Chapter Seven
The Three Impurities
Malas
In our Śaiva system, there are three males or impurities. These malas reside in māyā. They do not reside in svātantrya śakti. Even though svātantrya śakti and māyā are one, yet they are different in the sense that svātantrya śakti is that state of energy which can produce the power of going down and coming up again, both at will, whereas māyā will only give you the strength of going down and not the ability of rising up again. Once you have come down, ...
Abhinavagupta tells us that there is a war going on between our senses. In the senses there is joy, and joy fights with sadness, sadness fights with joy. In this excerpt, we will learn what a yogi must do in this internal battle.
This video snippet is part one of the Essence of the Bhagavad Gītā, as composed by the renowned 10th-century CE philosopher/saint Abhinavagupta. There are eighteen saṅgraha ślokas, which are based on Abhinavagupta’s illuminating and original commentary, known as the Ka...
This talk on shaktipata [grace] was given by Swamiji in July 1978 on Shankarpal Rock, in Dachigam Forest, near the village of Harvan (just a few miles from Swamiji’s Ashram). This is also known as Shiva Rock, where the Sacred Shiva Sutras were revealed to Vasugupta, in the 8th century, AD.
Here, Swamiji explains grace in the Light of Kashmir Shaivism. To learn more about this subject check out our webinar “Grace on the Spiritual Path” which is extensively devoted to this subject.
In Kashmir Shaivism, there are three states of awareness which Swami Lakshmanjoo explains here: first from the ordinary person's point of view, and then from the yogic point of view.
This is an excerpt from the Shiva Sutras: The Supreme Awakening, by Swami Lakshmanjoo, first awakening verses 8-10.
Now he explains this jāgrat (wakefulness), svapna (dreaming), and suṣupti (dreamless sleep) in three sūtras…
8. jñānaṁ jāgrat //
External organic knowledge constitutes
the waking state.
Exter...
In this beautiful excerpt from the Hymns to Shiva, Utpaladeva’s Shivastotravali (Chapter 14 verse 15) Swami Lakshmanjoo explains how Lord Shiva bestows grace to people – a very different Shaktipata – in Kashmir Shaivism, and why.
To learn more about grace also check out our online course “Grace on the Spiritual Path”.
Without qualifications, You bestow grace to people! That is śaktipāta. ~Swami Lakshmanjoo
Chapter 14a (40:37)
जयानुकम्पादिगुणानपेक्षसहजोन्नते ।
जय...
In this excerpt, Swamiji explains what meditation really is.
This is from Abhinavagupta’s Tantraloka 9th Ahnika, revealed by Swami Lakshmanjoo, from the audio archives of the Lakshmanjoo Academy Copyright © John Hughes
QUESTION: What kind of action is meditating?
SWAMIJI: It is not action, it is knowledge, it is cognition. Meditating is recitation of breath, it is just knowledge.
JOHN: That rest in jnanendriya or where? Or in manas [mind], buddhi [intellect] and ahamkara [ego], this med...
Here are two excerpts from the unpublished manuscript of the Parātrīśikā Vivarana by Swami Lakshmanjoo, from the Audio Archives of the Lakshmanjoo Academy.
Copyright @ John Hughes, all rights reserved.
māyīyakārmamalamūlamuśanti tāvad
ajñānanāmamalamāṇavameva bhadrāḥ /
bījaṁ tadeva bhavajīrṇataroḥ parasmin
saṁvinniśātadahane dahate kṣaṇena //
Māyīya-kārma-mala-mūlam-uśanti tāvad, bha...
A central theme of the philosophy of Kashmir Shaivism is the highly esoteric principle known as spanda which means vibrationless/vibration or established stable movement. In Shaivism there are two texts that deal specifically with the spanda principal. The Spanda Karika (precise philosophical statements) on the Spanda theory and the Spanda Sandoha (exposition) of the spanda principle.
The theory of spanda was hidden in the body of the Tantras and was extracted by Vasugupta and given to us in th...
Swami Lakshmanjoo explains what is initiation and what is its most important feature. This excerpt is from the book, Kashmir Shaivism The Secret Supreme by Swami Lakshmanjoo, Chapter Twelve.
The Fivefold Contacts of Masters and Disciples
In this universe from time immemorial, the initiation of masters has taken place from Lord Śiva up to the mortal beings. This contact of the master with the disciple takes place in five different ways. The highest contact of the master with the disciple is c...
“Triple awareness carries one to God Consciousness!” ~Swami Lakshmanjoo
Shiva Sutras 3.35
35. mohapratisaṁhatastu karmātmā //
The yogī whose God consciousness is destroyed by this state of illusion
is dependent on...
In this excerpt from the Bhagavad Gita in the Light of Kashmir Shaivism, chapter 16, Swami Lakshmanjoo explains that there are two kinds of glories in Kashmir Shaivism:
“Now, Lord Śiva (Lord Kṛṣṇa) says that there are two kinds of glories: one is divine glory, one is not divine glory. Divine glory shines in those who are blessed and the symptoms of divine glory are what He says now.”
Chapter 16
DVD 16 (00:01)
अभयः सत्त्वसंशुद्धिर्ज्ञानयोगव्यवस्थितिः ।
दानं दमश्च यज्ञश्च स्वाध्यायस्तप...
This is Swami Lakshmanjoo’s translation of chapter 6, verses 21 to 24, of Abhinavagupta’s commentary of the Bhagavad Gita explaining the stages of mind and the joy of an appeased mind in Kashmir Shaivism.
In the summer of 1987 Swami Lakshmanjoo began compiling important verses from the various scriptures he had studied throughout his life. Each Sunday he would distribute one or two slokas to devotees, at the same time giving in brief their essential meaning. In all Swamiji revealed a total of e...
