Excerpt from the Shiva Sutras: The Supreme Awakening, Third Awakening, revealed by Swami Lakshmanjoo. We are studying the Shiva Sutras in our weekly Sangha. Find out more here.
2. jñanam bandhah //
(For this limited individual),
all knowledge is bondage.
Whatever knowledge this individual possesses is bondage for him. The meaning of the present sutra is different from the meaning given for the second sutra of the First Awakening which is also jñanam bandhah....
In the summer of 1989, John Hughes received a letter from Swami Lakshmanjoo writing to him about the Aghora Mantra and its importance, after having the darshan of Svacchanda Bhairava.
In part one of this two-part series you learned about this mantra and its significance for Kashmir Shaivism and your own practice, and the whole world.
In this part we go deeper into what is the reality of Svacchandanatha and why is he so important in Kashmir Shaivism.
Svacchandanatha
For an...
In this excerpt from the Essence of the Supreme Reality: Abhinavagupta’s Paramarthasara, Swami Lakshmanjoo reminds us that “No matter what happens, go on remembering God and He will carry you.”
PS DVD 5 (00:42:39)
तसमात सनमारगेऽसमिन
निरतो यः कशचिदेति स शिवतवम ।
इति मतवा परमारथे
यथातथापि परयतनीयम ॥॥
tasmat sanmarge’smin
nirato yah kascideti sa s...
Excerpt from the Shiva Sutras: The Supreme Awakening, by Swami Lakshmanjoo, Second Awakening, verse 6. Check out our Weekly Sangha, where we study the Shiva Sutras in depth.
How can the Powers of creative energy and the power of establishment in that creative energy be attained?
These two powers can be attained only through the master (guru), no one else.
But who is the master?
The one who demands...
From an article from the Speaking Tree by John Hughes (revised)…
Universe as Divine Play of Diversity and Duality.
Abhinavagupta tells us in his Tantraloka that “Moksha only exists when your being becomes absolutely independent. According to him, a yogi can only be said to be liberated when he possesses this absolute independence; nothing must limit him or overshadow his universal consciousness. This process begins when the yogi is experiencing the state of...
Today’s lecture is an excerpt from the Bodhapañcadaśikā [15 verses of wisdom] as revealed by Swami Lakshmanjoo. Here he explains the most important points of Kashmir Shaivism, beginning with the explanation of what “that One Being” is like.
These are fifteen ślokas, which were composed by Abhinavagupta, giving a brief exposition of the doctrine of Kashmir Śaivism.
Track 01b (01:40)...
In 1990, while commenting on Abhinavagupta’s rendering of the Bhagavad Gita, Swami Lakshmanjoo made a statement regarding initiation. At that time he was asked how will people be initiated after he was gone from this world? "Through viewing this!" he replied, and he pointed at the camera.
It is well known that the great masters of Kashmir Shaivism were not restricted to their bodies. Like the masters before him, Swamiji was a Universal Being existing everywhere, free from any limitation...
In this excerpt from Abhinavagupta’s Tantraloka, Swami Lakshmanjoo explains what Malas (Impurities) really are in Kashmir Shaivism.
“This mala is very subtle. . . . Mala is neither formless nor with form.
It is just ignorance . . . It doesn’t allow knowledge to function, knowledge is stopped. Mala is absence of knowledge. Mala is not something substantial.
So this absence of knowledge takes place only by ignorance, and that...
Chapter Seven
The Three Impurities
Malas
In our Saiva system, there are three males or impurities. These malas reside in maya. They do not reside in svatantrya sakti. Even though svatantrya sakti and maya are one, yet they are different in the sense that svatantrya sakti is that state of energy which can produce the power of going down and coming up again, both at will, whereas maya will only give you the strength of going down and not the ability of rising up again. Once you have come down,...
“Lord Shiva is the essence of all beings, His existence is nature, everybody’s nature. Lord Shiva is found in the absence of Lord Shiva also.” ~Swami Lakshmanjoo
This is a continuation of blog posts on the Bodhapañcadaśikā by Abhinavagupta, who wrote the [15 verses of wisdom] for ‘those dear devotees who are not intellectually inclined”. In this final part Swamiji is explaining the 15th and 16th, which are the ending verses.
इतथमिचछाकलाज...
“This is my new commentary on this Bhagavad Gita.” Swami Lakshmanjoo exclaims as he tells us what we should do when eating and while experiencing sabda (sound), sparsa (touch), rupa (form) . . . all of the sensual pleasures.
In sensual pleasures, what should you do?
DVD 6.2 (23:22)
Chapter 6, verse 18
युकताहारविहारसय युकतचेषटसय करमसु ।
युकतसवपनावबोधसय योगो भवति दुःखहा ॥॥
yuktaharaviharasya yuktacestasya karmasu /
yuktasvapnavabodhasya yogo...
In this unique lecture about “The Sixfold Path of the Universe,” Swami Lakshmanjoo explains the most important points for entering into Kashmir Shaivism.
The combination of all of these six adhvans (paths), the three objective adhvans and the three subjective adhvans is called ṣaḍadhvan, the six fold adhvans (The Sixfold Path of the Universe). This is the explanation of this whole universe, both subjective and objective.
This excerpt is from the book Kashmir Shaivism, The...
