In this excerpt, Swami Lakshmanjoo explains what grace (śaktipāta) really means in Kashmir Shaivism. This is from Chapter two, commentary on verse 64-65 of the Bhagavad Gita, in the Light of Kashmir Shaivism.

Click here to read the previous post with verses 64-65: Meditation and the stages of yoga.

SWAMIJI:

[Grace] śaktipāta means you have to maintain your vigor, you have to maintain your will. There must be firm will. That is śaktipāta.

Śaktipāta [grace] is not derived from other sources. You have got śaktipāta, you have got the power of śaktipāta, i.e., to have it. You [must] possess it with vigor, with force, because you have got that power.

But you don’t like it [laughs]!

You don’t like it and you go on meeting others and everything and . . .

JONATHAN: Can I just ask one question? What causes that change? You said you possess that śaktipāta, that power, but you don’t like it, you just go to these other things. What makes that change, when you suddenly are not worried about these things and you dive into that?

SWAMIJI: When śaktipāta [grace] comes from within. From within! Śaktipāta does not come from without. It is not [from] without.

JONATHAN: It is there already.

SWAMIJI: It is there. Because when God is united with limited God, [this is possible only because] limited God is not separate from unlimited God.

yogī ca sarvavyavahārān kurvāṇo’pi . . . [comm.]

[Abhinavagupta]: That yogi, although he does each and every activity of the world–he [goes] to the pictures, he [goes to see] everybody, he [goes] to the cinema and sightseeing and everything, whatever we do–lokottaraḥ, but he is above [those activities], he is supreme.

Click here to read the previous post with verses 64-65: Meditation and the stages of yoga.

 

Source: Chapter 2 commentary on verse 64-65 of the

Bhagavad Gita, in the Light of Kashmir Shaivism by Swami Lakshmanjoo

All Content is subject to Copyright © John Hughes.

In this excerpt, Swami Lakshmanjoo explains how the threefold mala becomes the cause of bondage. This is from the Shiva Sutras, The Supreme Awakening, by Swami Lakshmanjoo. Read the original transcript along with the audio, scroll down...

https://www.lakshmanjooacademy.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/ShivaSutras_1.4part1.mp3

atha kathamasyājñānātmakajñāna-yonivarga-kalāśarīrarūpasya trividhasya malasya bandhakatvam

Now, he puts this question.

How this threefold mala, how this threefold way of knowledge, is the cause of bondage; how this threefold mala becomes the cause of bondage, this threefold mala?

Ajñānātmaka jñāna [ignorance of your own nature] that is āṇavamala.

Yonivarga [limitation in perception] is māyīyamala.

Kalāśarīrasya rūpasya [limitation in action] is kārmamala.

These threefold malas how they give you bondage?

To this he puts the answer:

ज्ञानाधिष्ठानम् मातृका ॥४॥

jñānādhiṣṭhānam mātṛkā  // 4 //

“Mātṛkā is the chief conductor of this knowledge.”

Mātṛkā is the point. Mātṛkā is the chief conductor of this jñāna (knowledge). Mātṛkā is the chief conductor of this triple knowledge.

You know triple knowledge?

One knowledge is āṇavamala.

Another knowledge is māyīyamala.

And the third knowledge is kārmamala.

This triple way of knowledge is handled by Mātṛkā.

Mātṛkā means ajñātā mātṛkā mātā, when the universal energy is known in the wrong way, in the incorrect way.

When universal energy is known in its correct way, it is found . . . it seems to be just svātantrya śakti. When it is known in the wrong way it is the energy of illusion, it is called māyā śakti.

So Mātṛkā is both!

Mātṛkā means ajñātā mātā (unknown mother), when that universal energy is not known in its correct way. And, when that universal energy is not known in its correct way, then these triple ways of bondages are handled by this energy, this svātantrya.

So this too is your own will.

If you bind yourself it is your own free will. If you get it out from bondage, it is your own will. It is at your disposal.

JOHN:  So when this energy becomes unknown, or not known properly, then it becomes māyā śakti, that binding energy.

SWAMIJI:  It becomes māyā śakti. Svātantrya śakti is transformed in the form of māyā śakti. And māyā śakti is transformed in the formation of svātantrya śakti in the correct way of knowing. In the incorrect way of knowledge it is transformed in the svarūpa of māyā śakti, i.e., in the formation of māyā śakti.

This he explains in this [4th] sūtra.

yadetat trividha-mala-svarūpaṁ, apūrṇam-manyatābhinn-avedyaprathā-śubhāśubhavāsanātmakaṁ vividhaṁ jñāna-rūpam-uktaṁ,

This triple way of mala, threefold mala, is already explained, which is:

1) first āṇavamala – apūrṇammanyatā (non-fullness);

2) second mayīyamala – bhinnavedyaprathā, differentiated knowledge;

3) and third mala, kārmamala – śubhāśubha vāsana (the impression of good and bad actions).

tasya ādikṣāntarūpā ajñātā mātā mātṛkā viśva-jananī tattat-saṁkucita-vedyābhāsātmano jñānasya 'apūrṇo 'smi, kṣāmaḥ sthūlo vāsmi', agniṣṭomayājyāsmi, ityādi-tattad-avikalpaka savikalpaka avabhāsa-parāmarśamayasya tattad-vācaka-śabdānuvedha-dvāreṇa śoka smaya harṣa rāgādi-rūpatāmādadhānā /

iti śrī-timirodghāṭa-proktanītyā varga kalādy-adhiṣṭhatṛ-brāhmyādi śaktiśreṇī śobhinī ...

Thirty-Six Elements

Below is the transcript of the audio that accompanies the Book Kashmir Shaivism, The Secret Supreme. Read the first chapter of the book with a diagram of the tattvas on our website. You can also study the "Tattvas (Elements); The Building Blocks of Creation according to Kashmir Shaivism" as an online course the Lakshmanjoo Academy created from a live online event, along with Q&A and discussions by John, Denise Hughes and George Barselaar, who studied and lived for many years with Swami Lakshmanjoo.

"These thirty-six elements are the most important points for entering in Shaivism." ~Swami Lakshmanjoo

https://www.lakshmanjooacademy.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/Tattvas-excerpt1.mp3

Kashmir Shaivism: The Secret Supreme

Chapter One – The 36 Tattvas

Part One

Mahābhūtas – the five great elements

Swamiji with John Hughes and family 1972

JOHN:  To be attended by John and Denise Hughes at Swamiji Shree Lakshmanjoo’s ashram in Srinagar, Kashmir, on November 25th, 1971 at 2:30 pm. This will be the first lecture given by Swamiji to the two of us.

SWAMIJI:  For the time being, I would like to tell you something regarding the tattvas (elements).1 In Vedānta, we have got, we explain, twenty-five tattvas.2 But in Shaivism there are thirty-six [tattvas]. [So] first I want to tell you regarding the explanation of the tattvas. I will begin from the lowest degree of the tattvas, I mean, the gross [tattvas].3 The gross tattvas are called the Pañca Mahābhūtas, the Five Great Elements.

JOHN:  Mahābhūtas.

SWAMIJI:  Mahābhūtas, yes. Earth (pṛthvī), water (jala), fire (tejas), air (vāyu), and ether (ākāśa). These are gross and these are called mahābhūtas because the whole universe is based on these five bhūtas.

JOHN:  These five elements (earth, air, water, fire, and ether–ākāśa), they are pretty much the same for most Indian philosophies, is that right?

SWAMIJI:  Yes.

JOHN:  Same.

SWAMIJI:  Yes, these are the same.

JOHN:  In Greek philosophy, too, they are pretty much the same.

Tanmātras – the five sensations

SWAMIJI: And then you move up to the tanmātras, the five tanmātras.4 The five tanmātras are gandha from earth, gandha tanmātra. Gandha means, smell. It’s not exactly smell, it is the abode of smell, where [every impression of] smell lives. That is called gandha tanmātrā, and that has risen from the earth, the element earth.5 This is called gandha tanmātra.

JOHN:   Gandha (smell).

SWAMIJI:  Gandha tanmātra. And the next one has come out from the water mahābhūta–jala.

JOHN:   These tanmātras correspond to these mahābhūtas.

SWAMIJI:  Yes. From earth comes gandha tanmātra (smell). And from jala (water) comes rasa tanmātra (taste).

JOHN:  Rasa?

SWAMIJI:  Rasa. Where the impression of taste resides is called rasa tanmātra. And then from agni (tejas, fire) comes out rūpa tanmātra.

JOHN:  Rūpa, form.

SWAMIJI:  Yes. Rūpa, form.

JOHN:  Form. So this would be sight, then.

SWAMIJI:  Yes. It is not form, it is not exactly form, but it is the residence of form, the residence of the impression of form.

Swami Lakshmanjoo explains what happens when differentiated perception is totally destroyed, His spanda overflows and He creates this world again.

This is an excerpt from Abhinavagupta’s Paramarthasara, The Essence of the Highest Reality, by Swami Lakshmanjoo. Now also available as video on demand.

Watch on YouTube

द्रष्टा श्रोता घ्राता

देहेन्द्रियवर्जितोऽप्यकर्तापि  ।

सिद्धान्तागमतर्कां

श्चित्रानहमेव रचयामि  ॥५०॥

draṣṭā śrotā ghrātā

dehendriya-varjito’py-akartāpi /

siddhāntāgama-tarkāṁś

citrān-aham-eva racayāmi //50//

[verse not recited or translated]130

 

इत्थं द्वैतविकल्पे

गलिते प्रविलङ्घ्य मोहनीं मायाम्  ।

सलिले सलिलं क्षीरे

क्षीरमिव ब्रह्मणि लयी स्यात्  ॥५१॥

itthaṁ dvaita-vikalpe

galite pravilaṅghya mohanīṁ māyām /

salile salilaṁ kṣīre

kṣīram-iva brahmaṇi layī syāt //51//

In this way, dvaita vikalpe galite, when differentiated perception–and the threat of differentiated perception–the threat of differentiated perception is galite, is finished, is totally destroyed, pravilaṅghya mohanīṁ māyām, and mohanīṁ māyā also(i.e., ignorance, misunderstanding), and [when you know that] this [ignorance] is not the actual position, then salile salilaṁ, just as water is diluted in water [or] milk is diluted in milk, in the same way, this whole universe will be diluted in Parabhairava.

इत्थं तत्त्वसमूहे

भावनया शिवमयत्वमभियाते  ।

कः शोकः को मोहः

सर्वं ब्रह्मावलोकयतः  ॥५२॥

itthaṁ tattva-samūhe

bhāvanayā śiva-mayatvam-abhiyāte /

kaḥ śokaḥ ko mohaḥ

sarvaṁ brahmāvalokayataḥ //52//

[not recited or translated]131

 

कर्मफलं शुभमशुभं

मिथ्याज्ञानेन संगमादेव  ।

विषमो हि सङ्गदोष-

स्तस्करयोगोऽप्यतस्करस्येव  ॥५३॥

karma-phalaṁ śubham-aśubhaṁ

mithyājñānena saṁgamād-eva /

viṣamo hi saṅga-doṣas-

taskara-yogo’py-ataskarasyeva //53//

 

This is the theory of karma, the theory of actions, which bear fruit (karma phalam). It is good and bad; it is always good and bad.

Actions, all actions, [that] are being done, they are always bearing good fruit and bad fruit.

But it is because of association with brutes, when Parabhairava is associated with brutes, with rākṣasas (demons). He has made friendship with rākṣasas because of His own choice. Viṣamo hi saṅgadoṣa, Parabhairava is a devil! Parabhairava has become a devil in the market. Parabhairava is to be shot down–this Parabhairava. And that also is observed by Parabhairava in the upper level. Not [only] in that upper level [but] in the lower level also.

JOHN: So Parabhairava is shooting Parabhairava?

SWAMIJI: Yes, shooting-Parabhairava and shot-Parabhairava, at the same time.

JOHN: And the means of shooting also.

SWAMIJI: The means of shooting and . . .

JOHN: Pramāṇa, prameya, pramātṛ . . .

SWAMIJI: Yes.

JOHN: . . . and pramiti.132

SWAMIJI:

लोकव्यवहारकृतां

ये इहाविद्यामुपासते मूढाः  ।

ते यान्ति जन्ममृत्यू

In this excerpt from the Hymns to Shiva, Utpaladeva's Shivastotravali, Swamiji Lakshmanjoo explains the sixth chapter, called "Clearance of the Path", "Adhvavisphuraṇākhyaṁ ṣaṣṭham stotram, the sixth. Adhva visphuraṇākhyaṁ means, if I am treading on the path of Thee, just to achieve You, just to get entry in Your kingdom, the happenings on the path, other happenings on the path are a disturbance. Those disturbances he wants to get removed."

 

https://www.lakshmanjooacademy.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/SivaStotravaliCh4v1-4.mp3

Chapter Six

Clearance of the Path

Adhvavisphuraṇākhyaṁ ṣaṣṭham stotram

SWAMIJI: Now, this chapter is [called] “adhva visphuraṇā-khyaṁ ṣaṣṭhaṁ stotram”, the sixth. Adhva visphuraṇākhyaṁ.

BRUCE P: What does that mean?

SWAMIJI: Adhva visphuram means, if I am on the path, I am treading on the path, on the path of Thee, Thy path, just to achieve You, just to get entry in Your kingdom, the happenings on the path, other happenings on the path, that are a disturbance, those disturbances he wants to get removed.

It is only madness in this stotra.

Adhva visphuraṇākhyaṁ ṣaṣṭhaṁ stotram. He wants clearance of his path (adhva visphuraṇ). Adhva visphuraṇa means, he wants his path on which he is treading, just [to obtain] clearance, so that [he] could tread nicely.

क्षणमात्रमपीशान वियुक्तस्य त्वया मम  ।

निबिडं तप्यमानस्य सदा भूया दृशः पदम्  ॥१॥

kṣaṇamātramapīśāna viyuktasya tvayā mama /

nibiḍaṁ tapyamānasya sadā bhūyā dṛśaḥ padam //1//

Īśāna, O Lord, mama tvayā viyuktasya, when I become separated from Your Self, kṣaṇamātram api, even for one second–when I become separated, when I am placed away from You even for one second, one moment–nibiḍaṁ tapyamānasya, You must understand that I catch fire of sadness, at once. I am burnt in the fire of sadness at that moment.

Sadā bhūyāḥ dṛśaḥ padam. So, it is worthwhile for You, my Lord, to remain in front of me always. Because, when I am kept away from Your Self, even for one moment, I get burnt with sadness, the fire of sadness. So, sadā bhūyā dṛśaḥ padam, be in front of me, remain in front of me, always.

 

वियोगसारे संसारे प्रियेण प्रभुणा त्वया  ।

अवियुक्तः सदैव स्यां जगतापि वियोजित  ॥२॥

viyogasāre saṁsāre priyeṇa prabhuṇā tvayā /

aviyuktaḥ sadaiva syāṁ jagatāpi viyojitaḥ //2//

It is a fact that this world (saṁsāre), this world is viyogasāre, it is to be . . . there is separation in the end. In this universe, there is separation. You are being separated from your kith and kin. You have to . . . viyogasāre saṁsāre, this saṁsāre, the essence of this world, is to [experience] separation. Separation will take place in the end. Everybody will be separated.

JOHN: “Separated” means death.

SWAMIJI: Yes. There is no contact afterwards.

So, this is the essence of the world–that I believe–but I have not attachment for my kith and kin. If I am separated from them, I don’t mind. But I have got attachment for Thee, my Lord. Priyeṇa prabhuṇā tvayā, You are my only thing. You are my wished and longed personality. I am craving for You.

Aviyuktaḥ sadaiva syāṁ jagatāpi viyojitaḥ. If I am separated from my relatives and kith and kin in the end, [I don’t mind]. I wish I was inseparable from Thee. I wish I was one with Thee, always. This is my earnest desire in my mind.

 

कायवाङ्मनसैर्यत्र यामि सर्वं त्वमेव तत्  ।

इत्येष परमार्थोऽपि परिपूर्णोऽस्तु मे सदा  ॥३॥

kāyavāṅmanasairyatra yāmi sarvaṁ tvameva tat /

ityeṣa paramārtho’pi paripūrṇo’stu me sadā //3//

Ityeṣa paramārtho’pi. This is the real science of our philosophy, ityeṣa paramārtho’pi, this is our true philosophy, that wherever I go, yatra yāmi,

Swamiji reveals what is the real essence of mantra in Kashmir Shaivism, and how mantras are one with Mother (Kundalini), who is one with Lord Shiva, and how to awaken the divine mother.

This is an excerpt from the second awakening, verse number 3 (Shiva Sutras 2.3).book: Shiva Sutras, The Supreme Awakening as revealed by Swami Lakshmanjoo, a purely monastic and ancient text of Kashmir Shaivism. Read about its origin here.

https://www.lakshmanjooacademy.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/SivaSutras2.03.mp3

3. vidyāśarīrasattā mantrarahasyam //

The secret essence of mantra

is establishment in the body of

the knowledge of oneness.

———

Here, knowledge means the supreme knowledge of oneness. It is, in the real sense, the supreme God who is the formation of the collection of all sounds. It is from this point that all sounds are created and stored. So, in another sense, it is the state of God consciousness that is one with the universe and filled with supreme I-consciousness.

This is the essence of all mantras. By the words “essence of all mantras” is not meant the mantras such as oṁ namaḥ śivāya, oṁ namo bhagavate vāsudevāya, etc. These mantras are not mantras in the real sense. Mantra, in the real sense, is that supreme I-consciousness. This is the secret about mantras.

This is also quoted in Śrī Tantrasadbhāva Tantra.

All letters are actually one with mantra and those mantras are one with Mother, the energy of Lord Śiva, and that Mother is one with Lord Śiva himself.

Even though this explanation is secret and can’t be exposed or explained, it is revealed in the Tantrasadbhāva Śāstra in this way. This is said by Lord Śiva to Pārvatī:

O Pārvati! There are those who are not maintaining the discipline as taught in the scriptures who do not believe that our master is one with Lord Śiva. They are crooked, attached to worldy pleasures and are not doing any spiritual practice. Because of these misdeeds I have extracted the splendor from their mantras. When that splendor is removed, these mantras become useless. For him who would wield these mantras, they are as good as letters. They have no value. You must have faith that the master is one with Lord Śiva. You must maintain discipline and character. You must not be given to attachment or worldly pleasures. When you live in this way, then your mantra will be filled with splendor and will remain successful.

Now the Tantrasadbhāva explains further:

 That Divine Mother, who is filled with supreme light, has pervaded the whole universe up to brahmaloka. O Devi! Just as all letters are found in the first letter, the letter “a,” in the same way, the whole universe is found in that Divine Mother.

Now I will explain to you some very essential characteristics of this Divine Mother. She is supreme, subtle, not limited to any particular school of philosophy or religion.6 This Divine Mother, called Kuṇḍalinī,7 is placed in the center of the heart.8 There you will find that Divine Mother, just like a serpent in the sleeping state. O Pārvati! There she rests in deep sleep, not perceiving anything other than her own self in a place called mūlādhāra9 by our masters.

In addition, this goddess, places in her body the moon (chandra), fire (agni), the sun (ravi), all the stars (nakṣatra) and all the fourteen worlds (bhuvanāni caturdaśa) and still she is absolutely unaware that this is happening in her own nature.

But how to awaken her? He now explains how this is done.

This goddess cannot be awakened with force. She can only be awakened by (nāda) supreme I-consciousness filled with supreme awareness. To awaken her, the yogī has to churn his point of one-pointedness in the heart, without break, again and again.

He must churn it by inserting sparks of awareness, one after another, again and again,

In this short lecture, Swamiji is revealing what the soul really is. This is an excerpt from Abhinavagupta's Kashmiri recension of the Bhagavad Gita [Chapter Two].

view on YouTube

 

DVD 2.1 (46:21)

न जायते म्रियते वा कदाचि–

न्नायं भूत्वा भविता वा न भूयः  ।

अजो नित्यः शाश्वतोऽयं पुराणो

न हन्यते हन्यमाने शरीरे  ॥२१॥

na jāyate mriyate vā kadācin-

nāyaṁ bhūtvā bhavitā vā na bhūyaḥ /

ajo nityaḥ śāśvato’yaṁ purāṇo

na hanyate hanyamāne śarīre //21//

[Lord Kṛṣṇa]: This soul, which has come into the body as an incarnation (in each and every body there is an incarnation of the soul), he has come into this body as an avatār does, but it is a misfortune for that person who does not understand this. It is a misfortune for that person who does not understand that "I am an incarnation. I have come [in this body] to elevate this whole universe." Being the elevator, He wants to make others get themselves elevated.

Do you understand?

No. For instance, I have come into this body. Actually, whoever has come into this body, he wants to make you understand that you are Parabhairava*, you are one with Bhairava. There is nothing less than Bhairava [existing] in you also–in anybody! In a feeble person also, he is also Parabhairava. He has come into this body to elevate the whole universe.

This you cannot understand very easily.

This is the cream of Shaivism!

_____________

*Parabhairava also called Universal God Consciousness.

(source: Abhinavagupta's Bhagavad Gita, In the Light of Kashmir Shaivism revealed by Swami Lakshmanjoo (available as on demand video and books with free audio separately).

All Content is subject to Copyright © John Hughes.

Swami Lakshmanjoo was very fond of Sacred Hymns of Utpaladeva's Shivastotravali, especially the verses below, and often requested his devotees to sing these.

You can listen to Swamiji and devotees chanting the 13th Chapter here. The complete audio/transcription of the Hymns to Shiva, Songs of Devotion in Kashmir Shaivism, Utpaladeva's Shivastotravali is available with free downloadable audio.

Below is an excerpt from the 13th Chapter (verse 1-4) revealed by Swamiji...

"He who is attached to God, he is beautiful because there is love for God. Love for God is charming." ~Swami Lakshmanjoo

 

Chapter Thirteen

In Summary . . .

Saṅgrahastotranāma trayodaśaṁ stotram

https://www.lakshmanjooacademy.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/HymnsToShivaCh13v1-4.mp3

SWAMIJI: Saṅgrahastotranāma trayodaśaṁ stotram.

These ślokas he has composed when he was in [his] senses. These [previous] ślokas were composed by him when he was gone.

JOHN: The rest of these ślokas in this book are when he was sane?

SWAMIJI: No, this, only the 13th chapter and 14th chapter. He was in his senses. Here [i.e., other chapters], he was not in senses.

Chapter 13 (00:29)

संग्रहेण सुखदुःखलक्षणं

मां प्रति स्थितमिदं शृणु प्रभो  ।

सौख्यमेष भवता समागमः

स्वामिना विरह एव दुःखिता  ॥१॥

saṅgraheṇa sukhaduḥkhalakṣaṇaṁ

māṁ prati sthitamidaṁ śṛṇu prabho /

saukhyameṣa bhavatā samāgamaḥ

svāminā viraha eva duḥkhitā //1//

 

Prabho, O Lord, in brief words, I will give you the definition of my pain and pleasure.

Just the meeting of Thee, just to meet You, is pleasure for me. Just to be away from You is pain for me. In brief words, it is the definition of pain and pleasure for me.

In brief words (saṅgraheṇa means in brief words), sukhaduḥkhalakṣaṇam, the definition of pain and pleasure for me, māṁ prati sthitam, for me, please hear, please note, that this is the definition of pain and pleasure for me.

And that definition [of my pleasure] is saukhyameṣa bhavatā samāgamaḥ, just to meet You, Thy meeting is pleasure for me and svāminā viraha eva, and being carried away from Thy presence is pain for me.

Chapter 13 (01:54)

अन्तरप्यतितरामणीयसी

या त्वदप्रथनकालिकास्ति मे  ।

तामपीश परिमृज्य सर्वतः

स्वं स्वरूपममलं प्रकाशय  ॥२॥

antarapyatitarāmaṇīyasī

yā tvadaprathanakālikāsti me /

tāmapīśa parimṛjya sarvataḥ

svaṁ svarūpamamalaṁ prakāśaya //2//

 

Īśa, O Lord, antarapi atitarāmaṇīyasī yā tvad aprathana kālikāsti me, I have that impurity in my mind, by which impurity, tvad aprathana kālikā; tvad aprathana, You are not appearing to me. I can’t perceive You by that impurity of mine.

SCHOLAR: Kālikā is . . .

SWAMIJI: Kālikā means blackness.

SCHOLAR: [For example], in gold, some kālikā is there, some impurity.

SWAMIJI: Impurity, yes. Kālikā means blackness (malinatā, dirt).

And that dirt is residing in my internal state of mind. The outside states of my mind are quite clear, quite pure, but inside there is some dirt in my mind.

SCHOLAR: Minute.

SWAMIJI: Minute. Aṇīyasī means minute.

SCHOLAR: Atitarāmaṇī.

SWAMIJI: Atitarām, very minute and [existing] internally. That is āṇavamala. That is . . .

SCHOLAR: Āṇavamala.

SWAMIJI: Āṇavamala.

SCHOLAR: Māyīyamala he has got rid of.

SWAMIJI: Māyīyamala, I have got rid of māyīyamala, and I have got rid of kārmamala. But there is inside that impurity, which is aprathana kālikā, which disturbs me by keeping away Your perception.

SCHOLAR: Because he can’t rest completely in Śiva bhāva. Is that right?

SWAMIJI: Yes.

SCHOLAR: Because there is always some āṇavamala.

This week's excerpt is from Abhinavagupta’s Paramarthasara (The Essence of the Highest Reality). 

Swami Lakshmanjoo chose to reveal the Paramarthasara because, as Abhinavagupta tells us, the Paramarthasara contains the complete essence of the teachings of Kashmir Shaivism. In this direct and clear-cut explanation, Swamiji reveals and clarifies the essential teachings of this profound philosophical and practical tradition.

View or download the video on YouTube.

SWAMIJI:  Let us start his śloka from the beginning of the commentary, his commentary, Yogarāja’s.

चिद्घनोऽपि जगन्मूर्त्या श्यानो यः स जयत्यजः  ।

स्वात्मप्रच्छादनक्रीडाविदग्धः परमेश्वरः  ॥१॥

cidghano ‘pi jaganmūrtyā śyāno yaḥ sa jayatyajaḥ /

svātmapracchādanakrīḍāvidagdhaḥ parameśvaraḥ // 1 //

Cidghano ‘pi parameśvaraḥ, although parameśvara, Lord Śiva is cid ghana, filled with all-consciousness, but yaḥ jagat mūrtyā śyāna, who has taken the formation of the universe, and he is coagulated there; it is the coagulated formation of cid ghana. The consciousness of Lord is just rubbery. You know rubbery? It is liquid form, and it has frozen. The frozen state of that cid ghana is this universe.

This is also good. Yogarāja says that “this universe is the frozen state of Lord Śiva, whose consciousness of Self-consciousness, universal consciousness, is coagulated.” It has become . . .

JONATHAN:  It mats together.

SWAMIJI:  Yes.

And svātma pracchādana krīḍāvidagdhaḥ, the main purpose of Lord Śiva is just to show the playful trick of hiding, how he hides his real nature. He has hidden his real nature in the manifestation of the world. In the manifestation of the world he is hidden. Otherwise he is also there.

योऽयां व्यधायि गुरुणा

युक्त्या परमार्थसारसंक्षेपः।

विवृतिं करोमि लघ्वीम्

अस्मिन् विद्वज्जनार्थितो योगः  ॥२॥

yo ‘yāṁ vyadhāyi guruṇā

yuktyā paramārthasārasaṁkṣepaḥ /

vivṛitiṁ karomi laghvīm

asmin vidvajjanārthito yogaḥ // 2 //

Yogarāja, I am . . . this Paramārthasāra saṁkṣepaḥ, the essence of Paramārthasāra, which was described by Śeṣa Patañjali to his disciple, his essence was really penned down by our great grand teacher of teachers, Abhinavagupta. He has penned down the essence of that Paramārthasāra which was sometime, in olden-ancient times, related to some disciple by Lord Patañjali.

JOHN:  The same Patañjali as the Yoga Sūtras Patañjali?

SWAMIJI:  Yes.

In that I am making the effort of doing the commentary on those ślokas of Abhinavagupta.

Bas. These [introductory ślokas are done.]

Now Abhinavagupta’s śloka.

परं परस्थं गहनाद् अनादिम्

एकं निविष्टं बहुधा गुहासु  ।

सर्वालयं सर्वचराचरस्थं

त्वामेव शंभुं शरणं प्रपद्ये  ॥१॥

paraṁ parasthaṁ gahanād anādim

ekaṁ niviṣṭaṁ bahudhā guhāsu /

sarvālayaṁ sarvacarācarasthaṁ

tvāmeva śaṁbhuṁ śaraṇaṁ prapadye // 1 //

Param, who is param (param means who is filled with five energies: cit, ānanda, icchā, jñāna and kriyā–you know these five energies?–that is param), param is pūrṇam, who is filled with these five energies. Gahanād parastham, who is above māyā, who is situated above (gahanāt means māyā); anādim, who has no beginning; ekam, who is one; and who has niviṣṭam, who has entered in various caves of the heart of universality.

He has entered in the cave of Parabhairava. He has entered in the cave of, just like from Parabhairava to the heart of a neglected insect. He has entered in the heart of an insect also, and he has entered in the heart of Paramaśiva also.

Sarvālayam, he is viśrānti, the abode of everybody. All are resting in that. Sarva carācarastham, and who is, where all jaḍa [inert] and cetana [conscious] classes are resting. “I bow to thee, O Śiva,

In our Weekly Sangha Denise was reading a section about meditation from the book "Self Realization in Kashmir Shaivism: The Oral Teachings of Swami Lakshmanjoo". Here is the excerpt for those that couldn't make it or want to read it again . . .

You need not struggle to fix your mind upon that point from which it has begun to waiver. In the initial stage of your exercise you only need to sit still with one-pointed effort (ekāgra). In one hour you will understand and experience, through one-pointedness, the bliss of the dawning of awareness. As it is further stated in the Bhagavad Gītā:

You must sit erect for meditation with enough strength to maintain that position and, at the same time, you must fix your gaze in the direction of the tip of your nose in order to restrain your eyes from wandering.2

Bhagavad Gītā 6:14

The posture has to be quite steady, straight, and motionless; one-pointed, with the mind fully concentrated on the guru-śabda or guru-dhāraṇā. Though the literal meaning of the text is that the aspirant should direct his sight in the direction of his nose (nāsikāgram), it may also be taken to refer to concentration on the word of the master (guru-śabda) or the resonance of unlimited I-Consciousness (guru-dhāraṇā), which the guru embodies and which is to be found in the junction (sandhi). This state of concentration can be achieved only after you have freed your mind of all worldly cares, completed your daily routine activities, and have had your full amount of sleep. Your mind must be absolutely free from all preoccupations. Then alone will you be able to meditate without deviation and gaze within yourself.

In the Bhagavad Gītā the Lord says:

At the time of meditation your mind must be serene, free from the forced obligation to meditate, determined with devotion to discover God Consciousness. In this state, your mind is to be continuously directed toward God Consciousness.3

Bhagavad Gītā 6:15

_______________

2. samaṁ kāyaśirogrīvaṁ dhārayann acalaṁ sthiraḥ /

saṁpaśyan nāsikāgraṁ svaṁ diśaś cānavalokayan //

3. praśāntātmā vigatabhīr brahmacārivrate sthitaḥ /

manaḥ saṁyamya maccitto yukta āsīta matparaḥ //

 

Source "Self Realization in Kashmir Shaivism: The Oral Teachings of Swami Lakshmanjoo"

Copyright © John Hughes