Kashmir Shaivism is so rich and detailed in its theology and soteriology that it has been aptly described as “the mystical geography of awareness.”
It includes a highly developed system of spirituality that emphasizes not only the intellectual understanding of its philosophy but also the direct realization, the direct experience, of its truth.
For the Kashmir Shaiva, the very nature of truth, its defining characteristic, is that it is both limited and unlimited, atomic and...
“The light of Consciousness is not only pure Consciousness”, and Swami Lakshmanjoo explains why this is so in this excerpt from the book Self Realization in Kashmir Shaivism, The Oral Teachings of Swami Lakshmanjoo. This is from Chapter Three; Entrance into the Supreme Reality.
This is a good book to understand some of the basics of Kashmir Shaivism, as well as learn about Swami Lakshmanjoo’s life.
Swami Lakshmanjoo teaching in Kashmir (sitting on the right side of...
The following excerpts highlight some of the experiences of the renowned Saint, Swami Vivekananda, when he visited Kashmir in 1898.
ARANYAMAL* RAINA
The Sweet Mother
Aranyamal Raina was the wife of Pandit Narayan Das Raina. Pandit Narayan Das was the first among the Kashmiri Pandits to speak and write English, wear Western clothes and ride a cycle. Both Aranyamal and Pandit Narayan Das were devotees of Swami Ram Ji, a saint and the greatest exponent of Shaivism. Pandit Narayan Das also adored...
!["When it [meditation] is one-pointed, then you don’t breathe."~Swami Lakshmanjoo](https://kajabi-storefronts-production.kajabi-cdn.com/kajabi-storefronts-production/file-uploads/blogs/2147511598/images/4e6006b-5b7e-a60-e68f-37441463f24c_meditation-onepointed-new.jpg)
The most important point about meditation is contained within this lecture. It explains very clearly how to meditate with one-pointedness. This excerpt is from Chapter 5 of the Bhagavad Gita, In the Light of Kashmir Shaivism, by Swami Lakshmanjoo).
This Saturday, May 9th, we celebrate Swami Lakshmanjoo’s Birthday. You are invited to join us online via webstream. Please join us also for our annual four-day retreat, May 10-13th, held online for the first time. Read more and register...
This is an excerpt from the Spanda Sandoha, an exposition of Kṣemarāja on the first verse of the Spanda Kārikā written by Vasuguptanātha, revealed to us by Swami Lakshmanjoo. Available now as a complete set under the title The Mystery of Vibrationless-Vibration in Kashmir Shaivism: Vasugupta’s Spanda Kārikā & Kṣemarāja’s Spanda Sandoha – revealed by Swami Lakshmanjoo).
“He has given the indication of the spanda principle in his Spanda Karika. The treasure...
Swami Lakshmanjoo explains what is moksha (liberation) in Kashmir Shaivism and compares it to other philosophical traditions like Vedanta and Buddhism. This is an excerpt from the fourteenth chapter of the book, Kashmir Shaivism – The Secret Supreme, revealed by Swami Lakshmanjoo. (This is not a transcript of the audio).
The view that ignorance is the cause of bondage and perfect knowledge is the cause of freedom (moksa) is commonly accepted by all Indian philosophers. Yet, in...
Swami Lakshmanjoo explains what is real devotion and initiation in Kashmir Shaivism (from Abhinavagupta’s Bhagavad Gita, chapter 4, verse 34).
DVD 4.3 (24:35)
तदविदधि परणिपातेन परिपरशनेन सेवया ।
उपदेकषयनति ते जञानं जञानिनसतततवदरशिनः ॥॥
tadviddhi praṇipātena paripraśnena sevayā /
upadekṣyanti te jñānaṁ jñāninastattvadarśinaḥ //34//
[Lord Kṛṣṇa]: That knowledge you will understand by bowing before them [i.e., the learned masters], paripraśnena, by...
In the Vijñāna Bhairava, Bhairava sets out one hundred and twelve techniques of spiritual practice to be used by an aspirant eager to realize the divine universal reality. In this excerpt, Swami Lakshmanjoo explains practice on the thirty-six elements (tattvas).
This is Dhāraṇā 31, verse 54, of the one hundred and twelve techniques from the Manual for Self Realization: 112 Meditations of the Vijnana Bhairava Tantra.
Dhāraṇā 31
सवदेहे जगतो वापि
सूकषमसूकषमतराणि च ।
तततवानि यानति...
Abhinavagupta’s Bhairava Stotra is a unique hymn that is a part of the Sacred Verses for Sunday Puja. Swamiji revered these verses, as he did all of the works of Abhinavagupta. He would request his devotees to recite the Bhairava Stotra regularly, and it was always recited at the end of any major spiritual function at his ashram in Kashmir.
These verses encapsulate the entire philosophy and experience of Kashmir Shaivism, so we wanted to share them with everyone, as they are very...
In the summer of 1987, Swamiji began compiling important verses from the various scriptures he had studied throughout his life. Each Sunday he would distribute one or two slokas to devotees, at the same time giving, in brief, their essential meaning. In all Swamiji revealed a total of eighty-five verses. The following year Swamiji traveled to Nepal where he spent a month with the Hughes family recording his revelation on those verses in the “Special Verses on Practice“.
When asked...
In his commentary on the Bhagavad Gita, Abhinavagupta shared a important verse he wrote about the supreme Goddess – Para Devi in Kashmir Shaivism, where he explained… Who is the supreme Devi and where does she exist?
Devi Stotra
Tatha ca mayaiva sivasaktyavinabhava stotre [Bhagavad Gita, chapter 15, comm. verse 19]. I, [Abhinavagupta], have also somewhere in the Siva Sakti Avinabhava Stotra, I have penned down slokas for Devi.
Who is Devi?
JOHN: Svatantrya sakti.
SWAMIJI: Sva...
In this lecture from the Manual for Self Realization: 112 Meditations of the Vijnana Bhairava Tantra, verses 24, Swami Lakshmanjoo reveals the correct way of meditation on breath with “so‘ham” mantra.
Dhāraṇā 1
शरीभैरव उवाच
ऊरधवे पराणो हयधो जीवो
विसरगातमा परोचचरेत ।
उतपततिदवितयसथाने,
भरणादभरिता सथितिः ॥॥
śrī bhairava uvāca
ūrdhve prāṇo hyadho jīvo
visargātmā paroccaret /
utpattidvitayasthāne,
bharaṇādbharītā sthitiḥ // 24 //
Ūrdhve is from upwards, movement...
