“The truth is therefore this: the Supreme Lord manifests freely all the varied play of emissions and absorptions in the sky of his own nature.” – The Doctrine Of Vibration By Dr. Mark Dyczkowski

A Brief Sketch of Abhinavagupta

Abhinavagupta lived in Kashmir from about the middle of the tenth century into the eleventh. He was, without a doubt, the most brilliant of the Kashmiri Saiva teachers and one of the greatest spiritual and intellectual giants India has produced. He was and is still hailed as a polymath  – a philosopher, aesthetician, art-critic, dramaturgist, tantric, practitioner, yogin, metaphysician, devotee, researcher, historian, commentator etc. He wrote more than sixty works, some very extensive, and all remarkable for the beauty of their Sanskrit and profundity of thought.

His literary activity falls into three periods. In chronological order these are:

1) Tantrika. This, the first period of Abhinavagupta’s literary life, extends probably up to his early fourties. In this period Abhinava sought in his writings to establish the superiority of Trika above all other schools of Agamic Saivism. His most important work during this period is the Light of the Tantras (Tantraloka). His aim was to bring together the major Saivagamic schools into that of Trika Saivism and in so doing he has provided us with a unique account of Agamic Saivism.

2) Poetics and Dramaturgy. In the second period of his life Abhinava wrote important works in these fields. Indeed, it is for this contribution that he is best known. His commentary on the Natyasastra, the foremost treatise in Sanskrit dramaturgy, testifies to its excellence and influence. Similarly, his commentary on Anandavardhana’s Mirror of Suggestion (Dhvanyaloka) is justly famous. In this work Anandavardbana and Abhinavagupta expound the theory that the soul of poetry is its power of suggestion through which sentiment is conveyed to the reader.

3) Philosophical. In the last period of his life Abhinava wrote extensive and profound commentaries on Utpaladeva’s Stanzas on the Recognition of God (Isvarapratyabhijnakarika). In these commentaries he elucidates the Doctrine of Recognition (pratyabhijna) which is the monistic philosophy proper of Kashmiri Saivism.

The Importance of Tantraloka

“Abhinavagupta presents his Tantraloka as an explanation of the teachings of the Malinivijayottara, the Trika Tantra he considers to be the most authoritative” – Dr. Mark Dyczkowski

Abhinava intends his Anuttara Trika to be understood not as something new, but as the final development of the Trika school of Shaivism, which is one of the oldest of the Bhairava current of Shaivite scriptural traditions—and the most explicit and detailed presentation of its essential teachings. Anuttara Trika comes at the end of the development of some centuries of Shaivism.

The Tantraloka comprises over 6,700 verses, every one resonant with boundless suggested sense. In the Tantraloka we witness one of the world’s greatest minds developing a Tantric system with a depth and breadth that has remained unparalleled for a thousand years. The traditions Abhinavagupta has knit together in his exposition of the teachings of the Anuttara Trika were always transmitted in two parallel ways, written and oral. The text is so long and complex that even the immediate meaning is not always clear, let alone its hidden implicit meaning. It is this implicit meaning that is the focus of the oral transmission—the meaning we can only  understand by applying the teachings in practice.

O.M SAU.H PARAAYAI NAMA.H

Sources:

1. The doctrine of vibration. An analysis of the doctrines and practices of Kashmir Shaivism, by Mark S.G. Dyczkowki
2. Article on 2012 Berkeley Immersion, Mark S.G. Dyczkowski
3. Abhinavagupta, G.T Deshpande, Sahitya Academy, 1992

 Goddess Kubjika – A short overview

It is a striking fact – and no less so even though it may take years of study to notice — that Kubjikā appears suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere. She appears with her own complex and extensive Tantra whose teachings are framed in their own ancient tradition. However, although she and her Tantra are new, they are linked to a chain of systems that grew with the same suddenness and intensity in the milieu first of the Bhairava and then the Kaula Tantras.

Kubjikā’s sudden appearance is not unique. The emergence of major divine forms – supreme deities – is one of the features of Tantric cults in general. From the inception, first of the Bhairava Tantras, probably around the beginning of the 7th century, and then Kaula Tantras, Great Goddesses like Kubjikā emerge like milestones marking the course of their development. This phenomenon coincides with the immense proliferation of multitudes of minor forms and their spontaneous ordering into pantheons, great and small. These are defined by their collocation in groups, symmetrically arranged in the mandalas of the deities who are the focus of the cult. She is variously addressed in her tantras : Kubjinī – the Hunchback Girl, Kubjī, Kujā, Kujī, Khañjinī – the Lame One, Vakrikā or Vakrā – the Crooked One, Ciñcinī – the Goddess of the Tamarind, Kulālikā – the Potteress, Ambā or the vernacular form Avvā, and Anāmā, Laghvikā and, most common of all, Śrī – the Royal One who has as her scripture, teaching, school and tradition (anvaya, āmnāya) the Śrīmata.

Kubjikā is a goddess with immense metaphysical depth, a large varieties of forms, forms of yoga (especially those linked with the movement of vital breath) multiple associations with many other divine forms, and an extensive and complex cult. Worshipped in her Tantras along with Bhairava, her consort, she is endowed with all the theological and metaphysical attributes of a Supreme Deity and Absolute Being. Kubjikā is also a very secret goddess. Indeed, she is so secret that the extent of her cult was discovered less than forty years ago when manuscripts kept hidden by Newar potentates and initiates in the Kathmandu Valley for centuries, began to be photographed on a large scale. Arguably, Kubjikā has been the best kept secret on the subcontinent and, for that reason, her Newar devotees would say, the most powerful one. Thus, it is not despite her obscurity and isolation from the world, but rather because of it, that Kubjikā is one of the Great Goddesses of Hinduism.

Dr. Mark Dyczkowski’s Works and Goddess Kubjika

“This is the strange and wonderful vortex of power into which I was suddenly plunged when all those years ago I stumbled upon the goddess Kubjika. Or did she (Kubjika) seek me out?”  – Dr. Mark Dyczkowski

Dr. Mark Dyczkowski’s first contact with the goddess Kubjika was in 1981. That was the year when he got married, and he received as a wedding present from his friend and preceptor Professor Alexis Sanderson a copy of a manuscript of the Kubjikamatatantra.  At that time he was still deeply involved in Kashmiri Saivism, but the seed had been sown. In the following years he made regular trips to the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal where he found manuscripts of many more Tantras that came originally from India and liturgies dedicated to the goddess Kubjika, although she is now virtually unknown in her country of origin.

It seemed also that she was no longer worshipped in the valley either. There were no temples to her or other outer signs of her presence. Nonetheless, he continued to make enquiries until, in 1987, someone found the courage to tell him that he had taken initiation into her cult. This led to the discovery that the Newars, the original inhabitants of the Valley, true to their strong Tantric inclinations, practice a surprising number of secret Tantric cults, both Buddhist and Saiva. Focusing his attention on the Saiva cults, he was astonished to discover the existence of a ‘secret society’ several centuries old. It is common practice amongst South Asian Hindus in general to have a family deity (kuladevata), although it is often relatively neglected. But for Saiva Newars their family deities are the prime focus of their religious concerns. Moreover, these deities are all Kaula goddesses whose cults died out in the rest of the subcontinent centuries ago. Admitting, as such cults did when they were still practiced elsewhere, numerous local and regional variations, the manner they are worshipped is distinctly Newar. But even so, they clearly retain their original Tantric character and present an interesting picture of how they may have been practiced in the past elsewhere.

The Malla king, his goddess and his priest together are the axis of this inner secret society. Dr. Mark Dyczkowski set out in this trail blazing journey impelled by the inner call of Kubjika, the goddess of the Malla’s priests, as powerful as it has always been mysterious. This strange inner and secret path led him some years later to the revelation of the identity of the Malla’s own goddess. This journey culminated in his completion of a 14 volume, 5600 page work on the Manthanabhairava Tantra.

The publisher of this web site and members of this Kula can personally attest the immense power in the revelations of Kubjika in Dr. Dyczkowski’s works on the goddess.

O.M SAU.H PARAAYAI NAMA.H

Sources:

1. Manthanabhairavatantram, Kumarikakhandah (14 Vols. set) by Mark S.G. Dyczkowski
2. A Journey in the World of the Tantras by Mark S.G. Dyczkowski
3. Kubjika, The Erotic Goddess, by Mark S.G. Dyczkowski
4. Publisher’s discussions with Dr. Mark Dyczkowski

In the way of speaking of Anuttara Trika Kula, we are little tiny infinitely small pin-pricks of consciousness. This is like a tiny light shining in immense darkness. Hidden within the depths of our being,  in the very core of the essence of who we are, shines God. We can experience that to certain extent very faintly when we pay attention. That core, that center we call it “Hrudayam- the heart”. That heart we say is very vast that contains the whole universe.  Now at the core of the heart, a wonderful thing is taking place – God, infinite being is coming and communing with the whole universe. Out of his infinite light, pouring infinite forms of energy shining everywhere all around us within us, even in every tiny part he is shining. This is how god is present in everything through his energies. Even this little tiny energy in ourselves contains entire God. The Trika masters are teaching that we have forgotten that inner light and looking away elsewhere, suffering. Our agenda then is a journey into core of our hearts where the lord is uniting joyfully with all his energies and end our sufferings once for all.

There are many different kinds of revealed scriptures called tantras or agamas belonging to many different schools and traditions – Buddhist tantras, Jain tantras Hindu tantras. Even within Hindu tantras, there are different schools according to deities they worship. Some worship Lord Vishnu as their supreme deity, some Lord Shiva and some Goddesses. Even among those who worship the same deity there are different traditions and lineage of masters associated with them.

In the process of understanding these traditions and what they teach, our life will change, our behavior will change, our morals will develop and our experience will expand. There are thousands of tantras. The great masters of tantric traditions explain what is most essential in the tantras of their tradition in relation to the other tantric traditions. One way is to view them as set in an order of precedence with respect to their own in such a way that the preceding ones support the ones that follow. So we can enter one tradition and as we develop spiritually we would take initiations into the higher one. The higher ones are not seen to be denying the lower ones, rather as completing them. In this way, there is a sequence beginning with the Atimarga of the Pasupatas, who just preceded the Tantras, followed by the Siddhanta Agamas, the Bhairava tantras of the Left, those of the Right, Mata, Kula, Kaula, and Trika. This sequence of traditions are accompanied by tantras belonging to those traditions.

Some tantric traditions are more centered on ritual, others on Yoga or developing insight through reason, reflection and meditation. For example, Tibetan Buddhism considers tantras to be the supreme revelation of teachings of Buddha. The lamas perform many rituals and practice many forms of yoga.  So it may come as a surprise to know that the course of study in most Tibetan monasteries stresses heavily the study of logic. It is more surprising that these great logicians were discussing what is beyond reason. One of the recurring themes is the relationship between what is directly known and how it is conceived to be.  This is the way of knowledge. This is linked to the practice of concentration because as that develops so does intelligence and insight, two aspects of wisdom nurtures compassion. The way of yoga requires the knowledge of the subtle body and the movement of the breath through the subtle body. Great tantric traditions are transmitted and grow through great teachers who were silent masters with profound knowledge of the scriptures as well. These traditions are based on the tremendous spiritual power transmitted from one individual to another both of whom were in states of perfect purity. They would look at their disciples who are ready and the disciples will have vision of energies, voids and transform the reality around them.

 In this way the greatest teachers combined these two aspects, insight and yoga.

Several matters are taught in the tantras, – rituals, mantras, Yogic practices etc. Some of these matters are more important in certain schools compared to other schools. From the perspective of Trika Shaivism, these matters are understood in higher perspectives. As we rise through the other traditions, consciousness becomes progressively  more encompassing, more free. For the earnest Trika student, the purpose of all the tantras is to achieve liberation, possess the perfect freedom of fully expanded all-encompassing consciousness. Liberation is a state of knowledge.  We are subject to all these sufferings, frustrations, physical illness, madness, inner problems, quarrels with each other, wars and in the end we die. All great Indian traditions agree that this is because we are ignorant. By ignorance, we don’t simply mean absence of intellectual knowledge alone. Our ignorance is spiritual ignorance.  Thus  the goal and purpose of every study is to gain that spiritual knowledge.

The experience of knowledge is the experience of God. When we are experiencing and knowing God this is called knowledge, this is true love because this what we experience, this is what we know.  How much experience of God do we have in our lives? How much love? This is the main question. The understanding of the depth and importance this question only comes through a transformation of ourselves that takes place through the power of grace Lord Shiva gives us.

As we go on penetrating into the teachings, we will go an penetrating into the fundamental essence of who we are most fundamentally. As we travel this path, we discover a growing sense within us that much needs to be done that we cannot do, only Lord Shiva can do it for us by the power of His grace.

OM SAUH PARAYAI NAMAHA

In his translation of Paratrisika Vivarana, Dr. Jaideva Singh explains how the 16 Kalaas, i.e. The phonemes ‘A’ through ‘Ah’ are called Svara on the account of their revealing the delightful mental state.

“Thus the word Svara means those which transmitting the essential nature to the highest experient (i.e. anuttara) offer themselves ie. get dissolved in anuttara (as vowels, in the aspect of Samhara or withdrawal) and offer their form as consonants like “ka” etc externally (in the aspect of Prasaara or expansion)…. Thus everyone in all kinds of knowledge, these phonemes from “A” to “Ksa”, ingenious in bringing about varied acts, coming together in their several, distinctive forms, fundamentally appearing without succession displaying the transition of forms one after the other by their effectuating powers bring about spatial and temporal distinction” – Dr. Jaideva Singh, Paratrisika Vivarana

Abhinava applies this integral vision to musicology. In his paper (Abhinavagupta’s contribution to the solution of some problems in Indian Musicology), Dr. Jaideva Singh explains beautifully Abhinava’s point of view on Svara.

vayaṃ tu śruti-sthānābhighāta-prabhava-śabda- prabhāvito’nuraṇanātmā snigdha-madhuraḥ śabda eva svara iti vakṣyāmaḥ

“The natural tendency of the mind is only towards plain sound. A musical note or svara has the power to obtrude itself on the mind, to set aside its natural tendency towards mere sound, and by its excess of pleasantness makes the mind susceptible to emotion, and thus imposing itself on it makes its presence felt. This is not a literary tour de force on the part of Abhinavagupta. He has drawn our attention to a patent psychic state aroused by a musical note, and in this consists his originality.”

Finally, when introducing Taala, Abhinava describes:

I offer threefold praise to this octoform body (Shiva), whose essence is illusion, holding a token of enjoyment, in whom there is perfect equilibrium of all worldly activity by means of divisions (kalaa), time (kalaa), and rest (laya). Abhinavagupta, Abhinavabharati 31.1

One can see how the master is packing his core philosophy into music and his introductory verse on Taala. Equilibrium seems to be the focus and raison d’être of his thinking which encompasses the divided activity of tone divisions (srutis), timing and the rest in between.

Hope this provides a taste of Abhinava’s genius in applying a consistent and cogent narrative to all areas – philosophy, music, drama etc.

With this in mind, we present you a very special music delight from Dr. Mark Dyczkowski. The recording is bit dated and not of best quality but his virtuosity is fantastic. We welcome you to immerse yourself in the Abhinavan universe.

1. A short introduction and speech by Kishor Kumar Misra, the great tabalist who worked as a faculty at The Center for Performing Arts for over 30 years and now retired
2. Raga Puriya Kalyan – Full performance
3. Raga Bhairavi – Short performance

“The mother is glorious, she is the ever new creation, and her foundation the pure energy of consciousness that manifests manifoldly”

On June 15, 2010, Dr. Dyczkowski gave a talk at California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco. In the talk, after his introduction, he covered the first verse of Tantraloka, followed by short but some fantastic readings on the Tantra of Three Headed Bhairava, 12 Kaalis and concluding with a Q&A.

In the introduction, he presented a birds eye view of how the tantric traditions provided a philosophical system which ultimately became an exegetical model through which subsequent tantric traditions developed a theory of consciousness, a theory of self and a theory of deity that can be considered as the most sophisticated analytical model that developed in the Indian sub-continent.

To elucidate this, he presents how the Shaiva masters had to fully leverage the tools of classical Indian philosophy to tackle the objections of Buddhists while accommodating the best of Upanishads.

To sum up, the thinking can be categorized into process theories of reality and the non-process theories of reality. We can associate non-process theories (Upanishad) with space and process theories (Buddhism) with time. Kashmir Shaivism bridges these two. One, the insubstantial indefinable that developed in some schools – a kind of streaming consciousness that is engaged in perception that constantly streams until it stills in a condition that is ineffable and that is insight. And on the other side the other view in which consciousness is a fundamental empirically indefinable pure witnessing consciousness that also escapes the relationship between subject and object ultimately and comes to rest in the ineffability of its absolute nature transcending empirical definitions. Both of these views mostly led to understanding the world as being transitory, phenomenal and its phenomenal nature inexplicable, equated in some way not fully real.

At this point, by this time, by the 6th 7th century AD when these discourses had developed to quite a complex level and had been understanding each other and variously criticizing one another and stimulating each other, the Tantras developed. That presupposed a kind of implied notion and perception of reality, the nature of reality which draws dynamic self regenerating manifesting kind of perpetually in an amazing proliferation of forms, divine forms, and at the same time remaining without contradiction as it were insubstantial, formless and non-empirically definable and both of these situations considered simultaneously to be deity.

ATK is delighted to present the first 35-minute of the audio recording to fellow seekers.

OM SAUḤ PARĀYAI NAMAḤ

Download the audio recording

Movement and rest are the primary polarities of existence, whether physical, mental biological, or the one divine consciousness of which they are all manifestations. The complex multi-layered expansion of the actuality of the Present is motion in time, and the interrelation between each aspect of the wonderfully varied picture present within and through it, is their repose in space. Together, each distinct and yet inseparably one, movement and rest encompass every possibility and each actuality. Such is the Freedom of the act of Being, such is the sublime and wonderful expression of Shiva’s consciousness. As space, consciousness rests in its Being; as Time it unfolds in the perennial movement of Becoming. The interface between Being and Becoming is the One. The wonderfully interlocking multi-layered activity of consciousness rests within itself as the entire process in each and every of even the most tiny parts of its expansion. Awareness is the door that connects the mundane world of our individual existence in which we and all things are confined within their own fixed form, to a world of wonderful possibilities in which everything is like a mirror that reflects within itself the entire processless process of movement and rest, Becoming and Being. Thus whatever we observe attending to this Movement and Rest reveals in the clarity of the immediacy of awareness the Plenitude of the One. As Rumi so beautiful puts it:

“Oceans disappear and reappear,
Inside the pearl that you are.”

In two immersions to be held in August in Northern California–the first in Grass Valley and the next in San Francisco–we will learn about the many wonderful details of this dynamism and how to participate in it in two domains. In the first we will learn to observe the wonderful activity of the One in the cycle of the breath, the microcosm of the Wheel of Time; in the second we learn to recognize its activity in the domain of perception.

As the Master Abhinavagupta teaches:

Creation and absorption are established all together within the vital breath. This also (rests) within cognitive consciousness and that in pure consciousness, free of objectivity. Pure consciousness is the Goddess. She is Parā, the Supreme Goddess… Therefore, the essence of cognitive consciousness is, by its very nature, this (perpetual) pulsation. (This manifests) in the vital breath as the (countless) mergers and emergences (of all things). . . . This awareness of the wonderful diversity of action brought about by the power of Time is established in the pure will alone. Thus, in the outer world, (the power of Time) has no fixed form. We observe that even a tiny particle of time appears to be immense when we dream of dreaming, in a dream, in deep sleep, or when (immersed) in the sphere of thought, or in deep meditation, or when discerning (and contemplating) the process of withdrawal and creation of the universe. (TA 6/179-184)

The Wheel of Time and the Cycle of the Breath. Chapter Six of the Tantraloka.

As the following passages from the Atharvaveda so beautifully testify the Breath of Life and Time were experienced in India centuries before the Buddha at least three millennia:

Praise to the Breath of Life!
He rules the world,
Master of all things,
On which all things are based. 1

Praise to you, Breath when you come
And praise when you go!
When you stand up
And when you sit still, to you praise. 7

Breath of Life is Queen, is guide,
Revered by all things;
He is sun, he is Moon
He is also the father of all. 12
— AV 10, 4 Prāṇasūktam

Time drives like a horse,
a thousand-eyed unaging Stallion.
Him the inspired poet mounts.
All beings are his chariot wheels.
Above time is a set a brimful vessel.
Simultaneously we see Time, here, there, everywhere.
Set face to face with all existences,
Time has gathered together all beings that are.
From time comes the Self-existent,
energy likewise from Time derives
–Pūrṇaḥ kumbhaḥ AV 19.53

Shining as all things, consciousness sparkles radiantly with its countless manifestations. Deployed and witnessed within it each one is all of it. A single process, it manifests in two aspects. One is the sequence of Space. This is the deployment of the worlds within the cosmic order and the body, which is taught in detail in chapter eight of the Tantraloka. The other is the sequence of Time. This is taught in chapter six. Just as the world orders, each with their own thickness, layered one upon the other, span the expanse of Space, so cycles of Time, small and extensive, span the Great Creation that encompasses them all. In the outer world time is measured by the cyclic procession of celestial beings embodied in the sun and moon, the planets and constellations. These were seen to correspond to the cycles of the breath.

The movement of the breath and its correspondence to the lunar cycle was perceived already in Vedic times and carried over into the Tantras centuries later. We find it extensively in the Tantra of the Three-headed Bhairava, an extensive and important work in Trika Tantra (sadly lost) that Abhinavagupta quotes often in his Tantrāloka. So too we find it the Tantras of the Kalikrama, which is as we would expect, as Kali is above all the embodiment of the power of time (kāla) which consumes and creates all things. But it is only in the Svacchandabhairavatantra, to which Abhinava refers as his main source, that we find its most extensive expression.

A day and a night, the waxing and waning lunar fortnights, the two halves of the year, cycles of sixty years, extending out into the breath and lifespans of the gods, all are mirrored in the cycle of the breath. Everyday we breath 21,600 times and with every breath, of only we knew it, we span the all these cycles of time. Here then is a method of observing the movement of the breath with great attention, a practice which can be said without a doubt to be amongst the most ancient and important of all in the religious traditions of India, one we find also in the other great religions of the world.

The Vision of the Eye: The Ascension and Transformation of Kaula Union and the Wheel of the Twelve Kālī. Chapter Four of the Tantrāloka.

In this immersion we examine the central teaching of chapter four of the Tantrāloka, which deals with the Empowered Means. Here we focus our attention on the polarities and phases of perception. Just as we attend to the phases of the cycle of the breath – where it begins, how it flows and where it comes to rest, similarly we learn to pay attention to the world outside and within, the activity of the senses and mind and ourselves as phases of the sacred dynamism of consciousness as it arises, persists, recedes, and encompasses all in transcendental oneness.

In one of the most brilliant sections of the Tantrāloka, Abhinavagupta expounds the teachings of the Twelve Kālīs, who he presents as the hypostases of these phases. Significantly he introduces them as the twelve signs of the zodiac to remind us that each instant of perception is a moment of time and that Kālī is the power of time which is the inexplicable dynamism of consciousness.

The dynamism of consciousness that manifests through the body as action, here manifests as the flow of the activity of the mind and senses especially the flow and resting of the breath. In all states of consciousness, whether awake, dreaming or even in deep sleep, every moment of our lives we are engaged in this activity.

While the book is very accessible to everyone, Markji has commented on several occasions that he had several new insights since he wrote the book when he was 28. These insights came over decades of study and practice in the mandala of KS – both its core and the retinue including Kula, Krama and Abhinavagupta’s magnum opus, The Tantraloka. It is in this context he delivered detailed exposition on the doctrine on a weekly basis at Beneras over several months starting October 2013. ATK is delighted to make the recordings available to the extended ATK community.

In the first lecture, Markji begins by providing a detailed developmental context where he weaves epistemology, phenomenology and the ontology into the notions of the integral monism of KS. He presents this by observing the development of forms of Hinduism in the context of individual teachers and groups. For KS, he observes the importance of “Scholar Practitioners” like MM Gopinath Kaviraj, Pt. Rameshwar Jha, Pt. Tripathi etc, in shaping the development of modern KS through traditional scriptural studies. The traditional method, in contrast to modern Hinduism, focuses on continuous reflections on the text which leads to deepening insight that sculpts the very life of the person engaged in the sadhana.

“(Scriptural) study is an initial, but necessary springboard (to deepen spiritual practice)” – Dr. Mark Dyczkowski

He explains the arrival of new forms of tradition centered on Puja (as opposed to traditional Vedic fire sacrifices) around the 5th century C.E, which coincided with the emergence of Shiva to the frontier as the great God along with Vishnu. This further developed into pantheons of systems that included Mantra, Yantra and specific rituals. The upanishadic discussions on ethics and the quest for freedom were interpreted in this new context where impurity is considered as a craving for something more which leads to a delusion where things of no value takes on importance. Thus, as an example, the transitoriness of life takes on importance as permanence. This directly correlates to the ethical dimension that concerns our actions. In these traditions, the regular performing of rituals is meant to remove this impurity. Once a person gets initiated into the Shaiva tradition, he/she continues a lifelong practice to carefully ensure that the impurity does not redevelop.

“The sacred is veiled to our perception because of the barrier of impurity between us and the deity” – Dr. Mark Dyczkowski

In parallel there were notions of the distance between man and God. This distance was considered as a function of the fear of the might of God. As purity develops, the fear and the distance reduces in a virtuous cycle. It is as though as the deity intervenes through grace and frees the individual through purification from ethical darkness. The central concept here is the importance of God as a giver of grace which is also understood as empowerment as impurity renders as powerless. Thus the act of initiation is seen as God empowering the individual through grace thus allowing to maintain the state of purity.

“What is most important is our spiritual state – if our behavior is not up to what it should be in ethical norm, then the solution is to look at our spiritual condition” – Dr. Mark Dyczkowski

Again in parallel, Markji explains that there was another development which developed the courage to go after God’s immense power directly by disregarding the rules of purity and impurity yet to be steadfast with absolute determination. They might go to the most impure places like cremation ground to invoke the great God and face death directly. It is as if by becoming Tantric, they take the quickest path so they could help others for centuries. This might require special initiations (visesa diksha) above and beyond the basic Shaiva diksha. A form of monism inter threads through these traditions with a clear non-dualism with the deity through the immense vision of God with the help of their master. Such a transmission becomes a tradition for that particular teacher which runs through a lineage. This Markji refers as Integral Monism – an affirmation of oneness of the most intimate and profound relationship with God. By around 8th century C.E, the scriptural traditions advanced to such a degree that there are specific lineages of teachers who chose particular form of revelations. The knowledge in this context can be summarized as “knowledge of the divine” which cannot be accurately expressed (as faith). This also aligns with the way of mastery of yoga which is participating in the expanse of the lord (aishwarya). Thus, the approach of knowledge, yoga and puja/devotion converges into epistemology, phenomenology and ontology. The subject, object and the means of knowledge is seen as the flow of creative consciousness caught up in the interrelationships. It is possible to consider this as an articulation of phenomonlogy through a theory of perception – For Shaivas, God creates through his genius, his Pratiba and the representation / manifestation (world) is the reflection of his genius of creativity.

“In India, metaphysics serves as theoretical framework supporting a body of spiritual discipline. It indicates seekers attitude to his own experience” – Dr. Mark Dyczkowski

For the KS masters, it was important to salvage the reality of the world in order to salvage the reality of God. A phenomenology of appearance and perception of being which is fundamentally expressed in the analogy, the metaphor and the concrete reality of the “Mystic of Light”, a light that is aware of itself in all its tiny details and collectively. With respect and reverence to our teacher, we welcome you to this opportunity through this course.

OM SAUḤ PARĀYAI NAMAḤ

There was a full blown power outage in Varanasi. It was late in the night in India (~11P). Markji’s family was about to travel the following day. In spite of all these challenges, Markji was kind to spend over an hour addressing a dozen of students spread across the world via a telephone line.

Fortunately, we were able to record the session and for the benefit of all, we are delighted to share them in this post. A warm thank you to all who joined and also to folks who sent questions in advance. And on behalf of this Kula, our small group, we’d also like to thank the students who purchased Chapter 1 and made financial contributions. While we consider this as a service, the contributions help us help you and the humanity.

The satsang itself can be broadly categorized in three inter-threaded topical areas (1) About the course in general (2) Harmonizing understanding and practice (3) Mantras – specifically Sauh and SoHam and (4) Morality in Trika context and other traditions. Finally, the participants also shared their perspectives on the course with Markji. Without further ado, here are the recordings for your personal reflection only.

1. Course in general Download

2. Harmonizing understanding and practice Download

3. On Mantras – Sauh and SoHam Download

4. Moral codex in Trika Download

5. Students’ comments Download

OM SAUḤ PARĀYAI NAMAḤ

Tantrāloka in 37 comprehensive chapters teaches the entire path of true devotion, recognition, and self-knowledge. It instructs in the highest truth and offers direct guidance on how to attain self-realization through a multitude of paths, from which one can choose the most suitable. From the structure of the universe to esoteric breathing practices, elaborate explanations of the Wheel of Time (Kālacakra), rapturous eulogies of the Divine Mother, profound and secret practices of visualization and meditation, complete instructions regarding initiations and ritual, the entire corpus of tantric mantras, enlightened reworking of Vedanta, Samkhya, and Shaiva Siddhanta philosophical schemes, married to the wild view of the Bhairava tantras; masterful explanations of kundalini, nadis, cakras, and all the magical path of “piercing,” to the truly thrilling mystical emanation of the cosmos through the energies of the Sanskrit alphabet; this is a work beyond any ever written in the field of yoga, tantra, and spirituality.

After 35 years and countless lifetimes of wandering and searching, like a scorched traveler in the desert of samsara, I arrive weeping tears of gratitude for the amrita of Abhinava’s profound teaching. I touch the feet of Sadaashaya, Dr. Mark Dyckzowski, by whose selfless, uncompromising sacrifice this cup is now offered to the world. I invite everyone who shares this thirst to join the Anuttara Trika Kula and enjoy the fruit of this toil. This gift is being offered to each and every one of you as Lord Shiva and Śri Parā Devī, so that you may enjoy the marvelous play of awakening to your own unbounded, perfect, blissful nature. Won’t you join us for this feast?

For more on how to participate in the Tantrāloka Home Study Program, please visit https://www.anuttaratrikakula.org/tantralokaoverview/. To preregister for the first FREE lesson on Verse One, the opening of Tantrāloka, please email us at anuttaratrikakula12@gmail.com. We look forward to sharing this adventure together with you.

OM SAUḤ PARĀYAI NAMAḤ