Schools of Thought

12-23-2000, 06:56 PM

Harsha, Jan and Jerry,

Wanted to say thank you for the deep exchange that have been brought
up in the last few days, in only a few emails. Even deeper than the
space behind the sun saying hello to a flower opening into the
mornings rays

The Trika is an interesting notion...

It was also interesting on the next day to fall on this perception of
the Uttara Kaulas School. In the Saundarya-Lahari, (verse 35), it is
said talking about them:

"In the pre-creation state of Pralaya, Siva and Sakti form the
Alogical Whole. But when the creative Cycle begins, the
differentiation of the Subjet and Object (Prakasa and Vimarsa) arises
through the threefold stresses of Nada, Bindu and Kala. It is Vimarsa
(Reflector) that generates the Self awarness as the "I" in the
Prakasa (Pure consciousness). This Vimarsa Sakti is what is called he
Siva-yuvati (Consort of Siva) and in Vers 6 as Pura-ripur aho-purusika
(what gives the "I sense" or "self-awarness" to Siva). This
differentiation of the Alogical Subject-objectless Whole into the
Subject and Object includes the assumptions of the role of
Siva-Yuvati (Consort of Siva), having as its sole purpose the
evolution into various categoris that constitute the universe".

A Merry Christmas,

Antoine

----- Original Message -----
From: umbada (AT) ns (DOT) sympatico.ca
To: nondualitysalon (AT) egroups (DOT) com ; harshasatsangh (AT) egroups (DOT) com
Sent: Friday, December 22, 2000 3:56 PM
Subject: [HarshaSatsangh] Bhairava: Schools of Thought
The following from Gurubhakta Markandeya was received and is
submittedhere:----------------------------------------------------------
The following is a conversation I had with a dear brother in
Shiva,who had some questions regarding Buddhism, Vedanta, and Trika.
The following response from myself is in regards to his question of
the difference between nihilism and transcendentalism and how it
applies to Trika.~Markandeya Nihilism is the Buddhist view that the
void, Shunya is the Supreme. Vedanta, on the other hand, holds that
there is a Supreme Being, full of the Light of Consciousness, but
with no activity. The world is therefore illusary. In the end, it is
Trika that guides the jiva through the experience of the void of
Buddhism, into his essential realization of his nature as identical
with the Transcendent source (atma vyapti of Vedanta), and beyond
these two, to the expansion of that essential realization to include
all of existence in all its varieties as nothing less than the glory
of the Supreme, the expansion of His divine Shakti. In the Trika
view, Shiva is not only full of the Light of Consciousness, but
possessive of Absolute and completely Independant Free Will. This
makes Shiva not the victim of an indefinable Maya, but rather, Maya
is the result of His own independent Free Will, full of both the
Light of Knowledge AND Action. This is Shiva/Shakti. The Absolute,
for the Shaiva, is the Supreme Light of Consciousness which illumines
all things, full of Knowledge AND Activity. For the Buddhist, the
world is 'something' that arose from no-thing. There is a first
primal misconception, the original conception, and from that the pain
of experience arose in the Nothing, which is perpetuated by a
continuous stream of samskaras, thoughts which link one to other in
an endless self perpetuating stream of pain and delusion. For the
Vedantin, the Ultimate is not a return to nothing, but a return to
the Supreme Transcendent Brahman, pure Light of Being. All of 'this'
is merely illusion for the Vedantin. For the Buddhist, enlightenment
comes when one is established in the Void and the world is
annihilated. For the Vedantin, enlightenment comes when the world is
Transcended, negated, and only the knowledge of the Pure Transcendent
Brahman remains. Trika absorbs both of these. Buddhism Trika holds
that the Void which Buddhists experiences is truly there. In fact,
the Void is the means that Shiva used to detach his Absolute
Awareness from Himself. It is that moment in creation which His
Shakti seemingly disconnected itself from itself, like a computer
rebooting, and when God came back from the 'reboot' he was ignorant
of His all encompassing nature. This is how he has the multitude of
'experiences.' This is how the totality comes to enjoy unlimited
particularity. This moment of separation of Consciousness from
complete Awareness of itself is called Anashrita Shiva, that first
primal moment that Shakti or dynamic Awareness seemingly becomes
'separated' from the Absolute Consciousness and expands into an
infinitude of limite 'things' seeking the whence and where of their
nature and having a marvelous journey along the way. In the final
analysis, says the Shaiva, this marvelous play, this epic drama
happening on infinite levels and from infinite angles is merely the
blissful sport of the One Absolute. This is the secret of the Tantric
doctrine. Shakti and Shiva are never really separate at all; it is
only a seeming separation. This power to do this is called Maya
Shakti or Shivamayi. Absolute Consciousness (Shiva) is no longer
Absolutely Aware (Shakti), and the Shakti which has by Her own Free
Will contracted into the Kundalini which is the mother of all
Creativity and resides as the individuated awareness or individual,
is no longer Aware of Its Absolute Consciousness. For the bound soul,
he is not fully aware (Shakti) of his Absolute Consciousness (Shiva),
and he is not Conscious (Shiva) of His Absolute Awareness (Shakti).
So for the Shaiva, the Void of Buddhism is the merely the first step
back towards the Absolute. How, says the Shaiva, can there be an
experience of the void as the Buddhists contend, unless there is an
unchanging absolute Experiencer or Experient to experience the void?
The void, says the Shaiva, is not the Absolute, it is merely the
first step of Absolute Consciousnes/Awareness creatively contracting
Its Unity Consciousness, and expanding into a reality of diversity
consciousness. Likewise, in the return of the jiva back to Shiva, the
void is the first step towards withdrawing from this experience of
diversity of objects, back to an expansion of the Absolute Awareness
of Consciousness that is whole and complete...Consciousness which is
wholly Aware. For the Shaiva, the void is merely the lack of
objectivity, the first move back towards the Ultimate, of which the
void is a real part of and dependent on. Vedanta Now, as for Vedanta,
the attainment of the essential Self, called Atma vyapti is also a
very real and legitimate step towards the Absolute. However, stopping
at the point of negation of the world is a fatal flaw, according to
the Shaiva yogi. Atma vyapti is necessary as a step, or a phase, of
destroying the ignorance of the mind. This, in Trika, is called
bauddha ajnana, or the ignorance of the mind as the personal center
or self. Atma vyapti is merely the removal of this bauddha ajnana.
This is where the Vedantins proclaim enlightenment, but for the
Shaiva yogi, it is only the necessary predecessor to the final aim,
which is the removal of paurusha ajnana. Mere removal of Bauddha
ajnana only lands the yogi in blank abstactions, such as real and
unreal, etc...For the Shaiva, the mind must first be cleared of
ignorance and established as being in non-difference with Shiva (atma
vyapti) before the final beatitude can be accomplished, which is the
expansion of this Shiva realization to include all of existence
(Shiva vyapti). Atma vyapti is the removal of bauddha ajnana; Shiva
vyapti is the expansion of that essential realization of Self to its
original glory, which is all-inclusive. For the Shaiva, individual
effort is acknowledged as the way to Atma vyapti, as is maintained by
the Vedantists through vichara (enquiry) viveka (discrimination) and
vairagya (dispassion). However, the final beatitude comes only
through divine agency. This act of grace, imparted by Shiva through
the agency of the Guru or by direct divine intervention, is called
Shaktipat, and the result is the expansion of the essential
realization of the jiva as Shiva to include all of existence. This is
Shiva vyapti, this is moksha or mukti in the Trika of Kashmir.
Gurubhakta Markandeya