Kashmir Shaivism - Classification of the written tradition

Kashmir Shaivism is the philosophical school of consciousness that arose in Kashmir about 1200 years ago. The notion of Kashmir Shaivism originated in 1913 with the publication of J.C. Chatterji's text of the same name. Before that point the same thoughts would have been labeled Shaiva Monism, or the generic form Trika. Kashmir Shaivism is a tantric system with emphasis in areas which Navjivan Rastogi describes in his foreword for Dynamic Stillness by Swami Chetanananda, "The logical structure of Kashmir Shaivism ...

Including:

• Kashmir Shaivism - Siva the Great Initiator and Saviour
• Kashmir Shaivism - The Siva Sutra
• Kashmir Shaivism - Classification of the written tradition
• Kashmir Shaivism - Abhinavagupta the great initiate
• Kashmir Shaivism - Trika the concept of trinity
• Kashmir Shaivism - The Trika schools
• Kashmir Shaivism - History of Kashmir Shaivism
• Kashmir Shaivism - Shaivism in relation to other religions or spiritual paths
• Kashmir Shaivism - Possibilities of learning and practicing the Kashmir Shaivism today

Read more here: » Kashmir Shaivism: Encyclopedia - Kashmir Shaivism

There are many important schools of Shaivism, some of Buddhist origin, some that are dualistic (Shaivism is monistic), etc. The highest of these Schools are grouped in the Trika School. Trika is a quintessence of the Kashmir Shaivism. The word ’trika’ means ’trinity’ in Sanskrit, and its meaning is that everything has a triple nature. At the highest level, this trinity can be resumed to: God (Siva), Sakti – God’s creative Energy, and Anu - the Individual – the reflection of Siva - Sakti, the limited projection of the God ...

See also:

Kashmir Shaivism, Kashmir Shaivism - Siva, the Great Initiator and Saviour, Kashmir Shaivism - The Siva Sutra, Kashmir Shaivism - Classification of the written tradition, Kashmir Shaivism - Abhinavagupta, the great initiate, Kashmir Shaivism - Trika, the concept of trinity, Kashmir Shaivism - The Trika schools, Kashmir Shaivism - History of Kashmir Shaivism, Kashmir Shaivism - Shaivism in relation to other religions or spiritual paths, Kashmir Shaivism - Possibilities of learning and practicing the Kashmir Shaivism today

Read more here: » Kashmir Shaivism: Encyclopedia II - Kashmir Shaivism - Trika, the concept of trinity

All these three branches of the Shaivism tradition were put together by a mind of genius – the most brilliantly outstanding personality and the one who reached the highest spiritual realization on this path: the great Initiate and Liberated Abhinavagupta. Among his important works, the most important is Tantraloka (’The Divine Light of Tantra’), a work in verses which is a majestic synthesis of genius of the whole tradition of Shaivism. Abhinavagupta succeeded almost miraculously to smooth out all the apparent differences and asperitie ...

See also:

Kashmir Shaivism, Kashmir Shaivism - Siva, the Great Initiator and Saviour, Kashmir Shaivism - The Siva Sutra, Kashmir Shaivism - Classification of the written tradition, Kashmir Shaivism - Abhinavagupta, the great initiate, Kashmir Shaivism - Trika, the concept of trinity, Kashmir Shaivism - The Trika schools, Kashmir Shaivism - History of Kashmir Shaivism, Kashmir Shaivism - Shaivism in relation to other religions or spiritual paths, Kashmir Shaivism - Possibilities of learning and practicing the Kashmir Shaivism today

Read more here: » Kashmir Shaivism: Encyclopedia II - Kashmir Shaivism - Abhinavagupta, the great initiate

In general, the whole written tradition of Shaivism can be divided in three fundamental parts: Agama Sastra, Spanda Sastra and Pratyabhijna Sastra. 1. Agama Sastra are those writings that are considered as being a direct revelation from Siva. These writings were first communicated orally, from Master to the worthy Disciple. They include essential works such as MalénivijayaTantra, Svacchanda Tantra, Vijnana Bhairava Tantra, Ratnamala Tantra, Mrgendra Tantra, Rudrayamala Tantra, Siva Sutra and others. There ar ...

See also:

Kashmir Shaivism, Kashmir Shaivism - Siva the Great Initiator and Saviour, Kashmir Shaivism - The Siva Sutra, Kashmir Shaivism - Classification of the written tradition, Kashmir Shaivism - Abhinavagupta the great initiate, Kashmir Shaivism - Trika the concept of trinity, Kashmir Shaivism - The Trika schools, Kashmir Shaivism - History of Kashmir Shaivism, Kashmir Shaivism - Shaivism in relation to other religions or spiritual paths, Kashmir Shaivism - Possibilities of learning and practicing the Kashmir Shaivism today

Read more here: » Kashmir Shaivism: Encyclopedia II - Kashmir Shaivism - Classification of the written tradition

Trika is made up of several spiritual schools. 1. The oldest (historically speaking) of these schools is called Krama. In Sanskrit, ’krama’ means ’process’, ’order’ or ’succession’. The basic idea of this system is that the road to perfection has certain stages or steps. Each of these steps is governed by an aspect of the Divine. Therefore, God is actually present all the way, but each new step reveals a more profound face of Him. The Krama system is based upon the concept of Sakti as the Supreme Creative Energy ...

See also:

Kashmir Shaivism, Kashmir Shaivism - Siva the Great Initiator and Saviour, Kashmir Shaivism - The Siva Sutra, Kashmir Shaivism - Classification of the written tradition, Kashmir Shaivism - Abhinavagupta the great initiate, Kashmir Shaivism - Trika the concept of trinity, Kashmir Shaivism - The Trika schools, Kashmir Shaivism - History of Kashmir Shaivism, Kashmir Shaivism - Shaivism in relation to other religions or spiritual paths, Kashmir Shaivism - Possibilities of learning and practicing the Kashmir Shaivism today

Read more here: » Kashmir Shaivism: Encyclopedia II - Kashmir Shaivism - The Trika schools

The schools of Shaivism have an attitude that most of the time do not conform to the accepted Brahmanic tradition. Shaivism is not exclusively based upon the Veda-s, therefore it cannot be said that Shaivism is a prolongation of the Veda-s. Shaivism has discovered a new path toward God that is even more profound than the one outlined in the Veda-s. The main differences between these two systems come from the introduction of the concept of Sakti, The Power or The Energy of God. This concept does not appear in the Veda-s with the same clarity. ...

See also:

Kashmir Shaivism, Kashmir Shaivism - Siva the Great Initiator and Saviour, Kashmir Shaivism - The Siva Sutra, Kashmir Shaivism - Classification of the written tradition, Kashmir Shaivism - Abhinavagupta the great initiate, Kashmir Shaivism - Trika the concept of trinity, Kashmir Shaivism - The Trika schools, Kashmir Shaivism - History of Kashmir Shaivism, Kashmir Shaivism - Shaivism in relation to other religions or spiritual paths, Kashmir Shaivism - Possibilities of learning and practicing the Kashmir Shaivism today

Read more here: » Kashmir Shaivism: Encyclopedia II - Kashmir Shaivism - Shaivism in relation to other religions or spiritual paths

Kashmir Shaivism has almost disappeared as a practiced spiritual system. Even in Kashmir there are very few people still following this spiritual path. The most notable recent shaivist is Swami Brahmacharin Lakshman Joo. Some occidental researchers have studied and brought to light parts of the traditional writings including: Mark S.G. Dyczkowski (UK), Paul Eduardo Muller-Ortega (USA) and Lilian Silburn (France). Raniero Gnoli (Italy) is perhaps the only person who attempted the translation of Tantraloka from Sanskrit in ...

See also:

Kashmir Shaivism, Kashmir Shaivism - Siva the Great Initiator and Saviour, Kashmir Shaivism - The Siva Sutra, Kashmir Shaivism - Classification of the written tradition, Kashmir Shaivism - Abhinavagupta the great initiate, Kashmir Shaivism - Trika the concept of trinity, Kashmir Shaivism - The Trika schools, Kashmir Shaivism - History of Kashmir Shaivism, Kashmir Shaivism - Shaivism in relation to other religions or spiritual paths, Kashmir Shaivism - Possibilities of learning and practicing the Kashmir Shaivism today

Read more here: » Kashmir Shaivism: Encyclopedia II - Kashmir Shaivism - Possibilities of learning and practicing the Kashmir Shaivism today

All these three branches of the Shaivism tradition were put together by a mind of genius – the most brilliantly outstanding personality and the one who reached the highest spiritual realization on this path: the great Initiate and Liberated Abhinavagupta. Among his important works, the most important is Tantraloka (’The Divine Light of Tantra’), a work in verses which is a majestic synthesis of genius of the whole tradition of Shaivism. Abhinavagupta succeeded almost miraculously to smooth out all the apparent differences and asperitie ...

See also:

Kashmir Shaivism, Kashmir Shaivism - Siva the Great Initiator and Saviour, Kashmir Shaivism - The Siva Sutra, Kashmir Shaivism - Classification of the written tradition, Kashmir Shaivism - Abhinavagupta the great initiate, Kashmir Shaivism - Trika the concept of trinity, Kashmir Shaivism - The Trika schools, Kashmir Shaivism - History of Kashmir Shaivism, Kashmir Shaivism - Shaivism in relation to other religions or spiritual paths, Kashmir Shaivism - Possibilities of learning and practicing the Kashmir Shaivism today

Read more here: » Kashmir Shaivism: Encyclopedia II - Kashmir Shaivism - Abhinavagupta the great initiate

The tradition of Kashmir Shaivism was transmitted during centuries from master to disciple only, from "mouth to ear". The first great initiate recorded in history of this extraordinary spiritual path was Vasugupta (end of VIII century – beginning of IX century B.C.). Vasugupta formulated for the first time in writing the principles and main doctrines of this system. After Vasugupta, the esoteric literature of Kashmir Shaivism explosively blossomed and lasted for almost four centuries, during which it became very voluminous ...

See also:

Kashmir Shaivism, Kashmir Shaivism - Siva the Great Initiator and Saviour, Kashmir Shaivism - The Siva Sutra, Kashmir Shaivism - Classification of the written tradition, Kashmir Shaivism - Abhinavagupta the great initiate, Kashmir Shaivism - Trika the concept of trinity, Kashmir Shaivism - The Trika schools, Kashmir Shaivism - History of Kashmir Shaivism, Kashmir Shaivism - Shaivism in relation to other religions or spiritual paths, Kashmir Shaivism - Possibilities of learning and practicing the Kashmir Shaivism today

Read more here: » Kashmir Shaivism: Encyclopedia II - Kashmir Shaivism - The Siva Sutra

There are many important schools of Shaivism, some of Buddhist origin, some that are dualistic (Shaivism is monistic), etc. The highest of these Schools are grouped in the Trika School. Trika is a quintessence of the Kashmir Shaivism. The word ’trika’ means ’trinity’ in Sanskrit, and its meaning is that everything has a triple nature. At the highest level, this trinity can be resumed to: God (Siva), Sakti – God’s creative Energy, and Anu - the Individual – the reflection of Siva - Sakti, the limited projection of the God ...

See also:

Kashmir Shaivism, Kashmir Shaivism - Siva the Great Initiator and Saviour, Kashmir Shaivism - The Siva Sutra, Kashmir Shaivism - Classification of the written tradition, Kashmir Shaivism - Abhinavagupta the great initiate, Kashmir Shaivism - Trika the concept of trinity, Kashmir Shaivism - The Trika schools, Kashmir Shaivism - History of Kashmir Shaivism, Kashmir Shaivism - Shaivism in relation to other religions or spiritual paths, Kashmir Shaivism - Possibilities of learning and practicing the Kashmir Shaivism today

Read more here: » Kashmir Shaivism: Encyclopedia II - Kashmir Shaivism - Trika the concept of trinity

Kashmir Shaivism is a part of the more general Shaivist religion. Sivaism is strictly speaking the oldest spiritual path. The archaeological discoveries at Mohenjo Daro and Harappa reveals Sivaism to have an ancient history of thousands of years. Traces of it can be found under different names in all genuine spiritual paths. In general, it can be said that the Kashmir Shaivism has two main historical periods: one before Abhinavagupta and one after Abhinavagupta. Before Abhinavagupta, the different schools of Shaivism still had ...

See also:

Kashmir Shaivism, Kashmir Shaivism - Siva the Great Initiator and Saviour, Kashmir Shaivism - The Siva Sutra, Kashmir Shaivism - Classification of the written tradition, Kashmir Shaivism - Abhinavagupta the great initiate, Kashmir Shaivism - Trika the concept of trinity, Kashmir Shaivism - The Trika schools, Kashmir Shaivism - History of Kashmir Shaivism, Kashmir Shaivism - Shaivism in relation to other religions or spiritual paths, Kashmir Shaivism - Possibilities of learning and practicing the Kashmir Shaivism today

Read more here: » Kashmir Shaivism: Encyclopedia II - Kashmir Shaivism - History of Kashmir Shaivism