This paper examines the concept of manifestation process in Kashmir Shaivism from Shiva tattva to Prithvi tattva and their transcendental and immanent predicates (Prakrti and Purusa).This paper also shows that the ultimate reality, Paramshiva, manifests itself into various forms which likely represent the theory of causation. This research paper also provides answer to two questions; First, how ultimate reality with its thirty-six principles or elements manifest in various forms and what types of forms ‘Descent’ attains from the ‘universal self’? (...) Second, how manifestation process takes place from the ‘cosmic self’ (universal consciousness) to a ‘limited self’ (Jiva)? Since, this paper is based on philosophical exploration of manifestation process and contains interpretation and argumentation of Pratyabhijna philosophy only; it excludes manifestation due to Yogas (Upayas) and Karmas. Moreover, it explains the Trika form of reality (Shiva/God, Shakti/World, and Nara/Man) and also the identity between ‘ascent’ and ‘descent’. Manifestation further investigates the union of Shiva and Shakti with Maya and displays its character (Prakashvimarshmaya). This work further tries to describe the contribution of Abhinavagupta in the concept of manifestation. (shrink)

This work is indeed a masterly survey of Mahayana Buddhism, Advaita Vedanta and kashmira Shaivism which brings into rominence the author`s original contributions some of which are of outstanding merit for a correct appreciation of the ...

The present work is a comparative and critical study of Shunyavada, Vijnanavada, Advaita Vedanta and Kashmira Shaivism, the four main systems of Advaitavada or spiritual non-dualism which has been the most celebrated tradition in Indian philosophy. It is based on the author`s study of original sources and when dealing with fundamental issues original texts are either quoted or referred to. The points of similarity and of difference among these systems are discussed in detail and with great clarity. Professor Sharma, (...) with his unique gift of expressing abstruse metaphysical thoughts in a clear language, has eminently succeeded in correcting some misconceptions and in clarifying many difficult and obscure points about these systems. This work is indeed a masterly survey of Mahayana Buddhism, Advaita Vedanta and kashmira Shaivism which brings into rominence the author`s original contributions some of which are of outstanding merit for a correct appreciation of the relation among these systems.The Advaita Tradition in Indian Philosophy will be found eminently useful by the students of philosophy in universities and colleges and also by all those who are interested in Buddhism, Vedanta and Kashmira Shaivism and who want a clear and accurate exposition of the development of the Advaita tradition in Indian philosophical thought. (shrink)

This is a review of a classical text of Kashmiri Shaivism.

The musings are based upon Kashmiri Shaivist Abhinavagupta’s concept of Santa Rasa (10th Century AD) and my Advait beliefs stemmed from the Upanishads.

A stimulating account of the wide range of approaches towards conceptualising emotions in classical Indian philosophical–religious traditions, such as those of the Upanishads, Vaishnava Tantrism, Bhakti movement, Jainism, Buddhism, Yoga, Shaivism, and aesthetics, this volume analyses the definition and validity of emotions in the construction of identity and self-discovery.

This book explores the dynamics of interaction between pragmatism and spirituality in the constitution and working of consciousness, freedom and solidarity. This book is cross-cultural and transdisciplinary in nature and brings critical and transformative perspectives from different philosophical and spiritual traditions of the world. It discusses the works of seminal thinkers such as William James, Rudolf Steiner, John Dewey, Swami Vivekananda, Martin Heidegger, Claude Levi-Strauss, Jordan Peterson, Slavos Zizek, Paul Valeri and O.V. Vijayan. It also explores dialogues between pragmatism and (...) other philosophical and intellectual traditions such as Semiotics, Saiva Siddhanta, Vedanta, Trika Shaivism and Tantra. It explores themes such as pragmatism and belief, evolution of consciousness and happiness, spiritual pragmatism and economics of solidarity, value levels democracy, the perforamtive as an aspect of spirituality and transformation of political theology from Kingdom of God to Gardens of God. (shrink)

There has long been a debate on the possible similarity between some forms of Indian and Greek idealistic monism ( Advaita and Neoplatonism ). After a basic historical introduction to the debate, the text proposes that Paramādvaita , also known as Kashmiri Shaivism , is a more suitable comparandum for Neoplatonism than any other form of Advaita , suggested in the debate. Paramādvaita ’s dynamic view of reality summarized in the terms prakāśa-vimarśa or unmeṣa-nimeṣa , corresponds quite precisely to (...) the viewpoint of Neoplatonism , summarized in the similar bipolar terms such as prohodos-epistrophe . The context of the dynamic nature of reality doctrine is also quite similar ( svataḥsiddhatva, authypostasis ). My arguments are based on the texts of Plotinus and Proclus ( Neoplatonism ) and the texts of Abhinavagupta, Utpaladeva and Kṣemarāja ( Paramādvaita ) . Several parallel doctrines of both systems are further discussed: the doctrine of creative multilevel subjectivity , the doctrine of mutual omnipresence of all in all , the doctrine of creative multilevel speech , and some corresponding doctrines on aesthetic beauty and its important role in the Soul’s return towards its ultimate source. Some implications of the high degree of correspondence between both systems are considered at the end of the paper, for instance whether some similarities of compared systems might be explained on a structural basis, since both schools ware facing similar sceptical critique ( Mādhyamika, Hellenistic scepticism ). (shrink)

Section 1. Prologue -- section 2. The whole being -- section 3. Engaging with wholeness -- section 4. Wholeness in Kashmiri Shaivism -- section 5. The Buddhist perspective -- section 6. Wholeness in the modern world -- section 7. The workings of wholeness in our world -- section 8. Epilogue.

On Rudra (Hindu deity) in Kashmir Shaivism philosophy.

On Balinese Hindu traditional spiritualism as referred to Shaivism teachings.

This reviewer had earlier had the misfortune of reviewing Sarah Jacoby's puerile book on Sera Khandro for Prabuddha Bharata. Jacoby had nearly made this reviewer puke. Same is the case with Bihani Sarkar's monograph. On the basis of this monograph she might win academic brownie points but it is a study which should have been dumped. The existence of the monograph is not only an insult to Hinduism and the Sanatana Dharma; it is technically wrong in its structuralist, iterative hermeneutics (...) which derives from the likes of Mircea Eliade. The reviewer knows that Sarkar will one day be a biggie in the first world peddling Hinduism ; she should have confined herself only to Sanskrit literature and not try to pass herself as a (faux) Hindu theologian. This book does no credit to the publisher. (shrink)

Indian systems of thought can be widely characterized by the deeply intertwined relationship of the two phenomena that Western traditions call philosophy and religion. The Pratyabhijñā philosophical theology of the 10th-11th century thinker Abhinavagupta, one of the most important exponents of Kashmiri Shaivism, represents an illustrative example for the fundamental interrelation between philosophical argumentation and religious revelation. Particularly relevant to this theme is his theory of the expression of supreme speech in concrete scriptural traditions. The focus of this paper (...) will be on Abhinavagupta's discussions of scriptural tradition as means of knowledge. The analisis will be concluded by some general reflections on the inter-cultural relevance of his theory of scripture. (shrink)

Thirteenth-century India saw a huge revival of religious devotion among the common folk, similar to the waves of religious fervor that swept over late medieval Europe. One of the pillars of this revival was the poet-saint Jnaneshwar, author of an exquisite commentary on the Bhagavad Gita. Like his contemporary Dante, Jnaneshwar was a poet of the vernacular, who wrote in Marathi, the language of ordinary villagers, rather than the Sanskrit of the brahmin orthodoxy. Over the centuries, the Jnaneshwari, as his (...) commentary is known, has become a scripture in its own right. Expanding the Gita’s seven hundred verses to approximately nine thousand, and using the images of ordinary life to explain its lofty teachings, Jnaneshwar fashioned from human language one of the most sublime visions of the Absolute that has ever been put into speech. The Jnaneshwari is one of the marvels of world literature. The greatest study of the Jnaneshwar is still this work by the philosopher R. D. Ranade, originally published in 1933. In addition to being a renowned scholar, Ranade was also a mystic and an initiated disciple, and he brings all these broad currents of the Indian tradition to his analysis of the Jnaneshwari. Readers who are sometimes intoxicated by the richness of Jnaneshwar’s imagery, will appreciate the way Ranade has here uncovered the work’s inner structure, and how he has briefly summarized its approach to the Gita’s great themes: action vs. renunciation; devotion and dharma; the form and the formless aspects of God; and the subject dearest to Jnaneshwar’s heart, the nature of the spiritual Master. This book also includes Ranade’s study of Jnaneshwar’s abhangas, his religious songs, as well as an analysis of his magnificent Amritanubhav, “The Nectar of Self-Awareness,” an inspired synthesis of Samkhya and Shaivism. (shrink)

This well-written examination of the texts of the Indian Tantric tradition is both a lucid introduction to an important aspect of Hindu philosophy and a valuable sourcebook expounding certain detailed questions in that tradition. Unlike Agehananda Bharati’s book, The Tantric Tradition, which surveys concepts and practices in a more anthropological way, Dr. Mishra, who teaches at Banaras Hindu University, probes the fundamental teachings directly and shows where they contrast with and how they complement the views of the more widespread Advaita (...) Vedanta philosophy. Here is a philosophical idealism intrinsic to India which is not based on Vedic or Upanishadic writings but draws upon the Agamas and the tradition of the idealistic Kashmir Shaivism. Even the Gita, we are told, can be understood in a Tantric way. (shrink)

A succinct presentation of the Pratyabhijñä school of Kashmir Shaivism, written by Ksemaraja, disciple of Abhinavagupta. In as much as the previous translation by K. F. Leidecker is inexact and out of print, this new translation by Mr. Singh is most welcome, especially as it is faithful to the original, written in correct and smooth English, and the translator himself is trained in the Pratyabhijñä. Although the translation is carefully annotated, and Mr. Singh avoids philological questions, the reader needs (...) to have previous knowledge of Indian Philosophy and Sanskrit to understand the book.—L. O. G. (shrink)

This is the conclusion of the hermeneutical problems related to Biblical exegesis. This brief survey concludes with the problematics posed by Object-Oriented Ontology. The limitations of OOO is illustrated with examples from the Kashmiri Trika. Further, we interrogate the Biblical Fall and the story of Yama and Yami. This is part of an ongoing project of Biblical exegesis and this is just the third part of this project.