Swami Lakshmanjoo was a Kashmiri scholar, teacher, guru and holy man who received the non-dualistic philosophy, teachings and shakti of the lineage of Kashmir Shaivist Masters, handed down from around the 8th or 9th century CE. Swamiji made these teachings available to his students, who recorded his transmission of this precious knowledge to them. They have in turn made this knowledge available to the world through recordings and books.
It is a great service that Lakshmanjoo has done for those of us in the Kali Yuga era, in which many teachings have been diluted and distorted. Swamiji's teachings are fresh and alive with the shakti of his lineage.
Thank you Swamiji, and thanks SO MUCH to John Hughes and fellow devotees for tireless efforts making this wisdom available to all. I highly encourage readers of my blog to consider purchasing this or the other books the Universal Fellowship have produced and which are available at the online bookstore here.
I also encourage you to visit the website, sign up for their amazing newsletter (this post comes from the newsletter), and send a donation if you find this information vital to your life and sadhana, as it has been to mine.
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| Swami Lakshmanjoo |
The
Schools and Systems of Kashmir Shaivism
An excerpt from the book:
Copyright © John Hughes
Reprinted by permission
The
Schools of Kashmir Shaivism
Kashmir
Shaivism is known as the Pure Trika System. The word trika means
“the threefold science of man and his world.” In the idea
of trika,
there are three energies: para (supreme), apara (lowest),
and parapara (combination
of the lowest and the highest). These three primary energies
represent the threefold activities of the world. In the thought of
the Trika, therefore, it is admitted that this whole universe
and every action in it, whether spiritual, physical, or worldly,
is existing in these three energies.
The
Trika Philosophy is meant for any human being without restriction of
caste, creed, or color. Its purpose is to enable you to rise from
individuality to universality. The Trika System is comprised of four
sub-systems; the Pratyabhijna system, the Kula system, the Krama
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 (agamas).
These scriptures form the ninety-two agamas of
Shaivism. The monistic Bhairava Shastras are supreme (para) and
are sixty-four in number; the mono-dualistic Rudra Shastras are
medium (parapara)
and are eighteen in number; and the dualistic Shiva Shastras are
inferior (apara)
and are ten in number.
Pratyabhijna
System
The
word pratyabhijna means
“to spontaneously once again recognize and realize your Self.”
Here you have only to realize, you do not have to practice.
There are no upayas (means)
in the Pratyabhijna system. You must simply recognize who you are.
Wherever you are, whether you are at the level of Supreme Being,
at the level of yoga, or at that level which is disgusting, you
can recognize your own Nature then and there without moving
anywhere or doing anything.
For
example, take the case of a bride and groom. The woman has not
seen her husband-to-be and craves to see him. Concerning him she
has only heard praise and glory but she has not actually met him.
Suppose this girl and her future husband happen by chance to go
separately on the same pilgrimage. When they arrive at the place of
pilgrimage, they meet. The girl, however, does not feel any
importance in this man because she does not know him to be her
future husband. Yet her future husband and this man are the same
person. Later, when a friend introduces her to him, telling her
that this is the man who is to be her husband, then she is
filled with happiness, pleasure, and ecstasy. She realizes that
this is the same man she had seen before.
In
the same way, reality dawns in the Pratyabhijna system. In
whichever level you are situated, do not mind.
"The
moment recognition dawns, not only do you instantaneously become
divine, but you also realize that you were already divine."
At
that moment, you realize that you were already the Lord but did
not know it because you had misunderstood yourself.
In
the Pratyabhijna philosophy it is your master who tells you, that
‘you are the same person for whom you are longing’, and he
teaches you to reach the goal there and then without adopting any
means. This teaching, therefore, is situated chiefly
in anupaya, which
is that means where there are no means at all. It is the
recognition that there was nothing to be done and nowhere to go.
Here, there is no practice, no concentration and no meditation.
By the grace of your master you realize it and you are there.
The
Pratyabhijna system was flourishing in the beginning of kali-yuga. As
time passed, however, it became veiled due to misunderstanding. It
wasn’t until the end of the eighth century A.D. that the great
master Somananda reintroduced the Pratyabhijna system in
Kashmir. Somananda’s disciple was Utpaladeva, and his disciple
was Lakshmanagupta, and his disciple was the very great
Abhinavagupta.
Kula
System
The
Kula system teaches you how you can live in caitanya
(universal Consciousness), the real nature of yourself, in the
act of ascending and descending. While you rise from the lowest
to the highest you realize your nature, and while you descend from
the highest to the lowest you also realize your nature.
"In
the Kula system, there is no break in the realization of your
own nature either in the highest or in the lowest cycle. This
system, therefore, teaches you how you can live in totality."
In
fact, the word kula means
“totality.”
In
the practice of the Kula system, you have to realize the totality of
the universe in one particle. Take one particle of anything
that exists in this world; in that one particle is to be
realized the totality of the whole universe. The totality of
energy is found in one particle. Everything is full of one thing
and one thing is full of all things.
The
difference between the Pratyabhijna system and the Kula system is,
that the Pratyabhijna system teaches you how to realize your own
nature in one place and exist there, reside there. While the Kula
system teaches you how you can rise from the lowest degree to
the highest degree, and all the while, experience the nature of
your Self on the same level and state. Shiva, which is
realized in prithvi
tattva (earth
element), is the same level, the same reality of Shiva which is
realized in Shiva tattva.
Here, there is complete realization in every act of the world.
The
Kula system was introduced in Kashmir in the beginning of the 5th
century A.D. by Shri Macchandanatha. Later, in the 9th
century, because its teachings had become distorted, it was
reintroduced by Sumatinatha. In the line of masters that
followed from Sumatinatha, Somanatha was his disciple.
Shambhunatha was the disciple of Somanatha, and the great
Abhinavagupta was the disciple of Shambhunatha.
Krama
System
The
Krama system does not recognize the ways of either the
Pratyabhijna or the Kula system. In the Krama system, you must
rise in succession, step by step. This system teaches that
step-by-step realization makes your realization firm. As the
Krama system is concerned with successive realization, it is
primarily concerned with space and time, because where there is
succession there you find the existence of space and time. In
both the Pratyabhijna and Kula systems you are beyond space and
time. In the Krama system, it is in the end, not in its process,
that you are beyond time and space because it also carries you
to that timeless and space-less state.
"The
Krama system is primarily attributed to shaktopaya and to the
twelve Kalis."
The
twelve Kalis are said to be the twelve movements of any
one cognition. For example, if you look at any object such as a
pot, the sensation travels from your thought to the place of the
pot, and then returns again from the place of the pot to your
thought, giving you the sensation whereby you realize this pot.
You do not realize this pot at the place of the pot, you realize
this pot in your mind. Your perception has moved from inside to
the pot, and then returned again from the pot to your thought.
And these movements are distributed in twelve ways as the twelve
Kalis in the Krama system.
The
rise of prana
kundalini is
also described in the Krama system, because in prana
kundalini you
rise from one cakra to
another, from one state to another state. As this is a
successive process it is found in the Krama system.
Although
the Krama system existed in the beginning of kali-yuga, having
been introduced by the sage Durvasa, it was reintroduced at the
end of the 7th century A.D. in Kashmir by the sage Erakanatha, who
was also known as Shivanandanatha. Shivanandanatha had only three
chief disciples which he initiated into the Krama system. Because
in this system predominance is given only to shakti,
all three were females. Their names were Keyuravati, Madanika,
and Kalyanika. They were quite prominent and were completely
informed in the Krama system. Afterwards, these ladies also
initiated disciples, which were both male and female.
Spanda
System
The
fourth system, which comprises the Trika philosophy, is called the
Spanda system. The word spanda means
“movement.”
"The
Spanda school recognizes that nothing can exist without
movement. Where there is movement there is life, and where there
is no movement that is lifelessness."
They
realize that there is movement in wakefulness, dreaming, deep sleep,
and turya [void].
Though some thinkers argue that there is no movement in deep
sleep the philosophers of the Spanda system realize that nothing
can exist without movement.
The
teachings of the Spanda system, which is an important
practical system, are found embodied in the “Vijnana Bhairava
Tantra,” the “Svacchanda Tantra,” and in the 6th chapter
of the “Tantraloka.”
The
Spanda System was introduced in Kashmir by the great sage
Vasuguptanatha in the beginning of the 8th century A.D.
Vasuguptanatha is the author of both the “Shiva
Sutras”
and the “Spanda Karikas.” The disciple of Vasuguptanatha was
Kallata.
Some
teachers think that the "Spanda Karikas" were not composed
by Vasaguptanatha but rather by his disciple Kallata. This theory
however, is absolutely incorrect.
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| Swami Lakshmanjoo with John and Denise Hughes and their daughter, Shanna. |
Reprint by permission
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Copyright © 2016 John Hughes. All rights reserved.
