In this excerpt from the Hymns to Shiva, Utpaladeva’s Shivastotravali, Swami Lakshmanjoo reveals how to not be disturbed by your mind.
Chapter 12 (56:13)
मनसि स्वरसेन यत्र तत्र
प्रचरत्यप्यहमस्य गोचरेषु ।
प्रसृतोऽप्यविलोल एव युष्मत्-
परिचर्याचतुरः सदा भवेयम् ॥२५॥
manasi svarasena yatra tatra
pracaratyapyahamasya gocareṣu /
prasṛto’pyavilola eva yuṣmat-
paricaryācaturaḥ sadā bhaveyam //25//
There is one problem: I don’t want to control my mind because the mind is so swift, you...
In today’s excerpt, Swamiji explains the most important ingredient to meditation. This is from Tantraloka Chapter 11 verse 81, from the Archives of the Lakshmanjoo Academy, recorded by John Hughes. All Content is subject to Copyright © John Hughes.
taduktaṁ varadena śrīsiddhayogīsvarīmate // 81 //
tena guptena guptāste śeṣā varṇāstviti sphuṭam /
This is why Bhagavan Bhairava, Lord Śiva, has explained in Mālinīvijaya tantra that when meditation, or any practice, is done without ...
An interesting śāktopāya practice from the Vijnana Bhairava – How to make your mind rest in-between.
Dhāraṇā 45
वह्नेर्विषस्य मध्ये तु
चित्तं सुखमयं क्षिपेत् ।
केवलं वायुपूर्णं वा
स्मरानन्देन युज्यते ॥६८॥
vahnerviṣasya madhye tu
cittaṁ sukhamayaṁ kṣipet /
kevalaṁ vāyupūrṇaṁ vā
smarānandena yujyate // 68 //
Now He puts another process. It is śāktopāya.*
Make your mind rest between the energy of will and knowledge. Give your mind rest between the energy of will...
Swami Lakshmanjoo explains what “causes” grace in Kashmir Shaivism and what are the “signs” by which you can understand that grace is there.
This is an excerpt from Abhinavagupta’s Tantraloka 13th anika, which we discussed during the online course “Grace on the Spiritual Path“.
vairāgyaṁ bhogavairasyaṁ
dharmaḥ ko’pi vivekitā /
satsaṅgaḥ parameśāna-
pūjādyabhyāsanityatā // 98 //
āpatprāptistannirīkṣā
dehe kiṁcicca lakṣaṇam /
śāstrasevā bhogasaṁgha-
pūrn...
In this excerpt from the Vijnana Bhairava: The Manual for Self Realization Swami Lakshmanjoo explains a śāktopāya technique for revealing the formation of the nature of Bhairava by means of Bhairavī (Bhairavī means, uninterrupted awareness). How to maintain uninterrupted awareness?
Dhāraṇā 2
Now next.
मरुतोऽन्तर्बहिर्वापि
वियद्युग्मानिवर्तनात् ।
भैरव्या भैरवस्येत्थं
भैरवि व्यज्यते वपुः ॥२५॥
maruto’ntarbahirvāpi
viyadyugmānuvartanāt /70
bhairavyā bhairavasyetthaṁ
bhairavi ...
DVD 2.3 (28:32)
ध्यायतो विषयान्पुंसः सङ्गस्तेषूपजायते ।
सङ्गात्संजायते कामः कामात्क्रोधोऽभिजायते ॥६४॥
क्रोधाद्भवति संमोहः संमोहात्स्मृतिविभ्रमः ।
स्मृतिभ्रंशाट्बुद्धिनाशो बुद्धिनाशात्प्रणश्यति ॥६५॥
dhyāyato viṣay...
![By producing some vision of pleasure, [the ego] gives rise [to the enemy] inside.](https://kajabi-storefronts-production.kajabi-cdn.com/kajabi-storefronts-production/file-uploads/blogs/2147511598/images/c012e71-4081-b534-5cfa-b4d8cd772821_enemy-inside_fb_cleanup.jpg)
In this excerpt from Chapter Three of the Bhagavad Gita, In the Light of Kashmir Shaivism Swami Lakshmanjoo explains: Who is this enemy inside of our consciousness, how does it appear, and how does it rise? As those three questions of Arjuna are being answered by Lord Kṛṣṇa in this unique version of the Bhagavad Gita by Abhinavagupta.
Now Arjuna places his question for this.
DVD 3.2 (35:49)
भवत्येष कथं कृष्ण कथं चैव विवर्धते ।
किमात्मकः किमाचारस्तन्ममाचक्ष्व पृच्छतः ॥३८॥
bhavatyeṣa...
An important excerpt from the fifth verse of the Vijnana Bhairava: The Manual for Self Realization by Swami Lakshmanjoo, reveals the reality of supreme consciousness-the essence of all Tantra
Image by Antonio López from Pixabay
This is the question of Devī.
परापरायाः सकलम्
अपरायाश्च वा पुनः ।
पराया यदि तद्वत्स्यात्
परत्वं तद्विरुध्यते ॥५॥
parāparāyāḥ sakalam
aparāyāśca vā punaḥ /
parāyā yadi tadvatsyāt
paratvaṁ tadvirudhyate // 5 //
There are three energies. In fact, these śa...
In this excerpt from the Manual for Self Realization: 112 Meditations of the Vijnana Bhairava Tantra, verses 155 – 156, Swami Lakshmanjoo reveals what japa (repetition of a sacred word) really means and how to do it successfully.
“Japa is automatic recitation of breath. It is available to everybody, 24 hours a day.” ~Swami Lakshmanjoo
Listen to the audio below and read along with the transcript to learn more…
सकारेण बहिर्याति
हकारेण विशेत्पुनः ।
हंसहंसेत्यमुं मन्त्रं
जीवो जपति नित्...
Kashmir Shaivism is so rich and detailed in its theology and soteriology that it has been aptly described as “the mystical geography of awareness.”
It includes a highly developed system of spirituality that emphasizes not only the intellectual understanding of its philosophy but also the direct realization, the direct experience, of its truth.
For the Kashmir Shaiva, the very nature of truth, its defining characteristic, is that it is both limited and unlimited, atomic and universal. The huma...
“The light of Consciousness is not only pure Consciousness”, and Swami Lakshmanjoo explains why this is so in this excerpt from the book Self Realization in Kashmir Shaivism, The Oral Teachings of Swami Lakshmanjoo. This is from Chapter Three; Entrance into the Supreme Reality.
This is a good book to understand some of the basics of Kashmir Shaivism, as well as learn about Swami Lakshmanjoo’s life.
Swami Lakshmanjoo teaching in Kashmir (sitting on the right side of the picture).
Chapt...
The following excerpts highlight some of the experiences of the renowned Saint, Swami Vivekananda, when he visited Kashmir in 1898.
ARANYAMAL* RAINA
The Sweet Mother
Aranyamal Raina was the wife of Pandit Narayan Das Raina. Pandit Narayan Das was the first among the Kashmiri Pandits to speak and write English, wear Western clothes and ride a cycle. Both Aranyamal and Pandit Narayan Das were devotees of Swami Ram Ji, a saint and the greatest exponent of Shaivism. Pandit Narayan Das also adored ...
