I’m not finding a lot of info, and I could use some help. Could anyone tell me about it, and/or give me sources for further study? Thank you!

Thanks

Thanks

Tantric scholar-practitioner Christopher Wallis outlines the metaphysics and theology of non-dual Shaiva Tantra thus:

>All that exists, throughout all time and beyond, is one infinite divine Consciousness, free and blissful, which projects within the field of its awareness a vast multiplicity of apparently differentiated subjects and objects: each object an actualization of a timeless potentiality inherent in the Light of Consciousness, and each subject the same plus a contracted locus of self-awareness. This creation, a divine play, is the result of the natural impulse within Consciousness to express the totality of its self-knowledge in action, an impulse arising from love. The unbounded Light of Consciousness contracts into finite embodied loci of awareness out of its own free will. When those finite subjects then identify with the limited and circumscribed cognitions and circumstances that make up this phase of their existence, instead of identifying with the transindividual overarching pulsation of pure Awareness that is their true nature, they experience what they call “suffering.” To rectify this, some feel an inner urge to take up the path of spiritual gnosis and yogic practice, the purpose of which is to undermine their misidentification and directly reveal within the immediacy of awareness the fact that the divine powers of Consciousness, Bliss, Willing, Knowing, and Acting comprise the totality of individual experience as well—thereby triggering a recognition that one’s real identity is that of the highest Divinity, the Whole in every part. This experiential gnosis is repeated and reinforced through various means until it becomes the nonconceptual ground of every moment of experience, and one’s contracted sense of self and separation from the Whole is finally annihilated in the incandescent radiance of the complete expansion into perfect wholeness. Then one’s perception fully encompasses the reality of a universe dancing ecstatically in the animation of its completely perfect divinity.[56]

Thoughts?

I had a solo retreat recently that really changed my life. I followed the principles and practices from The Recognition Sutras (Christoper Wallis).

I won't go into too many details, other than saying that this (Kashmir Shaivism) feels like the way for me. One of the first realizations that hit me on the retreat was to do more retreats. To know and establish this connection of my essence nature is key. This must be my life purpose or I will wander aimlessly in confused and unaware suffering. There is no other way...

I am sick of living how I am. I am sick of distractions. I am sick of my identity and how I cling so tightly to it. I want to learn, work, meditate. I want to do this work seriously.

I am careful now of reading. I see how I use reading about spirituality as another distraction from facing myself. I know that I am totally deluded right now.

For so long I have been interested in spirituality, which was then blasted with an unexpected Kundalini awakening last year that... well changed everything too.

I never put myself fully into that which is really calling me. I'm ready now. I give up. My soul/self has spoken. I was quiet enough to listen and its power shone through. It was very painful and life-threatening (ego-wise). I stopped the process and began to mourn my identity. I've fallen back into this trap and I hate it. Well I quite like it too because... well this style of life is just meaningless. This is a nice place to be with no responsibility. But this is my life and after 30 years of this confused, painful, depressive-ness I finally saw and felt the way out of my suffering. I really felt it. I know I can do this now. There is a fear in me that my life will just be of suffering forever. Some kind of karma that I don't have the power to undo. It is so very deep and I saw and felt it all. I created all of it (even the idea that I can't do it).

Right now though... it doesn't feel as though it has any meaning whatsoever. The experience was so strong for me that I believe a natural flux of throwing me back the other way has come into effect. Well, I certainly asked for this too and let it happen. But, I know this other place exists and I know I can get there. I was too scared to go through totally before but now I am ready.

So I am sick of pussyfooting around so to speak. This is what I want and I must immerse myself in it.

Does anyone know of any place where this is possible? Essentially I would want a long-term program of study an

I've been familiar with Kashmir Shaivism for a few years now and was an ardent student from the first moment of its discovery. This is my attempt to create a road map for newcomers who are interested but don't know where to start.

>!I would like to humbly emphasize just how much time, effort, and frustration it took me before I could finally land in the valley of Kashmir. From the Western philosophy of Nietzsche, Schopenhauer, and Rudolph Steiner, from Sankhya Yoga, Raja Yoga, to Advaita Vedanta, to Dvaita and back to Advaita, all the while thoroughly seasoned by Tantra, and finally Shri Vidya.!<

Brief interlude

Surprisingly enough, there's a great number of articles on Wikipedia that offer great concise information, that serve as a background -- there's a lot of context to Kashmir Shaivism, and depending on how familiar you are with other schools of thought from the Indian subcontinent, it may be less or more useful to you.

Wikipedia is a great starting point is to grasp all the corners and the edges of the borders of what Kashmir Shaivism is before going in for the heart and the root. Wikipedia articles are full of references to various documentation and the community on academia.edu is small, but vibrant and very much alive. The academic efforts to push Kashmir Shaivism into the mainstream are very present and sincere.

Kashmir Shaivism (Bhairava Agamic Shaivism) and the West

The pioneers that made it possible to get a comprehensive image if this vast body of knowledge, though most scriptures are lost/not translated -- due to lack of attention, or quite simply a limited understanding of Sanskrit... or, simply put: the immense difficulty of the texts, were Gherardo Gnoli (ISMEO, Italy), Lilian Silburn (France) and John Hughes (Lakshmanjoo Academy, USA). All of the visitors from the West were centered around the last living exponent and true master of Trika Shaivism, Swami Lakshmanjoo. There were a couple more visitors from India, such as Chakravarty and Jaideva Singh, and a few more visitors from the West; to name a few: Alexis Sanderson (University of Oxford), Mark Dyczkowsky, and more that escape my memory.

Almost everyone who had something useful to say had studied at Swami Lakshmanjoo's ashram. John Hughes, who eventually established Universal Shaiva Fellowship & Lakshmanjoo Academy spent well over 2 decades studying and recording Lakshmanjoo's talks and teachings. I think it's best to go straight

https://youtu.be/hzLB0h9i2-o?t=2275

Kashmir Shaivism teaches that moksha is the realization of Shiva, who has always existed within us.

From The Secret Supreme:

> Beyond these three upayas, shambhavopaya, shaktopaya, and anavopaya, there is another upaya. Although it is not actually an upaya, yet it is mentioned in Kashmir Shaivism. This upaya is called anupaya. The word anupaya means “no upaya.” Thoughtlessness is called shambhavopaya. One-pointedness is called shaktopaya. Concentration on and with the support of mantra and breathing and all other elements is called anavopaya. Above all of these is anupaya. In anupaya, the aspirant has only to observe that nothing is to be done. Be as you are. If you are talking, go on talking. If you are sitting, go on sitting. Do not do anything, only reside in your being. This is the nature of anupaya. Anupaya is attributed to ananda shakti of Shiva and is called anandopaya.

Or, as another site puts it:

> This Anupaya yoga is the highest, the final and the direct means to liberation. A mere touch or a mere glance of the one who is in the state of Anupaya makes one's entrance pure to the kingdom of Transcendental Bliss. Just as a Poisonous snake emits the venomous effect to a person from a great distance, similarly a great yogi residing in Anupaya state sends the seeker, who has intense devotion for the Lord into the same state owned by him, by his mere glance or touch without making any difference between the master and the disciple.

I am posting this because I see it as identical to Zen's praxis. It also may serve as an interesting insight into just how radical Zen is, compared to other soteriologies.

From the Teachings of Swami Lakshmanjoo 📷

Swami Lakshmanjoo (1907-1991) was one of the foremost expounders of Kashmir’s Krama tradition, and was an inspiration to both Indian and Western scholars and seekers.

In the summer of 1991 Swami Lakshmanjoo, a direct master of the Kashmir Shaiva tradition, visited Los Angeles. One sunny afternoon, while listening to a group of devotees singing bhajans in praise of Mother Divine, he went into an ecstatic mood. Moving about the room he enticed everybody to dance. As the fever of the singing gained momentum Swamiji moved gracefully to the center of the room, eyes brimming with tears. He began to outline the shape of a figure, invisible to all but himself. After sometime he returned to each devotee and showered them with a blessing from the unknown visitor.

Swamiji remained in an ecstatic mood for the remainder of that day, and before retiring he confided in a quiet tone, “Goddess Durga appeared today in the meeting room downstairs.” For Swami Lakshmanjoo the vision of Goddess Durga was not to be taken as something extraordinary. There was no doubt that Mother Divine had graciously woven Herself into the fabric of his life since early childhood. He did add though, with a tone of humor mixed with a slight air of surprise, “Goddess Durga… visited America!”

📷

Some fifty years earlier, in his humble ashram in Kashmir nestled quietly on the side of a mountain overlooking beautiful Dhal Lake, Swamiji had compiled a small booklet entitled Kramanaya Pradipika. Based on the ancient Krama System of Kashmir Shaivism, this booklet shed light on the essential meaning of the twelve aspects of Kali.

In Kashmir Shaivism, Kali in Her highest embodiment is known as Kalasankarshini. Like a divine actress in her own universal play, She assumes the roles of Sristi Kali, Rakta Kali, Sthitinasha Kali, Yama Kali, Samhara Kali, Mrityu Kali, Rudra Kali, Martanda Kali, Paramarka Kali, Kalagnirudra Kali, Mahakala Kali and Maha-bhairava-ghora-canda Kali. Through these twelve manifestations She creates, maintains and destroys this whole universe from within Her own nature.

In Sristi Kali She is ever present as the first impulse of any perception. In Rakta Kali She is direct perception. In Sthitinasha Kali She is the appeased state where the curiosity of perception has ended. In Yama Kali She winds up the state of thinking and perceiving and again resides in her own nature. These f

This is fascinating. Quite aside from the similarities between Jung's cosmology and that of Nondual Kashmir Shaivism (or Nondual Shaiva Tantra, as some prefer), it provides a good overview of the development of NKS/NST thinking from 7th century beginnings through its full explication during the 10th and 11th centuries in the Pratyabhijna, the works of Abhinavagupta, and the Spandakarikas.

The paper is at just about the right level of clarity and moderate detail for a comparative newcomer like me. It's particularly good about describing the evolving differences between different sects in terms of their beliefs about the fundamental nature of reality. It also makes it clear just how inclusive this branch of tantra was:

> This is a monism that encompasses both unity and difference, and subsumes both under a higher, integral unity, “a structured whole consisting of a graded hierarchy (taratamya) of metaphysical principles corresponding to the planes of existence (dasa).” 103

> The relationship of the ultimate nature of Reality in Kashmir Shaivism to other metaphysical positions is particularly important. As Dyzcowksi points out, “almost every school of Indian thought aspires to lead us to a plane of being and an experience which it believes to be the most complete and satisfying.” 104

> Furthermore [in the NKS view], “All these views are correct insofar as they correspond to an actual experience. But this is because the absolute, through its inherent powers, assumes the form of all the levels of realization (bhumika) which correspond to the ultimate view (sthiti) each system upholds. Dualism is not an incorrect view of reality although it corresponds to only one of the levels within the absolute.” 105

> This is the sense in which Kashmir Shaivism is truly integral; it does not outright deny other metaphysical and religious systems, but rather qualifies and integrates them into a higher order of religious and metaphysical truth.

Tantric Alchemy of the Soul: A Philosophical Analysis and Synthesis of Jung and Kashmir Shaivism

The Author described the meditation experience of rising kundalini.

"The happiness and bliss that you exprerience here just cannot be described. It is ecstacy beyond ecstasy. This bliss is just like sexual bliss. In comparing sexual happiness with the happiness experienced here, however, you will find that sexual happiness is one millionth part of the happiness experienced."

He says again in another chapter

"Here, as in cit kundalini, the intensity of real love blooms forth. It is so full of love and bliss that the experience of sexual bliss experienced at the height of intercourse completely pales in comparison."

I was wondering how active Kashmir Shaivism is in India. I don't see any major maths or gurus. Most of the popular attention is to advaita and the like. Most of the interest in the internet is from westerners and academics and sort of arcane in its scholarship. I would love to know any active practitioners on the site about their opinion and suggestions on resources for someone that has some idea about its precepts.

I am a westerner who has been exploring Eastern beliefs for a while and I am curious if in general, esoteric practices such as these are looked down on by most Hindus or how these systems within Hinduism are viewed by mainstream Hinduism (if there is such a thing)? I know Hinduism is wonderfully diverse and accepting but would appreciate views on this.

Nondual Shaivism, nowadays popularly known as Kashmir Shaivism is a group of nondualist Tantric Shaiva traditions that are thought to have originated in the second half of the first millennium in Kashmir. The final goal in Nondual Shaivism is to recognize one's already existing identity with Universal Consciousness. It's rather not a goal but an awakening to the real you that's always here.

The practitioners use the concept of Shiva, Shakti and Jiva in the process of a quick sadhana (spiritual practice). Shiva is the noun for Universal Consciousness; Shakti, the free will of Universal Consciousness to pour out as individual consciousness, Jiva.

Shiva represents the absolute unity, all that is, encompassing Shiva(itself), Shakti(its free will) and Jiva(its manifestation). An analogy would be fire encompassing itself, its power and all the shapes in the fire.

Shakti (Free Will) is the path through which Shiva pours out as Jiva, like fire making various shapes while still being itself.

Shakti (Free Will) is also the path through which Jiva pours in as Shiva, like the shapes in fire awakening to being the fire themselves.

Awake or not, the shapes in the fire are the fire. You are Shiva, the totality that contains you!

Some months ago I came across Kashmir Shaivism and was instantly impressed of the nondual monistic model and started to study it further. My earlier experience of spirituality comes from Buddhism which places high emphasis on ethics. What sort of ethics should one follow when they are on the Shaivist path and are there some relevant differences what comes to Buddhist ethics?

http://np.reddit.com/r/hinduism/comments/2bv5ie/want_to_be_more_spiritual_but_i_am_an_atheist/cj9toon

I know this site is agnostic and I am only sharing my personal experiences,you dont have to agree with it but please remain respectful.this is not an attack on your materialism or naturalism.even if you dont agree with it,at the end I have full proof that islam is false based on these experiences,so even if you're a atheist you will get something out of it.

Muhammed said in sahih ahadeeth that if you see him in a dream its always him,because satan can't impersonate him.

a little context and backround,I come from a Baptist backround,dissillusioned from christianity as a child because christians I knew in my circle and family were either hypocrites that didn't live according to the gospel message in terms of christian morality or if they followed the letter of the law did not follow the spirit of the law like unconditional love,compassion,nonjudgemental,humility and charity.

and I dabbled in sufi islam (reading fethullah gulen and risale e nur )from ages 14-18,left after seeing how the quran had contradictions and mistakes and then became spiritual incorporating aspects of kashmir shaivism.I became dissullusioned with that after seeing how my Guru(nithyananda) who I and millions thought was literally God on earth was a rapist fraud I then became a sufi muslim for two months again this year as the sufis I met my entire life were very good people that followed both the letter and spirit of the law wich I was attracted to,but felt something was wrong.I read apologetic resources all day,tried to find logical arguments for tawheed and wahdat al wujud.

well,I asked God..whoever he was..to show me the truth no matter what it was.that very night I had a dream with muhammed in it(HE SAID I AM NABI MUHAMMED a few times before saying whats coming) and he told me he was a liar,a devil,and false prophet in those exact words.he kept on saying this for about 30 minutes in the dream.it was one of those nonstop dreams that are more like a vision.I've only ever had this kind of dream with my former guru,who I do believe definately has some powers only from the dark side.

woah..God answered my dream!and he made it clear so there is no ambiguity or room for doubt!

after that Dream I was SURE islam was false,as muhammed said IF YOU SEE HIM IN A DREAM ITS ALWAYS HIM AND HE SAID I AM NABI MUHAMMED MANY TIMES BEFORE SAYING THIS MANY TIMES...

Unfortunately I might be going to jail soon for i don't know how long, hopefully a short amount of time, but while I am in jail I would like to learn more and meditate more and really take the opportunity to grow. I'm new to Hinduism, but I would have an extraordinary amount of time to read and contemplate and meditate and I was wondering if there are any large books with a lot of pages to read to learn more about Shaivism and/or Hinduism in general. Short books are nice, but for the amount of time I plan on reading I would really prefer large books. Any recommendations?

According to Kashmir Shaivism, do things happen for a reason? Is there meaning in life or things just come to happen randomly?

This world is a will of Shiva. But looking at it, it doesn't feel like its created with any purpose because things just come and go in one's life randomly. For example, my friend was living a good life and all of a sudden he died in an accident. He and me never expected that. I know couple of good people who died because of corona as if the virus doesn't discriminate between the good or bad. Often the innocents end up taking the beating while the criminals walk free. Sometimes we see wrong happening but nothing can be done. Some people do evil and no one punishes them until they are dead. This makes me wonder that if the world is a will of Shiva, why isn't there any meaning in our lives and world around us?

Hello, first post on here. I have experienced kundalini in its violent and explosive forms, but previous to that I was practicing a daily form of mantra meditation for 20 years. One of the more surprising manifestations, in the later stages of that, was a pleasant, creeping energy that would sometimes emerge from my mouth and gradually cover my whole body. I used to get a lot of back trouble, and spent a lot of time at the osteopath, but when this thing happened, it would clear up any pain and stiffness immediately. I haven't had chronic back pain since.

I had never come across any descriptions of this until I was in conversation with a friend who is a scholar of yoga, who mentioned the pippalam (ants) form of kundalini. As soon as I heard that I knew that it was what I experienced. Pippalam is not just tingling or whatever ... it's like having a mass of energy creep over the entire body. Very weird, but enjoyable, gentle and healing.

The meditation practice is from the tantric tradition and involves repetition of a mantra initially, but then following the sound into its more subtle forms, until finally one reaches the causal level, the 'para' in the navel. I think pippalam is described in Kashmir Shaivism.

Has anyone else experienced this? I would be really interested to hear, as I've never met anyone else who had this happen.

Let's look back at some memorable moments and interesting insights from last year.

Your top 10 posts:

• "Happy Cakeday, r/KashmirShaivism! Today you're 5" by u/AutoModerator
• "Saktisim among the Shaivas" by u/kengurt
• "PSA: Rupert Spira's audio book Transparent Body Luminous World is now available for digital purchase" by u/qwedcxzas8
• "Where can I find a Kashmir Shaivist guru?" by u/nobbly_norman
• "An interesting talk on Kashmir Shaivism by Swami Sarvapriyananda" by u/thecriclover99
• "Does anyone have a English translation of Sivadristi?"
• "Regarding reincarnation doctrine in Kashmiri Shaivam." by u/pro_charlatan
• "A Free Course on Malinivijayottara Tantra is being offered by Āchārya Sthaneshwar Timalsina." by u/desmontes
• "Looking for some resources" by u/kengurt
• "Does Shiva see the world as how a puppeteer sees his puppet show and do we see this world as how a puppet sees the puppet show ?" by u/pro_charlatan

I don't want to step on anybody's toes here, but the amount of non-dad jokes here in this subreddit really annoys me. First of all, dad jokes CAN be NSFW, it clearly says so in the sub rules. Secondly, it doesn't automatically make it a dad joke if it's from a conversation between you and your child. Most importantly, the jokes that your CHILDREN tell YOU are not dad jokes. The point of a dad joke is that it's so cheesy only a dad who's trying to be funny would make such a joke. That's it. They are stupid plays on words, lame puns and so on. There has to be a clever pun or wordplay for it to be considered a dad joke.

Again, to all the fellow dads, I apologise if I'm sounding too harsh. But I just needed to get it off my chest.

I've heard that these gurus simply do not exist.

I've also heard that they do exist but only in India.

I've also heard that you must spend several years with them.

Does anyone know where I can find one?

Has anyone been in contact with one of these gurus or has any experience?

I'm not looking to get up and leave right now either! I'm following another path at the moment and am entering into foundational practices... but Kashmir Shaivism seems to always speak directly to me, and gave me very fast progress seemingly by just reading and practicing over a few weeks on a solo retreat.

Do your worst!

I'm surprised it hasn't decade.

For context I'm a Refuse Driver (Garbage man) & today I was on food waste. After I'd tipped I was checking the wagon for any defects when I spotted a lone pea balanced on the lifts.

I said "hey look, an escaPEA"

No one near me but it didn't half make me laugh for a good hour or so!

Edit: I can't believe how much this has blown up. Thank you everyone I've had a blast reading through the replies 😂

It really does, I swear!

Because she wanted to see the task manager.

I’m not finding a lot of info, and I could use some help. Could anyone tell me about it, and/or give me sources for further study? Thank you!

Sometimes we become so focused or aware of western channeled material and esoteric knowledge that we forget that the Law Of One has also been taught to many different societies and civilizations throughout history and they have their own records, interpretations, and varying distortions of that knowledge which is always and ever the same.

However, I was researching some Hindu philosophies of non-duality and oneness and I found that the Advaita Vedanta and Kashmir Shivaism seem to most closely align with Ra’s message in the LOO.

This is a summary of the Kashmir Shavism philosophy from the Wikipedia page.

Tantric scholar-practitioner Christopher Wallis outlines the metaphysics and theology of non-dual Shaiva Tantra thus:

**All that exists, throughout all time and beyond, is one infinite divine Consciousness, free and blissful, which projects within the field of its awareness a vast multiplicity of apparently differentiated subjects and objects: each object an actualization of a timeless potentiality inherent in the Light of Consciousness, and each subject the same plus a contracted locus of self-awareness. This creation, a divine play, is the result of the natural impulse within Consciousness to express the totality of its self-knowledge in action, an impulse arising from love. The unbounded Light of Consciousness contracts into finite embodied loci of awareness out of its own free will. When those finite subjects then identify with the limited and circumscribed cognitions and circumstances that make up this phase of their existence, instead of identifying with the transindividual overarching pulsation of pure Awareness that is their true nature, they experience what they call “suffering.” To rectify this, some feel an inner urge to take up the path of spiritual gnosis and yogic practice, the purpose of which is to undermine their misidentification and directly reveal within the immediacy of awareness the fact that the divine powers of Consciousness, Bliss, Willing, Knowing, and Acting comprise the totality of individual experience as well—thereby triggering a recognition that one’s real identity is that of the highest Divinity, the Whole in every part. This experiential gnosis is repeated and reinforced through various means until it becomes the nonconceptual ground of every moment of experience, and one’s contracted sense of self and separation from the Whole is finally annihilated in the incandescent radiance of the complete expansion into per