Yes, indeed – and thanks for the kind words, Manigma.
In Kashmir Shaivism, the wholeness that is beyond all distinctions and categories is known as Parashivashakti (beyond Shivashakti), or simply Anuttara (beyond).
Obviously, there’s nothing beyond wholeness – and wholeness includes everything.
Many people think of unbound awareness as pure, transcendent awareness free of its content, which is sometimes how that term is used.
Ultimately, though, unbound awareness is inherently ever-free including its content - Awareness is Wholeness.
Well said!
The Contents are just as much a part of the Wholeness, as the Awareness that is both eternally free of the Contents, and from a limited perspective-entangled with those Contents. I love to hear others affirm, that duality is not something to be cursed or transcended per se. The 'stage' contains seemingly solid components and seemingly not-solid components, and that is fine!
Unlearning the grasping of those sensory objects does take time however; there is no helping it.
Love,
Kev
Beyond what?
Free
As a bird
It’s the next best thing to be
Free as a bird
Home, home and dry,
like a homing bird I’ll fly
as a bird on wings.
Whatever happened to
the lives that we once knew?
Can we really live without each other?
Where did we lose the touch
that seemed to mean so much?
It always made me feel so…
Free as a bird.
It’s the next best thing to be. ~ Beatles http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=free+as+a+bird+beatles&meta=
Kirtanman,
Took you advice and bought Para-Trisika-Vivarana. It just arrived. Should keep me busy with some “light” reading over the weekend.
Peace & Love.
Hi Steve,
I’m reading Consciousness Is Everything currently – and highly recommend it.
On the forum, via email, and at our retreats, people ask me about Kashmir Shaivism, and about good places to get started, to learn more about it.
Until now, I’ve recommended Swami Lakshmanjoo’s writings as the simplest and clearest (compared to Dyczkowski and others, they are).
However, I now officially have a new recommendation:
For someone who is new to Kashmir Shaivism, and who wants to understand the basics, in the form of a thorough yet easy-to-understand overview … Consciousness Is Everything by Swami Shankarananda is the best place to start, I have yet seen.
Why?
Because the others (authors and books) delve into various sutras, texts and expositions directly – and most of them (per the discussion in this thread), are not necessarily clear, especially for those of us who may not have had the experiences in deeper consciousness (i.e. inner silence) which can serve as reference points.
Beyond that – it’s simply a really good, helpful and clear spiritual book, written in an engaging, down-to-earth style.
Thanks very much for the recommendation, Steve! http://www.shivayoga.org/html/consciousness.html
Hi Jeff,
In reviewing this thread, I realized a helpful pointer to mention might be:
Puryastaka, the City of Eight, is specifically the false identification with which bondage and suffering are made.
The 36 Tattvas represent the narrowing of focus from resting in unbound awareness to specific manifestation (i.e. conception, perception – the forms of any moment) – and the City of Eight is a grouping that falls very far forward (toward manifestation).
The focus of intellect, ego, mind and senses isn’t the problem; that’s an ongoing aspect of human experiencing.
Incorrectly identifying with them, though, due to language-based conditioning - the Maya of Matrika, and, well, “hence all the trouble”.
Literally.
And actually.
By relaxing and opening via practices and inquiry, our sense of self expands, until it finally expands completely - and there’s only wholeness, at all levels of awareness/consciousness – there’s no non-wholeness, in reality.
Wholeness is all that’s actually here, but the conditioning to identifying with Puryastaka runs very deep - and that’s what systems like AYP are for: to help us release those conditioned identifications which keep us dreaming we’re bound.
Because those conditioned identifications manifest in the physical body, via neuro-chemical and other changes brought about by mind-conditions and actions driven by attachments and aversions – form-practices such as AYP’s can be extremely beneficial, as can inquiry and awareness practices.
Hence the three levels taught in Kashmir Shaivism - and the sets of practices associated with them.
As you read through the Stanzas On Vibration (aka the Yoga Spandakarika), and other texts, I think you’ll see that this (Puryastaka as the incorrect identifications which keep bondage in place) is always, or almost always. the context the term Puryastaka is used within.
I hope that’s useful.
Kirtanman,
I am about half way through Para-Trisika-Vivarana and it has been very helpful. It is the right text at the right time for me. It has confirmed much of what I felt. Thanks again for recommending it.
Also, I agree with your definitions on Puryastaka & 36 Tattvas, and realize that I initially did a poor job of expressing my point. Maybe a better way to describe the relationship would be to say that they are different dimensions (or perspectives) on the same thing. As you go higher in the 36 Tattvas, you filter more of Purvastaka. Similarly, “turning on” chakras can be perceived as rising through the levels of Tattvas.
You summed it up well with…
“Because those conditioned identifications manifest in the physical body, via neuro-chemical and other changes brought about by mind-conditions and actions driven by attachments and aversions – form-practices such as AYP’s can be extremely beneficial, as can inquiry and awareness practices.”
Peace & Love.
Thanks Kirtanman,
So glad you enjoyed it. I tried to read several other books about Kashmir Shaivism before reading Consciousness is Everything and really couldn’t understand them at all. Even the info in Wikipedia is daunting if you go into without a whole lot of yogic knowledge, so Swamiji’s book really helps a lot for beginners, I think. It also has a lot of great meditation practices as well including the I AM Mantra .
Hi Jeff,
You’re very welcome; glad you’re enjoying it! And thanks very much for the kind words.
The only thing I might say a bit differently, is that while Puryastaka may be filtered as part of sadhana, it’s not really filtered, in terms of the tattvas.
The tattvas, and thus any given moment, are experienced based on where our sense of self (if there is one) resides.
If it is with Puryastaka, all of the more expansive, more subtle, more deeply internal states “behind” it (i.e. “Shiva-ward”) are effectively absent, even though the full range of tattvas is of course always present, being emanations of awareness itself (if awareness wasn’t ever-present, nothing else would be).
Often, even in fairly early sadhana, we can have deep experiences of inner silence, which are “behind” Puryastaka, but then these are “grabbed” (filtered) by ego-mind, which claims them (“I experienced inner silence”) … that’s why the tattva of ego is Ahamkara - “I Maker”, in Sanskrit.
And so, our sense of self is either resting in a given tattva, or not.
I agree, though, that the effect over time is one of shedding – in the sense that more and more moments are spent in more expansive states, and then in freedom, and then in natural, liberated wholeness now - which is, eventually, never not-experienced (there’s only wholeness / there’s no non-wholeness).
I hope that’s useful, too, and I’m really glad to hear you’re enjoying the Para-Trisika-Vivarana. Many people seem to find it a bit daunting, for some reason. I just happen to resonate with Abhinavagupta a lot, and for me, his personality and humanity shine through in his writing - as well as his amazingly enlightened wisdom. Not to mention the fact that the sheer amount of detail regarding Matrika, Malini, the exact correlates between the tattvas and each Sanskrit letter, etc., is quite helpful in becoming clear on the overall model, for those of us who are drawn to such things.
Wholeness Is.
I agree - it’s a great book, in general - and especially so, for those with an interest in Kashmir Shaivism, but who don’t want to delve into the ultra-detailed specifics.
Like many traditions, Kashmir Shaivism can be understood at the level of broad principles, through to as much detail (or more) as any human mind could possibly want or comprehend.
The good news is: the broad-principle level of understanding is just as powerful as the greater detail … and possibly more so, for those who tend to over-think detail.
Swami Shankarananda does a great job of conveying the general principles simply, while offering just enough detail to provide some solid support and clarification.
Once again: highly-recommended!
Wholeness Is.
Kirtanman,
I completely agree on your assessment of Abhinavagupta. His words have always resonated with me. He goes into great detail which can help confirm what I may be feeling. The challenge is when I try to “understand” beyond my current experience. I think it depends on how you “feel” the energy or Kundalini, for me it has always felt like vibrations, so all of his explanations fit.
I think you and I are “saying” the same thing, but I found that Abhinavagupta in Para-triska-Vivarana described the point that I was originally trying to make…
“When there is dissolution of prana and apana (marudadi), in susumna which, as the central channel, is full of the storage of the energy of all the senses, then one’s consciousness gets entry into that stage of the great central susumna channel where it acquires union with the pulsation of one’s Sakti, then all sense of duality dissolves, and there is the perfect I-consciousness generated by the abundance of the perfection of one’s own inherent Sakti.”
I also agree that Puryastaka is not something that we need to get beyond or filter. It is more like not allowing oneself to be “overwhelmed” by it. I do believe that there is a relationship between not being “overwhelmed” with Puryastaka and chakra expansion & growth (or pulsation of one’s Sakti). I would be interested in your thoughts.
Peace & Love.
I think it depends on how you “feel” the energy or Kundalini, for me it has always felt like vibrations, so all of his explanations fit.