Swami Lakshmanjoo explains why objective wakefulness is actually the absence of wakefulness in Kashmir Shaivism.
This excerpt is from the 11th Chapter of the book, Kashmir Shaivism: The Secret Supreme, revealed by Swami Lakshmanjoo.
This lecture is a continuation of a previous lecture about the 5 subjective states in Kashmir Shaivism. In the next part, Swami Lakshmanjoo talks about jāgrat (wakefulness) and svapna (the dreaming state).
5 Subjective States in Kashmir Shaivism – part 2 – Wakin...
In this lecture, Swami Lakshmanjoo talks about the 5 subjective states in Kashmir Shaivism. This is part one of four excerpts from the 11th Chapter of the book, Kashmir Shaivism: The Secret Supreme. Here Swamiji reveals how…
All subjects (jīvas) are actually one subjective body of God.
5 States of the Individual Subjective Body
On the path of the thirty-six elements, only one universal subjective body is traveling in each element.
There are not unlimited subjects traveling in these elem...
In this excerpt from the Hymns to Shiva, Utpaladeva’s Shivastotravali, Chapter 12, Revealing the Secret – Rahasyanirdeśanāma dvādaśaṁ stotram, Swami Lakshmanjoo “reveals the secret” of Kashmir Shaivism.
Actually, in Shaivism, this is the fact that when God is perceived,
[He] is perceived, not with the adoption of means. ~Swami Lakshmanjoo
Rahasyanirdeśanāma dvādaśaṁ stotram, the twelfth stotra. Rahasyanirdeśa [means] the revealing of a secret.
Chapter 12 (00:15)
सहकारि न किञ्चिदिष्यते
In this excerpt from Bhagavad Gita: In the Light of Kashmir Shaivism (chapter 7, verse 14), Swami Lakshmanjoo reveals the key to subsiding māyā—illusion. Drawing on Abhinavagupta’s distinctive understanding, he explains that māyā is overcome not by rejecting it as something separate, but by recognizing it as none other than Parabhairava, the supreme reality itself.
आरुरुक्षोर्मुनेर्योगं कर्म कारणमुच्यते ।
योगारूढस्य तस्यैव शमः कारणमुच्यते ॥३॥
ārurukṣormuneryogaṁ karma kāraṇamu...
In this excerpt from “The Magical Jewel of Devotion in Kashmir Shaivism – Stava Cintamani“, by Bhaṭṭanārāyaṇa, Swami Lakshmanjoo uses a unique analogy to explain ignorance and duality, and gives us the medicine to love everyone (in Kashmir Shaivism).
अज्ञानतिमिरस्यैकमौषधं संस्मृतिस्तव
भव तत्तत्प्रदानेन प्रसादः क्रियतां मयि
ajñānatimirasyaikam-auṣadhaṁ saṁsmṛtistava /
bhava tattatpradānena prasādaḥ kriyatāṁ mayi //24//
O Lord Śiva, I have got timira,1 I have got a timira disease in my ...
Swami Lakshmanjoo explains the meaning of moksha (liberation) in Kashmir Shaivism and offers a comparison with other philosophical traditions, including Vedānta and Buddhism.
This passage is taken from Chapter Fourteen of "Kashmir Shaivism – The Secret Supreme," as revealed by Swami Lakshmanjoo. Please note that it is an excerpt and not a verbatim transcript of the original audio teaching.
The view that ignorance is the cause of bondage and perfect knowledge is the cause of freedom (mok...
The Theory of Reflection, pratibimabavāda, is one of the core principles of Kashmir Shaivism. In this excerpt from Chapter 4 of his book Kashmir Shaivism The Secret Supreme, Swami Lakshmanjoo reveals to us this unique principle as Abhinavagupta has written in his famous Tantraloka.
“The Universe, as we see it, is a reflection in the mirror of God-consciousness.” ~Swami Lakshmanjoo
SECRET SUPREME – CHAPTER FOUR
The theory of Reflection
Pratibimbavāda
Just as in a fine, cl...
These verses from the Hymns to Shiva, Utpaladeva’s Shivastotravali, as illuminated by Swami Lakshmanjoo, reveal a profound vision of devotion in Kashmir Śaivism—one in which worship is no longer confined to ritual acts, but permeates the entirety of lived experience. The devotee does not merely perform pūjā; rather, the whole universe is felt as the substance of worship itself.
Chapter 17 (43:29)
पूजोपकरणीभूतविश्वावेशेन गौरवम् ।
अहो किमपि भक्तानां किमप्येव च लाघवम् ॥३५॥
pūjopakaraṇ...
In this excerpt from the book Light on Tantra in Kashmir Shaivism, Abhinavagupta’s Tantraloka, Chapter One, Swami Lakshmanjoo explains the nature of ignorance in Kashmir Shaivism.
General Introduction
A) The nature of Ignorance (22–30)
Audio 1 – 42:04
इह तावत्समस्तेषु शास्त्रेषु परिगीयते।
अज्ञानं संसृतेर्हेतुर्ज्ञानं मोक्षैककारणम्॥२२॥
iha tāvatsamasteṣu śāstreṣu parigīyate /
ajñānaṁ saṁsṛterheturjñānaṁ mokṣaikakāraṇam //22//
In this world of spirituality, everywhere, in each and every ...
In this excerpt from the book Shiva Sutras: The Supreme Awakening, Swami Lakshmanjoo reflects on the second sūtra of the First Awakening, where Lord Shiva says, “differentiated perception is bondage.” Then, in the the 9th sūtra of the second Awakening, we learn what knowledge means on the level of Shaktopaya, and what we need to do in that state…
9. jñānamannam //
(For such a yogī)
Differentiated perception is his food
or
Knowledge of his own nature is his food.
This yogī ...
In this excerpt from The Magical Jewel of Devotion in Kashmir Shaivism – Stava Cintamani, by Bhaṭṭanārāyaṇa, Swamiji reveals why we need to develop sāttvaguṇa in Kashmir Shaivism.
“The avenue for crossing the cycle of guṇa is through sāttvaguṇa. It is not through rajoguṇa, it is not through tamoguṇa.” ~Swami Lakshmanjoo
triguṇatriparispanda-dvandvagrastaṁ jagattrayam /
uddhartuṁ bhavato’nyasya kasya śaktiḥ kṛpātha vā //46//
In this three-fold world (jagat trayam, in these three worl...
