Schools of Thought

[Guest guest]

Harsha, Jan and Jerry,

Wanted to say thank you for the deep exchange that have been brought

up in the last few days, in only a few emails. Even deeper than the

space behind the sun saying hello to a flower opening into the

mornings rays

The Trika is an interesting notion...

It was also interesting on the next day to fall on this perception of

the Uttara Kaulas School. In the Saundarya-Lahari, (verse 35), it is

said talking about them:

"In the pre-creation state of Pralaya, Siva and Sakti form the

Alogical Whole. But when the creative Cycle begins, the

differentiation of the Subjet and Object (Prakasa and Vimarsa) arises

through the threefold stresses of Nada, Bindu and Kala. It is Vimarsa

(Reflector) that generates the Self awarness as the "I" in the

Prakasa (Pure consciousness). This Vimarsa Sakti is what is called he

Siva-yuvati (Consort of Siva) and in Vers 6 as Pura-ripur aho-purusika

(what gives the "I sense" or "self-awarness" to Siva). This

differentiation of the Alogical Subject-objectless Whole into the

Subject and Object includes the assumptions of the role of

Siva-Yuvati (Consort of Siva), having as its sole purpose the

evolution into various categoris that constitute the universe".

A Merry Christmas,

Antoine

-

umbada (AT) ns (DOT) sympatico.ca

nondualitysalon ;

Friday, December 22, 2000 3:56 PM

Bhairava: Schools of Thought

The following from Gurubhakta Markandeya was received and is

submittedhere:-------------------------

The following is a conversation I had with a dear brother in

Shiva,who had some questions regarding Buddhism, Vedanta, and Trika.

The following response from myself is in regards to his question of

the difference between nihilism and transcendentalism and how it

applies to Trika.~Markandeya Nihilism is the Buddhist view that the

void, Shunya is the Supreme. Vedanta, on the other hand, holds that

there is a Supreme Being, full of the Light of Consciousness, but

with no activity. The world is therefore illusary. In the end, it is

Trika that guides the jiva through the experience of the void of

Buddhism, into his essential realization of his nature as identical

with the Transcendent source (atma vyapti of Vedanta), and beyond

these two, to the expansion of that essential realization to include

all of existence in all its varieties as nothing less than the glory

of the Supreme, the expansion of His divine Shakti. In the Trika

view, Shiva is not only full of the Light of Consciousness, but

possessive of Absolute and completely Independant Free Will. This

makes Shiva not the victim of an indefinable Maya, but rather, Maya

is the result of His own independent Free Will, full of both the

Light of Knowledge AND Action. This is Shiva/Shakti. The Absolute,

for the Shaiva, is the Supreme Light of Consciousness which illumines

all things, full of Knowledge AND Activity. For the Buddhist, the

world is 'something' that arose from no-thing. There is a first

primal misconception, the original conception, and from that the pain

of experience arose in the Nothing, which is perpetuated by a

continuous stream of samskaras, thoughts which link one to other in

an endless self perpetuating stream of pain and delusion. For the

Vedantin, the Ultimate is not a return to nothing, but a return to

the Supreme Transcendent Brahman, pure Light of Being. All of 'this'

is merely illusion for the Vedantin. For the Buddhist, enlightenment

comes when one is established in the Void and the world is

annihilated. For the Vedantin, enlightenment comes when the world is

Transcended, negated, and only the knowledge of the Pure Transcendent

Brahman remains. Trika absorbs both of these. Buddhism Trika holds

that the Void which Buddhists experiences is truly there. In fact,

the Void is the means that Shiva used to detach his Absolute

Awareness from Himself. It is that moment in creation which His

Shakti seemingly disconnected itself from itself, like a computer

rebooting, and when God came back from the 'reboot' he was ignorant

of His all encompassing nature. This is how he has the multitude of

'experiences.' This is how the totality comes to enjoy unlimited

particularity. This moment of separation of Consciousness from

complete Awareness of itself is called Anashrita Shiva, that first

primal moment that Shakti or dynamic Awareness seemingly becomes

'separated' from the Absolute Consciousness and expands into an

infinitude of limite 'things' seeking the whence and where of their

nature and having a marvelous journey along the way. In the final

analysis, says the Shaiva, this marvelous play, this epic drama

happening on infinite levels and from infinite angles is merely the

blissful sport of the One Absolute. This is the secret of the Tantric

doctrine. Shakti and Shiva are never really separate at all; it is

only a seeming separation. This power to do this is called Maya

Shakti or Shivamayi. Absolute Consciousness (Shiva) is no longer

Absolutely Aware (Shakti), and the Shakti which has by Her own Free

Will contracted into the Kundalini which is the mother of all

Creativity and resides as the individuated awareness or individual,

is no longer Aware of Its Absolute Consciousness. For the bound soul,

he is not fully aware (Shakti) of his Absolute Consciousness (Shiva),

and he is not Conscious (Shiva) of His Absolute Awareness (Shakti).

So for the Shaiva, the Void of Buddhism is the merely the first step

back towards the Absolute. How, says the Shaiva, can there be an

experience of the void as the Buddhists contend, unless there is an

unchanging absolute Experiencer or Experient to experience the void?

The void, says the Shaiva, is not the Absolute, it is merely the

first step of Absolute Consciousnes/Awareness creatively contracting

Its Unity Consciousness, and expanding into a reality of diversity

consciousness. Likewise, in the return of the jiva back to Shiva, the

void is the first step towards withdrawing from this experience of

diversity of objects, back to an expansion of the Absolute Awareness

of Consciousness that is whole and complete...Consciousness which is

wholly Aware. For the Shaiva, the void is merely the lack of

objectivity, the first move back towards the Ultimate, of which the

void is a real part of and dependent on. Vedanta Now, as for Vedanta,

the attainment of the essential Self, called Atma vyapti is also a

very real and legitimate step towards the Absolute. However, stopping

at the point of negation of the world is a fatal flaw, according to

the Shaiva yogi. Atma vyapti is necessary as a step, or a phase, of

destroying the ignorance of the mind. This, in Trika, is called

bauddha ajnana, or the ignorance of the mind as the personal center

or self. Atma vyapti is merely the removal of this bauddha ajnana.

This is where the Vedantins proclaim enlightenment, but for the

Shaiva yogi, it is only the necessary predecessor to the final aim,

which is the removal of paurusha ajnana. Mere removal of Bauddha

ajnana only lands the yogi in blank abstactions, such as real and

unreal, etc...For the Shaiva, the mind must first be cleared of

ignorance and established as being in non-difference with Shiva (atma

vyapti) before the final beatitude can be accomplished, which is the

expansion of this Shiva realization to include all of existence

(Shiva vyapti). Atma vyapti is the removal of bauddha ajnana; Shiva

vyapti is the expansion of that essential realization of Self to its

original glory, which is all-inclusive. For the Shaiva, individual

effort is acknowledged as the way to Atma vyapti, as is maintained by

the Vedantists through vichara (enquiry) viveka (discrimination) and

vairagya (dispassion). However, the final beatitude comes only

through divine agency. This act of grace, imparted by Shiva through

the agency of the Guru or by direct divine intervention, is called

Shaktipat, and the result is the expansion of the essential

realization of the jiva as Shiva to include all of existence. This is

Shiva vyapti, this is moksha or mukti in the Trika of Kashmir.

Gurubhakta Markandeya