User:Visarga/Kashmir Shaivism

Kashmir Shaivism is an independent school that made great advancements, both philosophically and theologically it is a tantric tradition it has been called trika on account of its many triadic principles

Classification of Kashmir Shaivism

The principal schools of thought in Hinduism are:

• dualism (behdāvada)

Sāṃkhya, yoga of Patañjali - soul (puruṣa) and the world (prakṛti) are separated

• qualified dualism (bhedābheda vada) - there is a kind of identity between Bhagavadgītā, some schools of Vishnuism, Shaivism - God, man and world, yet the soul still retains is separate and distinct

• nondualism (abheda vada)

Kashmir Sgaivism - God, world and the soul are identical; the perception of differences between them is just illusory

Trika is defined as an absolutistic theism Vedānta is a form of idealistic monism

esoteric tradition philosophic theological

differences from Ved[aa]nta

• the Absolute not just transcendent, but also immanent (engaged in the world)
• the nature of the world is not illusory but real
• there is no gap between the God and the world
• God is not remote but involved in the Universe
• consciousness is not just a static witness but a self-reflecting awareness

the central concepts

The ultimate principle is consciousness (cit or parāsaṃvit); at this level there is no duality between subject and object, no I-ness and This-ness

The Absolute is uncreated light Prakāśa and self awareness Vimarśa; Prakāśa is the substrate of reality and Vimarśa that of subjectivity and knowledge; the Absolute, while not relying on anything external, is both self revealing light (prakāśa) and self reflecting awareness (vimarśa)

Śiva is identical to Jiva - it is Śiva that, forgetting his nature becomes the limited being and the world itself, creating duality between subject and object; even so, Śiva remains undivided

Self reflection is the dynamic aspect of the Absolute. Also known as ānanda (supreme bliss), because to know his own nature is to experience the ultimate ecstasy. From the dynamic nature of ānanda, appears māyā (illusion), the instrument for creating the dual world.

Creation is not ex-nihilo. Rather the world is created by a process of Śiva emptying himself of his real nature, assuming objectivity and duality. The opposite process, that of dissolution, is just an act of remembering the real nature.

• anuttara is the Absolute conceived as supreme power
• Śiva is absolutely free, sovereign
• the universe as a projection (visarga) of Paramaśiva; the absolute is the material cause and the intention of the universe

literature

Āgamic

• created from the supernatural realm, free from deficiencies of worldly literature
• include Mālinivījaya, Svaccanda, Vijñānabhairava, Mṛgendra, Netra Tāntra
• Śivasūtra, associated with Vasugupta, considered to be a revelation from Śiva, has gained an āgamic status. Śivasūtra is a synthesis of the previous āgamas, an integration of the various concepts

Spanda

• Spandakārikā of Bhaṭṭa Kallaṭa takes a more philosophic approach; it interprets reality as being the nature of Spanda (a subtle vibration of consciousness). Spandakārikā has generated a new school of thought, called Spanda

Pratyabhijñā

• the so called school of direct recognition of Śiva
• initiated by Somānanda's philosophical text Śivadṛṣṭi
• Utpaladeva's Īśvarapratyabhijñā gained the most importance in this system; Utpaladeva was Somānanda's disciple