Siva Sûtras 1.1, 2.1, and 3.1

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Siva Sûtras 1.1, 2.1, and 3.1

 

Siva Sûtra contains three chapters:

 

1 - Sâmbhavopâya - the means of becoming

 

2 - Sâktopâya - the means of divine power

 

3 - Anavopâya - the means of refinement

 

Hence, in simplistic overview, we might say that Siva Sutra is concerned with

the subtle mechanics of increasing states of awareness, of the blissful

flowing energy transformations thereby seen, and of the ever increasing

subtleties that further lead directly to the field of pure transcendental

being.

 

Since the very first verse of each of the three chapters rather gets us into

the spirit of such an understanding, we list these first:

 

 

S1.1 Self is pure consciousness (being).

"caitanyam âtmâ"

pure-consciousness self

 

caitanya - consciousness, intelligence, sensation, soul, spirit, the

Universal Soul or Spirit; pure consciousness

 

The âtma is the self and this self is pure consciousness. The self is often

referenced as the 'purusa'. These two terms appear in mixed fashion among

the literatures, but 'purusa' usually seems to be a subtler version, as a

'soul' for instance, which structures the less subtle âtma, the 'self'.

Equivalently, some writings use 'self' and 'Self' to designate 'âtma' and

'purusa', respectively. This is fine but there yet may be even more subtle

levels of realities that might structure the formation of purusa.

 

 

S2.1 Mantra is mind (consciousness).

"cittam mantrah"

mind mantra

 

Cittam references the mind and is often called 'mind stuff'. Exactly how we

visualize this mind stuff is something that changes with time as our

attention to subtle detail continues to evolve. Some translate cittam as

consciousness and other variations thereof, depending on context. Siva Sutra

attempts to add a little more quantitative definition and meaning to cittam,

so that it need not remain such a vague and abstract thing of unknowingness.

A more critical ontology here evolves that can glorify the living state of

being through experience.

 

 

S3.1 Mind (consciousness) is self.

"âtmâ cittam"

self mind

 

Now consciousness is self. 'Mind stuff' is self. This is little 'self', not

yet evolved into big 'Self'. It is the refinement of this little self that

eventually leads to the bit Self. The mind stuff of the little self needs

yet to find sufficient dissolution to move into big 'Self'.

 

So, the above three verses together indicate that self is consciousness and

mind is mantra and mind is self. Self is now also seen as mantrah, a new

arrival to this subtle scene of reality. Self, consciousness, mind,

mind-stuff, and mantra are thus all interrelated with one another through

straight forward syllogistic reasoning, which is just plain common sense.

Each of the three aspects of subtlety are virtual identities among one

another but they have different flavors to exhibit the glory of this lila

play of life.

 

We must come back to these three precious sutras, the cornerstones of all

that we are doing, after we cover the whole Siva Sutra in more detail.

 

jai guru dev,

 

Edmond