In this excerpt from the Vijnana Bhairava: The Manual for Self Realization Swami Lakshmanjoo explains a śāktopāya technique for revealing the formation of the nature of Bhairava by means of Bhairavī (Bhairavī means, uninterrupted awareness). How to maintain uninterrupted awareness?
Dhāraṇā 2
Now next.
मरुतोऽन्तर्बहिर्वापि
वियद्युग्मानिवर्तनात् ।
भैरव्या भैरवस्येत्थं
भैरवि व्यज्यते वपुः ॥२५॥
maruto’ntarbahirvāpi
viyadyugmānuvartanāt /70
bhairavyā bhairavasyetthaṁ
bhairavi ...
DVD 2.3 (28:32)
ध्यायतो विषयान्पुंसः सङ्गस्तेषूपजायते ।
सङ्गात्संजायते कामः कामात्क्रोधोऽभिजायते ॥६४॥
क्रोधाद्भवति संमोहः संमोहात्स्मृतिविभ्रमः ।
स्मृतिभ्रंशाट्बुद्धिनाशो बुद्धिनाशात्प्रणश्यति ॥६५॥
dhyāyato viṣay...
![By producing some vision of pleasure, [the ego] gives rise [to the enemy] inside.](https://kajabi-storefronts-production.kajabi-cdn.com/kajabi-storefronts-production/file-uploads/blogs/2147511598/images/c012e71-4081-b534-5cfa-b4d8cd772821_enemy-inside_fb_cleanup.jpg)
In this excerpt from Chapter Three of the Bhagavad Gita, In the Light of Kashmir Shaivism Swami Lakshmanjoo explains: Who is this enemy inside of our consciousness, how does it appear, and how does it rise? As those three questions of Arjuna are being answered by Lord Kṛṣṇa in this unique version of the Bhagavad Gita by Abhinavagupta.
Now Arjuna places his question for this.
DVD 3.2 (35:49)
भवत्येष कथं कृष्ण कथं चैव विवर्धते ।
किमात्मकः किमाचारस्तन्ममाचक्ष्व पृच्छतः ॥३८॥
bhavatyeṣa...
An important excerpt from the fifth verse of the Vijnana Bhairava: The Manual for Self Realization by Swami Lakshmanjoo, reveals the reality of supreme consciousness-the essence of all Tantra
Image by Antonio López from Pixabay
This is the question of Devī.
परापरायाः सकलम्
अपरायाश्च वा पुनः ।
पराया यदि तद्वत्स्यात्
परत्वं तद्विरुध्यते ॥५॥
parāparāyāḥ sakalam
aparāyāśca vā punaḥ /
parāyā yadi tadvatsyāt
paratvaṁ tadvirudhyate // 5 //
There are three energies. In fact, these śa...
In this excerpt from the Manual for Self Realization: 112 Meditations of the Vijnana Bhairava Tantra, verses 155 – 156, Swami Lakshmanjoo reveals what japa (repetition of a sacred word) really means and how to do it successfully.
“Japa is automatic recitation of breath. It is available to everybody, 24 hours a day.” ~Swami Lakshmanjoo
Listen to the audio below and read along with the transcript to learn more…
सकारेण बहिर्याति
हकारेण विशेत्पुनः ।
हंसहंसेत्यमुं मन्त्रं
जीवो जपति नित्...
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 universal. The huma...
“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 picture).
Chapt...
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 here…
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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 Kārikā. The treasure of all śāstras is existing in the fir...
Swami Lakshmanjoo explains what is moksha (liberation) in Kashmir Shaivism and compares it to other philosophical traditions like Vedānta 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 (mokṣa) is commonly accepted by all Indian philosophers. Yet, in reality, th
...
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)
तद्विद्धि प्रणिपातेन परिप्रश्नेन सेवया ।
उपदेक्ष्यन्ति ते ज्ञानं ज्ञानिनस्तत्त्वदर्शिनः ॥३४॥
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 placing questions be...
