Swami Lakshmanjoo explains why the acting of a yogi is just like the acting of Shiva in this excerpt from the Mystery of Vibrationless-Vibration in Kashmir Shaivism – Spanda Kārikā & Spanda Sandoha.
Audio 5 – 27:52
pramāpitaṁ ca etat pratyabhijñāyām [not recited]
cidātmaiva hi devo’ntaḥ sthitamicchāvaśādbahiḥ /
yogīva nirūpādānamarthajātaṁ prakāśayet198 //199
Just like a yogi, the acting of a yogi is just like the acting of Śiva. Śiva acts just as a yogi acts. Cidātmaiva, cidātma (Śiva, God consciousness, filled with consciousness) is antaḥ sthitaṁ icchāvaśādbahiḥ arthajātam, this whole cycle of one hundred and eighteen worlds is existing in Lord Śiva, in cidātmā, in God consciousness, and by His sweet will of the energy of svātantrya śakti, He pushes it out, outside His consciousness, in one hundred and eighteen worlds just like a yogi does (yogīva, just like a yogi does), without any outside gathering of substances.
[If] you have to construct this house, you want an outside gathering of substances, e.g., you want stones, you want cement, you want workers. But this is not the case with Lord Śiva. [When] Lord Śiva creates this universe, He pushes this universe of one hundred and eighteen worlds outside His consciousness without the gathering of these . . .
ERNIE: Not dependent.
SWAMIJI: . . . substances. [He is] not dependent.200
JOHN: So how is that like a yogi?
SWAMIJI: Just like a yogi. A yogi also creates this universe [according to] his choice, with his choice, without any gathering [of external substances]. A yogi is just like Śiva.
ERNIE: So then it is possible that [the yogi’s] house would not be dependent on the rocks coming in the truck or the cement. He would just . . . and it would be there.
SWAMIJI: Bas, it will appear, it will appear at once.
iti ihāpi vakṣyati
In this Spanda śāstra also it will be said:
Audio 5 – 29:55
yatra sthitaṁidaṁ sarvaṁ201 kāryaṁ yasmācca nirgatam /202
“In which this whole universe exists and from which this whole universe comes out in manifestation . . .”203
DENISE: Swamiji, is it like, you know, we can imagine what the house is going to be like when it is finished, that’s . . .
ERNIE: In a way, . . .
DENISE: . . . in one way, it’s producing . . .
SWAMIJI: Yes.
ERNIE: . . . the idea of . . .
DENISE: . . . by mind.
SWAMIJI: It is in your idea, yes.
DENISE: But outwardly I can’t do it (laughter).
SWAMIJI: Yes. Bas, we will do only this much.
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198 Swamiji says “prakāśate” where the text reads “prakāśayet”.
199 Utpaladeva’s Īśvarapratyabhijñā Kārikā, 1.5.7.
200 “All of the thirty-six elements, from Śiva to earth, are created by that natural I-Consciousness. And not only are they created by that Consciousness, they also shine in that Consciousness. His creation is not outside of His nature, it exists in His own Self. He has created this whole universe in the cycle of His Consciousness. So, everything that exists resides in that Consciousness.
This must be your understanding. The creative energy which is attributed to Lord Śiva is not that energy of Lord Śiva that creates the universe outside of His Consciousness as we create outside of our consciousness. His creation is not insentient (jaḍa) as our creations are. This universe, which is created in His Consciousness, is depend- ent on that Consciousness. It is always dependent on that Con- sciousness. It cannot move outside of that Consciousness. It exists only when it is residing in His Consciousness. This is the way the creation of His universe takes place. Self Realization in Kashmir Shaivism, Parāprāveśikā (Entrance into the Supreme Reality) of Kṣhemarāja, 3.57.
201 Swamiji says “viśvam” but text has “sarvam”.
202 Spanda Kārikā 1.2, page 2.
203 See the Spanda Kārikā 1.1 for a complete translation.
Source: The Mystery of Vibrationless-Vibration in Kashmir Shaivism – Spanda Kārikā & Spanda Sandoha revealed by Swami Lakshmanjoo
Copyright @ John Hughes
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