
In this excerpt from The Light on Tantra in Kashmir Shaivism, Abhinavagupta’s Tantraloka, Volume One, Swami Lakshmanjoo reveals the nature of liberation (mokṣa).
B) The nature of Liberation – Mokṣa (31–35)
Now the thirty-first [śloka]:
Audio 2 – 0:02
स्वतन्त्रात्मातिरिक्तस्तु तुच्छोऽतुच्छोऽपि कश्चन।
न मोक्षो नाम तन्नास्य पृथङ्नामापि गृह्यते॥३१॥
svatantrātmātiriktastu tuccho’tuccho’pi kaścana /
na mokṣo nāma tannāsya pṛthaṅnāmāpi gṛhyate //31//
Now, he explain...


SWAMIJI: No, go on meditating and go in giving training, treatment, to your mind for gaining onepointedness. That is all. You have to gain onepointedness with this treatment. And when once you hav...

In this excerpt from Abhinavagupta’s Tantraloka, Swami Lakshmanjoo explains what Malas (Impurities) really are in Kashmir Shaivism.
“This mala is very subtle. . . . Mala is neither formless nor with form.
It is just ignorance . . . It doesn’t allow knowledge to function, knowledge is stopped. Mala is absence of knowledge. Mala is not something substantial.
So this absence of knowledge takes place only by ignorance, and that ignorance is mala. Otherwise there is no mala, mala is not existing...

An excerpt from Abhinavagupta’s Tantraloka, 8th Āhnika, about the highest point—bindu—and it’s meaning in Kashmir Shaivism. The contents of this blog post are copyright protect and may not be used without the written permission of the owner.
Painting by Claudia Dose, used with permission of the artist.
ūrdhve bindvāvṛitirdīptā
tatra padmaṁ śaśiprabham /
śāntyatītaḥ śivastatra
tacchaktyutsaṅgabhūṣitaḥ // 377 //
Ūrdhve bindvāvṛitirdīptā, above Sadāśiva, above the element of Sadāśiva there
...