of thinkers in
India. Here good health, long life, prosperity, pleasures, enjoyments, etc. are
the only aims of this short lived life. They believe socio political systems are
needed for the achievement of these aims. There is no heaven, no hell, no
piety, no sin, no God no divine law. Religion, therefore, is not needed at all.
This theory is, in fact, the expression of the truth perceived through senses in
its grossest and crudest form.

Above the Carvaka shool is Mimansaka, which believe in the existence of

heaven and hell, admission into which are the results of ones good and bad
actions. Vaisnava school believes that there is still more superior place named
VAIKUNTHA. Above them are NYAYA and Vaisesika philosophies which
believe in soul, time, space, law of karma, omniscient and omnipotent ISVARA
or PARMATAM. The finer exposition of the truth is in SANKHYA and Yoga
philosophies.

JARDUST AND VEDVYAS

If we take a detour and go outside Bharat Desh, we can observe development

of various philosophies and interaction of many religious creed. In the ancient
Iran, King Gastasp invited an Indian Brahman "Vyas" by name for "Shastrarth"
(religious discourse) with his Raj Guru Jardust. The Parsi holy book "Shoteer",
gives detailed account of this interaction and praises Vyas as a very wise and
learned scholar of the time.

ANAL HAQ

The various religious creeds strived for universality as is quite evident in

Sufism. The revolution was created by Hazrat Mansoor. He was humiliated,
made to ride a donkey through the streets and finally hanged and his corpse
burnt. His fault-Anal Haq (I am truth, God). However, in deep humiliation be
addressed to people "Forget not God to see my plight, Trust in Him. He is with
me like a friend. He gives me a cup which He took first Himself".

THE ALMIGHTY LORD - FROM WHOM EMANATES EVERYTHING AND WHO

IS BEYOND ALL DIVERSITIES

After the detour let us come back to our present world. Don't we see a
revolution-World has become one family. We talk of communication, net-
working and we have surmounted all barriers that separate man from main.
Similarly, people can choose their own creed, interact, analyse, approve and go
their own way. However, inspite of all this, we are pained at the violent
diversity and discord in the world. We are still confronted with the issue of
caste, creed, language, religion and other man made barriers.

Coming to the relevance of Kashmir Shaivism for our times how would we
describe our present day world ? Some call it a great paradox, beyond
anybody's comprehension. Perhaps we are unable to follow this maze ? There
are two phases which are quite explicit. The first one is a deep despair. Indeed,
it is a deep despair which confronts us constantly. No achievement seems to
satisfy us. Right from the beginning we chase the daily minimum needs and
spend or waste our entire life in it. Those we feel are lucky are truly worse.
They have more of dis-satisfaction, insecurity, lust for upward move, prone to
scheming and outside attacks.

Now, the second phase. Really ! can this world be all that bad. Daily we can
experience the morning Sun, which blesses us and dispels all darkness. The
love of near and dear ones sustain us. The beauty of nature, ever motivating
and ever fascinating, thrills us.

What can we conclude from these opposite, rather totally diverse

explanations. It seems we have no answer ? So let us take recourse to the
wisdom of our ancient seers-our ancient knowledge. The message is: good and
bad are part of the same coin. Everything emanates from the Almighty Lord,
the Param Shiva. And recognition of this creed means LIBERATION.

PARAM SHIVA AND HIS UNIVERSAL MANIFESTATION

PARAM SHIVA

Param Shiva is the ultimate reality who is the nature of Bliss itself and all
complete in Himself. He is beyond description, beyond all manifestation,
beyond limitation of form, time and space. He is eternal, infinite, all pervading,
all knowing and all powerful. In fact, this reality is ineffable and beyond all
descriptions.

From Param Shiva let us come to universal manifestation; let us have a look at
this creation of Lord. Kashmir Shaivism postulates 36 categories of "tattvas" to
explain the process of cosmic evolution. Let us keenly focus our attention to
this process of universal evolution or universal experience, i.e., from God hood
to Maya Shakti which is the veiling or obscuring force of nature leading to
psycho - physical elements and finally the Panch Mahabhutas - five great
elements : Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Ether. Let us look further into this great
descent or the process of in-evolution, i.e. from God-hood to Man-hood.

SHIVA TATTVA

The first outward manifestation of the divine creative energy in the process of
cosmic evolution is called Shiva - Tattva. It is the initial creative movement of
Paramasiva. Consciousness in this condition is technically called chit. Further,
it is the static aspect of consciousness or like support of all things in the
manifest world. It is like the bed of a river or the canvas of a painting. It can
never be seen, it can only be known by its effects. In this condition, the
emphasis is on the subject without any awareness of the existence of the
object. The Shiva Tattva is the chit aspect of the universal condition of Sat-
Chit-Ananda.

SHAKTI TATTVA

Since the Shiva Tattva represents the passive aspect of the pure consciousness,
it is dependent upon the active or dynamic aspect to bring it into being. This is
called Shakti Tattva. Shakti is the active or kinetic aspect of consciousness. Just
as an artist pours out his delight in a poem, picture or song, even so the
Supreme pours out his delight in this manifestation called Shakti. Just as Shiva
is the chit aspect of the universal condition of Sat-Chit-Ananda, Shakti is the
Ananda aspect. When Shakti is predominant, supreme bliss is experienced. As
Mahesvarananda puts it beautifully in Maharthamanjari. "He (i.e. Shiva)
Himself full of joy enhanced by the honey of the three corners of his heart, viz
ICCHA, JHANA AND KRIYA, raising up His face to gaze at His own splender is
called Shakti".

This Shakti Tattva represents the force that produces a strain or stress on the
surface of the universal consciousness. It polarizes consciousness into positive
and negative, the aham and idam, the subject and object. As mentioned, Shakti
or cosmic energy is said to have three principal forms to account for the three
fundamental psychological steps that precede every action. Technically the
first one is called ICHCHA SHAKTI, the power of feeling oneself as supremely
able and of an obsolutely irresistible will. Second one is the JNANA SHAKTI,
the power of knowledge or knowing of consciousness which holds all objects
in conscious relations with ourself and also with one another. The KRIYA
SHAKTI is the power of supreme action, creating or assuming any and every
form. One follows the other in logical succession, and with the prominence of
each respective form in the process of the evolution of consciousness, the next
three tattvas come into being. These are respectively called Sadashiv Tattva,
Ishvara Tattva and Shuddha Vidya Tattva.

MAYA AND FIVE KANCUKAS (COVERINGS)

Now let us come to evolution of material universe. The power of

consciousness to separate and divide is called Maya Shakti. This is the power
to perceive differences. The term "Maya" means illusion. Here it is used to
refer to the veiling or obscuring force of nature which creates a sense of
differentiation. As such, it makes universal consciousness which is unity,
appear as duality and multiplicity.

The products of Maya are the five kancukas or coverings which are KALAA
(limitation of authorship or efficacy) VIDYA (limited knowledge), RAGA (from
all satisfaction to feeling of interest and desire) KAALA (from eternity to
limitation in respect of time i.e. past, present and future) NIYATI (limitation in
respect of cause and effect).

PURUSHA AND PRAKRITI

The result of Maya and its five coverings as referred above are PURUSHA and
PRAKRITI. Here the dual world of mind and matter is permanently
established. In order words, although the Lord is absolutely free, he puts on
Maya and her five cloaks, forgets his true nature, limits His power and reduces
Himself to an individual soul which is called Purusha and its objective
manifestation PRAKRITI.

BUDDHI, AHAMKARA AND MANAS

Now, let us come to the tattvas of mental operation i.e. BUDDHI, AHAMKARA
and MANAS. Buddhi is the ascertaining intelligence which can be external i.e. a
jar perceived through eye or internal, like images built out of the impression
left on mind. Ahamkara is the product of buddhi. It is the I - making principle
and the power of self - appropriation. Manas is the product of ahankara. It co-
operates with the senses in building up perceptions, and by itself, it builds
images and concepts.

We are continuing to focus on the cosmic manifestations. The products of

AHAMKARA are five powers of sense perception or JNANENDRIYAS, five
powers of action or KARMENDRIYAS and five primary elements of perception
or TANMANTRAS. The process of inevolution is complete finally with panch
Mahabutas as referred earlier.

Frankly, very important position is given to Ahankara. In fact, it is the product

of SHAKTI through the intermediate Prakriti which obviously is a mode of the
Divine Energy. Rajas gunas is prominent here and other gunas are in subdued
form. One can understand significance of Ahankara by the story of the Buddha
Bhikshu Upasena. As he tried to over come this tattva by his "sadhana", his
body got scattered because there was no Ahankara up-holding it.

It is Important to understand that, according to Kashmir Shavism, this analysis

of all phenomena into thirty-six tattavas has been worked out as a tool of
understanding for the ever-active and inquiring mind and as a form for
contemplative meditation. At higher sadhana the number of tattvas may get
reduced. Finally a highly advanced Shiva Yojin may see only the Shiva Tattva
in the whole of creation.

DOCTRINE OF THE FOUR STAGES IN THE MANIFESTATION OF SPEECH

The above description is an endeavor of movement from individuality to

universality. In this context, it is interesting to mention about four type of
speech. Speech is not only the means to convey one's ideas to others, it is also
a way to understand things personally. When we choose to convey ideas to
others, we generally use spoken language, known as VAIKHARI. A finer form of
speech that serves as the medium for thinking and understanding, through
which a person forms definite and indefinite ideas about words and their
meanings, is the mental speech called MADHYAMA. It is an internal reflection
of manifestation of awareness taking the form of ideas. There is a still finer
level of speech, far subtler in character and resides in the inner-most part of
our being. It is called PASYANTI. It is known as the "be-holding speech"
because through its medium enlightened people can behold all objective
existence within themselves. Beyond this is PARAVAC the supreme speech or
the transcendental speech. This consists of pure awareness of the self. It is also
called PARAVANI.

This doctrine can also be understood by the example of an artist's creation

from the grossest to the finest level. His tangible creation like a painting, etc.
can be VAIKHARI and the images formed mentally, where his creation shines
within him in the form of MADHYAMA. Before even this exists a subtle creative
urge like a stir, or restlessness or inward flutter which is PASYANTI. Finally, at
the most subtle level, the original seed of the artistic creation lies in the innter
most center which is shining as PARAVAC, the Supreme speech.

BONDAGE

After discussing the cosmic manifestation in the form of tattva's and speech,
let us come to bondage and liberation as per Kashmir Shaivism.

From the absolute point of view there is no bondage, yet when the Lord
manifests as limited due to His own free will, He forgets His own perfection
and becomes bound. In other words, bondage is nothing more than an
individual's self - forgetfulness or ignorance of his own perfection. Even in the
state of apparent limitation he remains pure and perfect although he is
unaware of it. For the purpose of divine sport, the Absolute voluntarily accepts
the limitation of self - consciousness, which give rise to limited desires.
Because of these limited desires, the finite self performs various finite actions
and experiences their consequences. Thus, the chain of karma leads the
individual from bondage to bondage.

THREE MALAS (IMPURITIES)

This limitations which constitutes the essential nature of the finite self is
called MALA, which means impurity or taint. It is a manifestation of divine free
will and is of three kinds. Anava Mala is the primary or innate ignorance of the
individual soul. It reduces the universal consciousness to a limited aspect.
Mayiya Mala is the limited condition brought about by maya. Karma Mala is
the limitation in the power of action. Anava Mala leads to Karma Mala, e.g.
good or evil actions. This leads to Mayiya Mala which brings about the
experience of pleasure, pain, birth and death due to the vasanas or habit
energies of good and evil actions. It is the force of the vasanas that carries the
jivas from one life to another.

LIBERATION

It is natural that we must strive from bondage to liberation. Libration

according to Kashmir Shavism means PRATYABHIJNA or recognition of one's
true nature which means the original, pure I - consciousness. This pure I -
consciousness is immediate, non-relational awareness. To be integrated to the
divine I is liberation. As Abhinavagupta puts it "MOKSA OR LIBERATION is
nothing else but the awareness of one's true nature". The highest attainment,
however, is that of Shiva Consciousness in which the entire universe appears
as I - consciousness.

SHAKTIPAT AND TRIKA YOGA

We most remember that it is not simply by intellectual understanding that one

gains awareness of true I - consciousness. There has to be shaktipata - the
descent of divine grace.

In order to earn grace, one has to undergo spiritual discipline. This is known,
as upaya or Yoga. Here we would draw a line between two prevalent systems
of Yoga in ancient India and Trika Yoga of Kashmir. Ancient India had Yoga for
monks like Patanjali Yoga and Hatha Yoga and Yoga for householders which
had evolved into various forms. Trika Yoga on the other hand is free from all
stringent restrictions and repressive discipline. It discourages torturing the
body and mind or starving the senses. Abhinavagupta calling on the authority
of his greatest preceptor, Sambhunatha, clearly states that the senses can only
give up their fascination for wordly enjoyments through a spontaneous
indifference arising from the blissful experiences that Yoga elicts. In other
words, once a practitioner has discovered the inner bliss of the self, all the
common sense pleasures will seem inadequate by comparison and will,
therefore, no longer be a temptation. He adds that the senses are liable to
adverse reactions if these are forcibly controlled.

Let us further define Yoga as per Trika system. As per MALINIVIJAYATANTRA,

"The unity of one (a finite being) with another (Almighty God) is called Yoga
by Siva Yogins".

The Yoga or upayas as per Kashmir Shaivism are divided under four heads
having relevant emphasis viz (1) ANUPAYA (ananda or Bliss) (2)
SAMBHAVOPAYA (ICCHA) (3) SAKTOPAYA (JYANA) (4) ANAVOPAYA (Kriya or
action). These upayas or means have been so categorised as supreme means,
medium means or inferior means, depending upon the individual potential.

As already mentioned grace of God, i.e., Shaktipata is independent of human

effort. The Yoga of Patanjali starts from lowest type and ends with those of the
highest type so that practitioner is led step by step into highest type of
samadhi. But Abhinabvagupta starts in his Tantraloka with the highest type of
Yoga and comes down gradually to lower type of its practices. He is of the view
that aspirant should catch hold of the highest practice and should try it. If,
however, he feels that he is not capable of treading the highest path, he can
come down to the path nearest to it. One may in this way come down to any
lower path in accordance with his psychological capabilities.

FOUR UPAYAS (MEANS)

ANUPAYA

The first one is Anupaya. It is immediate through speediest descent of grace.

Therefore, Diksha (initiation) has practically no role. In this path to liberation
no active process on the part of the individual is involved. An aspirant has only
to observe that nothing is to be done. Be as you are: only reside in your being.
This is attributed to ANANDA SAKTI of Siva and is also called ANANDOPAYA.
Here we can quote from famous Shaiva saint of Kashmir - Pandit Krishan Joo
Razdan :-

Oh Lord !
With your speediest Grace;
Make me transcend all - Will, Knowledge & Action
SHAMBHAVOPAYA
It is also called ICCHOPAYA because it comes about by a mere orientation of
the will. It is designed for advanced aspirants, who by meditating on the Shiva
Tattva, attain the highest level of awareness. In this path, will predominates. It
involves the practice of maintaining the constant awareness that the universe
is nothing but CHITI. Even this must ultimately he transcended. Thus all
mental activities stop and mind shines without any flutter of ideas. The light of
pure consciousness alone shines in such practice and an aspirant discovers the
pure transcendental aspect of his self in that state. All this happens by means
of intuition and not by means of thinking or understanding capacities, both of
which become absorbed in the pure lusture of consciousness of the self in that
state. A certain type of bodily posture, as described in the sixth chapter of
Bhagavadgita, becomes helpful in the beginning of the practice of this Yoga,
but it is not required afterwards.

The same Yoga and mudra have also been depicted in the poetry of Kalidasa in
the third canto of his KUMARS AMBHAVA.

SHAKTOPAYA

If a prerson feels that he is not capable to succeed in the practice of

sambhopaya, he can try SAKTOPAYA which has its position just below it. It is
also called Jnana upaya. Here the primary concern is to realise the self through
knowledge, meditation and contemplation of ideas such as "SHIVOHAM" (I am
Siva). Mental activity plays an important role in this upaya. A regular practice
in mental repetition of the exactly correct nature of the real self leads to pure
and limitless consciousness in one self. Thus, a person having attained
perfection in Sakta Yoga, attains the Sakta Samavesa of Sivahold and becomes
fit for the practice of Sambhava Yoga.

ANAYOPAYA

We are discussing the practice of Yoga as per individuals capacities. For those
who are not competent to practice the two higher type of Yoga, there is
ANAVOPAYA. Anu means the psychological self, the mind body complex and
this Yoga is useful to those beings who live in the field of maya. It is also called
Kriya Yoga because mental activity of meditation dominates its practice.
Certain objective elements are taken as the targets of meditation in this Yoga
and they are imagined to be identical with Param Shiva and in this way a
practitioner feels his omnipresence. Some of these objective elements are
nearer to one's self and some are farther and the Anava Yoga is of several
categories on this account, like budhi being nearest to self, then prana, the life
force, then deha, the physical body and still further sthana, the phenomenal
universe consisting of time, space and the elements which have their palce in
them.

DHYANA YOGA

Dhyana Yoga is the form of anava yoga which is practiced with contemplative
meditation on budhi. The word `dhyana' means conteplation. There are
different forms of dhyana. For example, you are practicing dhyana when you
contemplate on the lotus in your heart, or on the meaning of some mantra
such as "So-HAM".

UCCARA YOGA

The word "UCCARA" means "breathing" uccara actually means concentration

on the breath, the power of life force - Prana, whose functions vary depending
on whether we are awake, asleep, in a transcendental state, and so on. One is
supposed to meditate upon this phenomenan with the understanding that they
are nothing other than one's own inner self. With practice one withdraws
one's attention from the body and the mind, and focuses on the most subtle
elements of pure power of prana/ aprana working in its functions. This
technique is quite popular with Buddhist. They have adopted it extensively. It
is considered simple as compared to other techniques.

KARANA YOGA

The term karna denotes the physical body, particularly "sense organ" which
are to be made the target of contemplate meditation. Physical postures are to
be accompanied by special form of contemplation which will help students
realize the absolute divinity of their own nature.

STHANA KALPANA

It is meditation on entities outside the person like on some particular place

alongwith contemplation of non-dualistic theism. The two objects used are
time and space. This Yoga carries practitioners out of the limitations of time
and washes its impression and they develop an impression of eternity which
becomes one with their essential nature. The practitioners realize that they
are eternal.

Ritual performance of many types of initiation (DIKSA) are also considered to

be aids to Trika Yoga, especially for an aspirant of lesser ability. That helps him
in acquiring greater ability to practice any type of the above mentioned Yoga.
Details regarding that ritual have been discussed in detail in Tantraloka, the
gist of which is given in Tantrasara.

VIGYAN BHAIRAV TANTRA

It is a very ancient book on Yoga. It goes directly to the heart of the problem of
the union of human consciousness with the Divine, avoiding mechanical
worship, external rites and ceremonies. It is a precious gem delineating the
mystic approach to the Divine. For this purpose, it makes full use of all the
aspects of human life - prana, manas, imagination and intuition. It contains
112 types of yoga. There is hardly any other book on yoga which has described
so many ways of approach to central reality that is present in each man as his
essential self.

SPECIAL FEATURES OF SAIVA YOGA

It should be noted that Saiva Yoga is not a practice in suppression of the

functions of mind as taught by Patanjali. It is a practice in uniting the
individual with universal by means of interesting and blissfull practices as
taught in Saiva scriptures. In fact, out-wardly one may perform the age old,
traditional or vedic rituals but inwardly he has to seek the exact truth through
some yogic practices taught in Trika System. Maintaining the semblance of an
ordinary house holder he has not to make any show of the powers aroused
through its practice. There is no restriction based on caste, creed, gender etc.
in eligibility for initiation in the Saiva yoga. Even a lowest caste can become a
disciple or even a preceptor if he attains sufficient success in this practice.

DEVOTION FOR LORD

Finally, rather concluding, the only condition for saivayoga is devotion and
Urge. Devotion is an essential aid to all the practices. An aspirant not blessed
with devotion for the Lord can not succeed in the practice or Saivayoga. The
highest knowledge of the absolute monism has been termed as the highest
devotion.

Here, we can refer to Utpaladeva, who commands the greatest reverence not
only for his philosophic insight or poetic genius but also for his supreme
devotion to the Lord. His SIVASTOTRAVALI can rightly be called ocean of
devotion.

SPECIFIC FEATURES OF KASHMIR SHAIVISM

At this stage, let us have little summing up regarding specific features of
Kashmir Shaivism. Indeed, it is a religio - philosophical system elaborated
mostly in the Pratyabhijna Darsana, which means re-cognition of self. Siva
voluntarily adopts self - velling and becomes a jiva. The problem for the jiva is
to recognise his self as Siva. The Pratyabhijna philosophy first gives a
description of ultimate reality, shows how it descends to the level of the jiva or
empirical individcual and how the jiva can recognise himself as Siva and
become liberated.

Comparing to the Vedanta philosophy of Samkara, it accept the cosmic

manifestation in totality. Some religious thinkers say "Kashmir Shaivism
accepts a great challenge". Cit or Brahman is both prakasha and Vimarsha i.e.
light and activity. Maya is Siva-Mayi: Divine and perfectly real. The universe is
not mithya. The universe is Siva-rupa and therefore real. It is a display of the
glory of the Divine.

Kashmir Shaivism adopts a realistic and utilitarian attitude. It relies on three

fold authority of (a) the divine scriptures, (b) experienced preceptors and (c)
One's own intuitiue self-experiences to which the highest importance has been
given. In fact, an aspirant is allowed to adopt any system of practice in
accordance with his individual psycho - physical aptitudes.

LINGODDHARA - DIKSA

This is a very special feature of Kashmir Shaivism. As per 17th chapter of

TANTRASARA of Abhinavgupta a man of another religious denomination can,
if he so desires, be initiated in Shaivism after being freed from his former
belief. This has also been explained in detail in 22 and 23 chapter (AHNIKA) of
TANTRALOKA.

DEFINITION

Now, let us have a clear delineation regarding the definition of Kashmir

Shaivism :

Kashmir Shaivism is a process of discovery of individual soul as one with the

Universal Being through a process based on :
Correct knowledge of the exact nature of universal elements. Practice in Trika
Yoga. A highly affectionate and devotional attitude towards the Absolute
Reality.

We have discussed in detail the above three basis of this philosophy, i.e., 36
cosmic manifestations or Tattvas, Trika Yoga or upyas and the great stress on
devotion to Lord.

RELEVANCE OF KASHMIR SHAIVISM

Before summing up relevance of this philosophy let us have a look at the

Indian philosophy in general. It is a fact that no nation can achieve its desired
national aims without the help of a suitable philosophy. A deep rooted
philosophy can urge

and inspire a nation towards its national aims. The ancient Indian philosophy
took comprehensive view of human life and was practicable in that ancient
social set up, served well for thousands of years and India continued to be a
prosperous country flourishing in religion and philosophy. However,
subsequently, impact of many great thinkers have led us from faith to
reasoning, practice to theory, etc. We were taken from a practical path of all
round progress towards an idealistic path of mere theories and suitable only
for few people. The result of this idealistic approach by rulers and thinkers has
been invasion and destruction at the hands of more practical and powerful
foreigners.

Kashmir Shaivism is the only school of Indian philosophy which can inspire us
for both material and spiritual progress. It can serve as a sound basis for our
national aims of establishing a welfare state. This philosophy is to be
presented in the present day style in the light of the psychology of the
youngest generations of our nation. The message for them is that world should
be accepted in totality. No problem of society, state, nation and individual is to
be ignored. A person can not succeed in any aim of life if he shuts his eyes
towards these problems. The whole life lord Krishna, as depicted in
Mahabharata is a glowing example of practical Shaivism.

As a pious house holder, we have to enjoy tasteful worldly objects within the
limits laid down by traditional social laws and go on practicising Saiva Yoga
side by side. Having attained success in the Yoga and relished the blissful
experience of self-awareness, one losses interest in worldly enjoyments. This
leads to self-recognition and experience of one's practical God head.

Be in world - yet away from it. As an elder person, we have to set such an
example and create an inspiration for others. Here, it would be very pertinent
to narrate an incident of a realised soul, a house holder. He was an elderly
noble soul engrossed in his "Sadhna" most of the time. During evening people
would interact with him, join the prayer, followed by little "prasad".

A bright young man had an enlightening experience with him. It started with a
doubt. Why this holy man is interfering with the cosmic process ?. During
distribution of "prasad", the people would narrate their urgent family
concerns to which he would reply "Mother Durga will solve your problem".

One day this young man could express his doubt as he could find a movement
alone with him. The noble person explained. "Look, my dear son, I am not
living in some forest or hillok. I consider all the people around as my family
members. I only direct their attention to God, the eternal Guide, who can give
us the real wisdom to bear pleasure or pain.

"Perhaps you are not satisfied", he continued looking at his doubtful

countenance. He directed him to get up and reach for the broom which was at
the farthest end of room, hidden behind the door, "Dear, have a close look at
the broom", he suggested. "I can see circle of threads tied around" the young
man observed.

"I have since mastered the ASHAT SIDDHIS (the eight super-national powers)
which are tied with the broom and kept at the farthest corner of the room", the
holy man continued, "I feel you are a bright deserving young man. You verily
require my blessings. Please ask any help or "aashirvad" and this broom will
grant you". The young man could, thus, realise the `level of attainment' of this
holy man, who knew the real meaning of attachment and detachment.

LALLESHWARI - HER SPIRITUAL GEMS

While expounding the relevance of Kashmir Shaivism our deepest gratitude

goes to Lalleshwari, whose teachings give a unique opportunity to have insight
into this mystic philosophy. She conveyed its essence in a simple way for
benefit of the humanity.

Emanating from the basic Creed of Kashmir Shaivism she stresses positive
acceptance of the material world rather than the philosophy of escapism. We
can rather say that God has made man in His own image. It is His Own Maya
Shakti which makes man to see differently. Therefore, real joy can be gained as
we live in this world and go about our work. Avoiding suppression and denial
like great puritans, we should exercise moderation in living and turning away
from the ambition of wealth, power and pleasures of senses. This will prepare
us for the inward journey to realize God.
We can, indeed, get the spiritual thrill by reproducing a few mystical
outpourings of her heart :-

GRACE OF GOD IS INDEPENDENT OF HUMAN EFFORT.

Some Thou pushed towards Bliss Thyself !

Some struggled very hard !
Some got drunk and obsessed :
Some one's Sadhna ended in Vain !

TO REALISE HIM OVERCOME THE BARRIERS

Shiva abides in all that exists anywhere ;

Do not discriminate between a Hindu and a Musalman ;
If you are wise, recognize your true Self ;
That is the true awareness of God.

DO NOT ESCAPE THE WORLD

Some renounced their homes, some the hermitages ;

stay as you are and be firm in your mind.
Thereby you will get established in the Self ;
What is the good of smearing ashes.

MODERATION IN LIVING

Overeating will not permit you reach the goal ;

Willful abstention from food makes you conceited.
Eat moderately to be a normal person ;
Moderate eating would surely lead to unbolting of the
Gates !

LOOK FOR GOD WITHIN

Looking for the mystic Moon within me ;

It was--like searching for the like.
I found Narayana (Shiva) permeating everywhere/
everything ;
Why this sport of diversity, Oh Lord !

ON KUNDALINI

Crossing the Six Forests, came the SHESHIKALA

oozing,
 The Prakrti was sacrificed (burnt out) with the air
(Prana).
With the fire of love, I roasted my heart,
Thus SHIVA was realized by me.

BLISS

I, Lalla, entered through the garden - gate of my soul ;

There, O Joy ! I found SHIVA united with SHAKTI.
Overwhelmed, I got immersed in Lake of Nector.
Even though alive or dead, what can existence do unto me !

CONCLUSION

Let us work for upliftment as our goal. With our own self - effort we should
change and strive for enlightenment. Let this change permeate from man to
family, to state and nation as a whole. Leading to universal good this will usher
in peaceful and conflict free world.

Kashmir Shaivism
By Virendra Qazi

Kashmir was seat of learning along with Benaras in ancient Northern India.
After a great spell of learning at Benares discerning people would go to Kashmir
for higher studies and perfecting their philosophies and practices. The Sharda
Peth was one of the famous centres.
The Doctrine Of Recognition (finding or discovering yourself as one with the
Almighty) also called Pratibhigana Darshan has been given a popular name by
renowned oriental scholar J. C. Chatterjee as Kashmir Shaivism.
According to the traditions of Kashmir Saivism, Lord Siva originally set forth
sixty-four systems, or philosophies, some monistic, some dualistic and some
monistic theistic. Eventually these were lost, and Siva commanded Sage Durvasas
to revive the knowledge. Sage Durvasas' "mind-born sons" were assigned to teach
the philosophies: Tryambaka (the monistic), Amardaka (the dualistic) and
Shrinatha (monistic theistic). Thus, Tryambaka at an unknown time laid a new
foundation for Kashmir Saivaphilosophy.
Then, it is said, Lord Siva Himself felt the need to resolve conflicting
interpretations of the Agamas and counter the encroachment of dualism on the
ancient monistic doctrines. In the early 800s, the sage, Shri Vasugupta was living
on Mahadeva Mountain near Srinagar. Tradition states that one night Lord Siva
appeared to him in a dream and told him of the whereabouts of a great scripture
carved in rock. Upon awakening, Vasugupta rushed to the spot and found
seventy-seven terse sutras etched in stone, which he named the Siva Sutras.
Vasugupta expounded the Sutras to his followers, and gradually the philosophy
spread. On this scriptural foundation arose the school known as Kashmir Saivism,
Northern Saivism, Pratyabhijna Darshana ("recognition school"), or Trikashasana
("Trika system"). Trika, "three," refers to the school's three-fold treatment of the
Divine: Siva, Shakti and soul, as well as to three sets of scriptures and a number of
other triads.
Kashmir Saivite literature is in three broad divisions: Agama Shastra, Spanda
Shastra and Pratyabhijna Shastra. Agama Shastra includes works of divine origin:
specifically the Saiva Agama literature, but also including Vasugupta's Siva Sutras.
The Spanda Shastra, or Spanda Karikas (of which only two sutras are left), are
both attributed to Vasugupta's disciple Kallata (ca 850-900). These elaborate the
principles of the Siva Sutras. The Pratyabhijna Shastra's principle components
are the Siva Drishti by Vasugupta's disciple, Somananda, and the Pratyabhijna
Sutras by Somananda's pupil, Utpaladeva (ca 900-950). Abhinavagupta (ca 950-
1000) wrote some forty works, including Tantraloka, "Light on Tantra," a
comprehensive text on Agamic Saiva philosophy and ritual. It
was Abhinavagupta whose brilliant and encyclopedic works established Kashmir
Saivism as an important philosophical school.
Kashmir Shaivism occupies a distinguished position among the various schools
of thought focusing on the relation between God, nature and man. Its practise
leads to the highest level of self-realisation, revealing the inner most secrets of
the nature of Self. All the aspects of life are integrated and taken in totality. Thus,
rather than negation and denial, it celebrates life. Kashmir Shaivism is the school
of Indian philosophy which can inspire us for both material and spiritual
progress. Rather, the approach is from theory to practice. Indeed, it leads us to
the real "Art of Living".
Kashmir Saivism provides an extremely rich and detailed understanding of the
human psyche, and a clear and distinct path of kundalini-siddha yoga to the goal
of Self Realization. In its history the tradition produced numerous siddhas, adepts
of remarkable insight and power. It is said that Abhinavagupta, after completing
his last work on the Pratyabhijna system, entered the Bhairava cave near
Mangam with 1,200 disciples, and he and they were never seen again.
Kashmir Saivism is intensely monistic. It does not deny the existence of a
personal God or of the Gods. But much more emphasis is put upon the personal
meditation and reflection of the devotee and his guidance by a guru. Creation of
the soul and world is explained as God Siva's abhasa, "shining forth" of Himself in
His dynamic aspect of Shakti, the first impulse, called spanda. As the Self of all,
Siva is immanent and transcendent, and performs through his Shakti the five
actions of creation, preservation, destruction, revealing and concealing. The
Kashmir Saivite is not so much concerned with worshiping a personal God as he
is with attaining the transcendental state of Siva consciousness.
An esoteric and contemplative path, Kashmir Saivism embraces both knowledge
and devotion. Sadhana leads to the assimilation of the object (world) in the
subject (I) until the Self (Siva) stands revealed as one with the universe. The goal-
liberation-is sustained recognition (pratyabhijna) of one's true Self as nothing but
Siva. There is no merger of soul in God, as they are eternally nondifferent.
There are three upayas, stages of attainment of God consciousness. These are not
sequential, but do depend upon the evolution of the devotee. The first stage is
anavopaya, which corresponds to the usual system of worship, yogic effort and
purification through breath control. The second stage is shaktopaya, maintaining
a constant awareness of Siva through discrimination in one's thoughts. The third
stage is shambhavopaya in which one attains instantly to
God consciousness simply upon being told by the guru that the essential Self is
Siva. There is a forth stage, anupaya, "no means," which is the mature soul's
recognition that there is nothing to be done, reached for or accomplished except
to reside in one's own being, which is already of the nature of Siva. Realization
relies upon the satguru, whose grace is the blossoming of all sadhana.
The prime focus of Kashmir Shaivism is on the Ultimate Reality called
Param Shiva. This basic point is to recognize this source from which emanates
everything and into which merges everything. Param Shiva is beyond description,
beyond all manifestation, beyond limitation of form, time and space. He is eternal,
infinite, all pervading, all knowing and all powerful. In fact, this reality is ineffable
and beyond all descriptions.
After our stress on this basic reality called Param Shiva, let us seek and
understand this philosophy. Kashmir Shaivism. It is a process of recognizing or
discovery of individual soul as one with the Universal Being through correct
knowledge of the "Descend" from Godhood to manhood. The next is "Ascend" or
going back to Godhood. Lastly great stress is given to "Devotion" towards the
Ultimate Reality called Param Shiva.
As regards the great descend, Kashmir Shaivism postulates 36 categories or
"tattvas" to explain the process of cosmic evolution or universal experience, i.e.,
from God hood to veiling or obscuring force of nature called Maya Shakti leading
to various psycho - physical elements and finally the Panch Mahabhutas - five
great elements: Earth, Water, Fire, Air and Ether. The first outward manifestation
of the divine creative energy is called "Shiva - Tattva". It is the initial creative
movement of Paramasiva and is support of all things in the manifest world, like
the canvas of a painting. Next, the "Shakti-Tattava" is active or kinetic cosmic
energy that effects the divine consciousnessinto action.
"Maya" is the veiling or obscuring force of nature that creates a sense of
differentiation. As such, it makes universal consciousness which is unity, appear
as duality and multiplicity. The result of the limitation of Maya are "Purusha" and
"Prakriti", the limited being and his nature. Here the dual world of mind and
matter is permanently established. This follows various mental operations,
ascertaining intelligence, sense perceptions, ego, etc. The process is complete
finally with the gross Panch Mahabutas as referred above.
Now, let us consider the ascend or going back to Godhood. What is source of pain
and frustration- duality and moving away from Godhood! So, it is natural that we
must strive to go back to Godhood. For this there has to be Shaktipath- the
descend of Divine Grace. In order to earn Grace, one has to undergo spiritual
discipline, known as "Upyas" or Trika Yoga. Depending upon potential of
individual, these means or yoga have been categorized with particular emphasis
as Anupaya (Bliss), Shambopaya (Will), Shaktopaya (Knowledge) and Anvopaya
(Action). However, it must always be remembered that descend of the Divine
Grace - Shaktipath - is independent of human efforts.
Kashmir Shaivism emphasizes that one has to discover the inner "Bliss". Let us
not suppress the senses, do not torture the body or mind, etc. Forcible control
will lead to adverse effect. Be as you are. When one discovers inner bliss he/she
will give up fascination for outer worldly enjoyments. Outwardly one may
perform the age old traditions but inwardly he/she has to seek exact truth
through the practices taught in Trika Yoga. There is no restriction based on color,
creed, gender, etc. in eligibility for initiation in this Yoga.
Bhakti is an essential aid to all the practices. An aspirant not blessed with
devotion for the Lord can not succeed in the practice or Saivayoga. After
inculcating the principles and treading the path as explained above, we should
surrender and submit to the Ultimate Reality. This will, no doubt, lead us to the
ultimate goal.