COMUNICACIONES POR IMAGEN

The second stream of Shaivism has emerged under the inspiration of my teacher, Swami Baba Muktananda (1908-1982). I am not aware that the Lakshmanjoo tradition has taken a specific name but it could be called the 'scholarly'. Baba's line, I call the 'shaktipat tradition' of Kashmir Shaivism. He has had an immense impact among spiritual seekers because he was able to transmit the experience of Shaivism. He delivered the Shakti. He awakened the kundalini energy of thousands of seekers.

A number of his disciples have become spiritual teachers in their own right, and all of them have been deeply affected by Baba's Shaivite vision. Swami Chetanananda of the Nityananda Institute, has ar specifically Shaivite approach. Others like Gurumayi Chidvilasanada of SYDA, Swami Nityananda of Shanti Mandir, Master Charles Cannon of Synchronicity, Swami Gurupremananda of Gurudev Ashram, California, and Da Avabhasa (Franklin Jones) were all trained in the shaktipat tradition and make implicit use of many of the Shaivite teachings. In the Shiva School of Kashmir

The Origins of Kashmir Shaivism 49

Shaivism here in Melbourne, practical and theoretical studies in Shaivism are pursued.

Truly speaking, Shaivism cannot be understood inwardly or spiritually without shaktipat, real spiritual awakening. By this, I do not mean to imply that the scholarly tradition is devoid of spiritual awakening. There is ample evidence that Swami Lakshmanjoo did awaken a number of his students via sliaktipat. Of course, it is possible to turn Kashmir Shaivism into merely an academic and historical subject, but that should not be mistaken for spiritual authenticity.

Baba had initiating power: in his presence thousands had the direct

experience of the Self. His Shaktipat Shaivism will continue to drink from the

living waters of the Shaivite vision. Gurus in this school may not care too much for intellectual and historical niceties. Rather, they will be concerned with transmitting the power and wisdom of the Shaivite world view to seekers in order to uplift them and connect them to the Self. Nonetheless, the scholarly approach performs a vital function and can help ground contemporary Shaivite visionaries. Study of the ancient texts should be an essential part of today's Shaivite sadhana, and scholars perform a significant service as they make more of these texts available in translation in lucid modern editions.

SCHOLAR AND YOGI

Perhaps a way of defining these two Shaivisms is to observe that the two Gurus came to the tradition in different ways. Lakshmanjoo always operated within the philosophical domain of Kashmir Shaivism. First he acquired the knowledge, and that knowledge led to experience. Baba Muktananda began with the experience and came to Shaivism because it gave an intellectual structure that explained the kundalini experiences he was having. Thus for Baba, the experience would always hold primacy over traditional material.

When the Shaivite ideas are regarded as facts and theories to be compared and analysed, they remain as limited knowledge. The true Shaivite application of these principles is to use them to increase Shakti or the mystical awareness of the Self. The goal or purpose of what we do defines what we do. A scholarly quest is designed to unearth the historical truth. In it one idea is linked to another in a horizontal way. The founding sages of Shaivism did not plan for their ideas to be compared to each other, but to give 'vertical access', to provide a means to higher consciousness. Scholarly Shaivism

will always be horizontal but never vertical. Experiential Shaivism, on the other hand, can sometimes be horizontal and scholarly, but it will always use the ideas vertically as an upaya or 'means' to know the Divine.

Ideas are seductive. Coming from an academic background I am susceptible to their allure. This came home to me vividly while I was.writing the chapter, Being Present. I wanted to write something on the rather esoteric Shaivite theory of the sadadhvas. No matter how I struggled with the material I felt a block. Finally I saw that I was taking the ideas as somehow real and terribly interesting in themselves. I had the insight that I had to use the ideas vertically, as tools for spiritual upliftment. I had to write in the manner of the

shaktipat tradition, from the point of view of yogic practice. The chapter

reformed itself radically, and the block released.

The two traditions have occasionally undervalued each other, the yogic side thinking of the scholarly side as mere academics. Even Lakshmanjoo's scholarly students generally say that he is the last of his tradition. But they would be in an academic line rather than a disciplic tradition, and they might not be aware of the latter. It is likely that such a great being would have left initiates as well as scholars to carry on his tradition.

On the other side, the scholarly world has overlooked Baba's contribution. 1 have several times heard it said that he 'popularised' Kashmir Shaivism or spread a 'popular' and therefore less authentic form to the masses. I would contend, on the contrary, that he didn't simply popularise Shaivism, he

verticalised it. He inspired thousands to actually do the practice, and in this

way he gave an authentic form of Shaivism that Vasugupta and Abhinava would have saluted.

The large Indian publishing house, Motilal Banarsidass, has published most of the key books in English on Kashmir Shaivism. While in the process of publishing the Indian edition of my book, Happy for No Good Reason, the publishers told us that many years ago, Baba had strongly urged them to publish Jaideva Singh's translations of the Shaivite sutras. Out of respect for Baba, they complied, and were pleased because all of those editions have sold steadily. Baba's devotees bought, and still continue to buy, a high percentage of the books.

Similarly in America, State University of New York (SUNY) Press has been the main publisher of Shaivite texts. Bill Eastman, for many years the head of SUNY Press, was a devotee of Baba and published Shaivism at Baba's suggestion. Scholars are sometimes a generation behind, and they

The Origins of Kashmir Shaivism 51

may not be in tune with Baba's approach to Shaivism. Baba was not afraid to rework it and cared little for pedantry. I have no doubt that future generations of scholars will give appropriate weight to his contribution and stature, as the passage of time makes him suitable material for scholarship. It is an interesting, harmonising footnote to add that late in his life, Baba took some devotees on a pilgrimage to Kashmir. They visited the holy sites around Shrinigar and chanted the Guru Gita on top of the rock where Vasugupta discovered the Shiva Sutras. On Wednesday, 22 September, 1982, Swami Lakshmanjoo and some of his students visited Baba where he was staying. They chatted with great affection. Swami Lakshmanjoo held Baba's hand during the photo session.

Baba said, 'Holding your hand, I feel that I am holding Vasugupta's hand because you are in his lineage'. Ten days later, after his return to Ganeshpuri, Baba passed away.

Swami Muktananda (left) and Swami Lakshmanjoo. The two great masters

of modern Shaivism meet in Kashmir in 1982.

Theory and practice are two wings of the bird of spiritual development. For thousands of years, people have done spiritual work with the aim of finding their own inner greatness. All who have pursued the path with any dedication have progressed; many have reached the final goal. So yogic theory is a way of talking about what we, as a community of seekers, have

learned from each other's experience. One of the beauties of the path of yoga is that there is an internal alarm that does not allow either theory or practice to go too far without the other. Too m u c h theory can feel dry, and automatically directs the seeker to practise the teaching; and intense practice impels the seeker to read, reflect and contemplate what he has experienced.

READING SHAIVISM IN ENGLISH

The situation for the non-scholar or the non-Sanskritist is already much better than it was a few years ago. There is enough material available in English to satisfy the Shaiva yogi, and there is more appearing all the time. Basic to any library are the excellent translations by Jaideva Singh of the

Shiva Sutras, Spanda Karikas, Pratyabhijnahridayam and the Vijnanabhairava.

These are widely available, published by Motilal Barnarsidass, and are the fundamental texts. Mark Dyczkowski has also done editions of the

Shiva Sutras and the Spanda Karikas. These are also well worth having, and

use different sources.

W o r t h w h i l e s e c o n d a r y sources b y m o d e r n s c h o l a r s i n c l u d e Dyczkowski's Doctrine of Vibration, Mishra's Kashmir Shaivism, Muller- Ortega's Triadic Heart of Shiva, Sharma's Philosophy of Sadhana and Silburn's

Kundalini. There are a number of excellent studies by Indian scholars,

published in India, which are more difficult to obtain. Among them, I recommend Pandit's Specific Principles of Kashmir Shaivism for the new student.

More yogic works are Swami Lakshmanjoo's Self Realisation and The

Secret Supreme, Swami Chetanananda's Dynamic Stillness I and II, and, of

course, Siddha Meditation by Swami Muktananda.

I should also mention Bailly's translation of Utpaladeva's poems, Shaiva

Devotional Songs of Kashmir, which show the devotional side of Utpala and

a different face of the tradition.

A number of other wonderful texts are either difficult to obtain or hard- going for new students. But others will certainly appear as interest in Kashmir Shaivism continues to grow.

Chapter 3