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srivijaya
28 January 2008, 03:21 AM
One of the teachers I admire is the late Swami Lakshmanjoo but he is billed (in his book The Secret Supreme) as "the last of the saints and masters of this tradition".

Is this the case? Are there still living gurus of this tradition in India or elsewhere?

Namaste

Bob G
28 January 2008, 04:58 AM
Hello Srivijaya,

I don't know... but apparently certain Gurus withdraw to the non-physical realms without naming or leaving a successor behind. And thus are doing whatever work they have to do in those realms...where they still might be reached in a non-physical way.

Om

Agnideva
28 January 2008, 06:39 AM
Namaste Srivijaya,

There are many living Gurus who practice and teach Kashmir Shaivism even today. Swami Lakshman Joo was the last one in the traditional lineage of succession. He had initiated many disciples, but did not elect anyone as his successor, if I remember correctly.

Aum Namah Shivaya.

srivijaya
29 January 2008, 07:43 AM
Hello Srivijaya,

I don't know... but apparently certain Gurus withdraw to the non-physical realms without naming or leaving a successor behind. And thus are doing whatever work they have to do in those realms...where they still might be reached in a non-physical way.

Om

Hi Bob,
That is an interesting idea. I guess if the Universal Ground is Siva, then we should be able to access shaktipat from it, as the master is also part of this.

Hi Agnideva,
Do have any details of living gurus in this tradition?

When you wrote that "Swami Lakshman Joo was the last one in the traditional lineage of succession" do you mean one particular offshoot or something more significant?

I must admit, I'm unfamiliar with how transmission works in Shaivism. I assume that Swami Lakshman Joo's own teachers had other disciples and that they, or their students teach, but perhaps they are not counted as the main line?

Namaste

Agnideva
30 January 2008, 03:59 PM
Namaste Srivijaya,


Do have any details of living gurus in this tradition?
I personally don't have details of living gurus of this tradition, but I've heard that there are living gurus. I do know that in the west, there is the Kashmir Shaiva Fellowship and the Siddha Yoga both teach Kashmir Shaivism. Siddha Yoga actually combines Kashmir Shaivism and Advaita Vedanta, as far as I can tell.


When you wrote that "Swami Lakshman Joo was the last one in the traditional lineage of succession" do you mean one particular offshoot or something more significant?

I must admit, I'm unfamiliar with how transmission works in Shaivism. I assume that Swami Lakshman Joo's own teachers had other disciples and that they, or their students teach, but perhaps they are not counted as the main line?Per his biographies, Swami Lakshman Joo was a Master in the unbroken lineage of Kashmir Shaiva Masters, which included the illustrious Acharya Abhinavagupta.

I am not sure if I understand all the nuances of disciplinic succession, but a given Guru must select one disciple as his chosen successor for that lineage to continue officially. If there is no chosen successor among initiated disciples, the lineage is considered to have come to an end, even though the teachings are carried forth by the disciples who may go on to initiate their own disciples. In other words, the main line is broken, but branches may continue. This is per my understanding (may or may not be fully right).

Aum Namah Shivaya.

yajvan
30 January 2008, 05:06 PM
Hari Om
~~~~~

Namaste,

From my studies, svāmī Lakmanjoo's guru was svāmī mahatābakak and his was svāmī ram… the lineage is traced back to durvāsā ṛiṣi.

It is said durvāsā ṛiṣi received knowledge of bhairava tantra from śrikaṇṭhanathā (śiva) Himself. Accordingly durvāsā ṛiṣi was instructed by śrikaṇṭhanathā to expand the thought of bhairava tantra in all the universe with no restriction to varna or jāti, male or female.

The first to receive his diksha (dIkSA) was tryambakanātha, his son. What is of special note this sisya (śiṣya) was a mind born son. He also created two more mind born sons and a mind born daughter for the upliftment of the family of man. Her name was ardhatryambakā.

Why did durvāsā ṛiṣi pursue this venue? He was a brahhmacārī and therefore ūrdhvaretah or one preserving ones sexual energy and no displacement of sukra.

From father to mind born son and daughter, some of the children also created mind born śiṣyas. It's said that 15 siddhas were created in this manner. It was this 15th siddha that was unsuccessful in creating mind born śiṣyas.
For this he searched for a female with all sattvic qualities to produce his children and śiṣyas. Up to this point it was always father-to-son initiation.

Yet starting with somānandanātha muni the dIkSA began from Master to disciple. It is from this lineage that Abhinavagupta came to be initiated into this great knowledge of kaśmir śaivism.

The readings of kaśmir śaivism for me have been quite rewarding. I am blessed to have the opportunity to read and study this vidyām.


ॐनमःिशवाय

pranams

srivijaya
01 February 2008, 10:27 AM
Namaste Srivijaya,
In other words, the main line is broken, but branches may continue. This is per my understanding (may or may not be fully right).

Hi Agnideva,
Many thanks (and to all the others who took the time to reply). This is pretty much my understanding too. Does anyone here have a living teacher in a similar tradition?
It's a pity that this particular line died out.

Namaste

devotee
02 February 2008, 09:29 AM
Namaste yajvan ji & all,

I am reproducing here a collection of 15 sutras of wisdom of Kashmir Shaivism given by Sri Abhinav Gupta. Sri Abhinav Gupta is considered one of the great enlightened souls of Kashmir Shaivism. He came from a family of Brahmin scholars who had settled in Kashmir during King Lalitaditya (700-730 A.D.). His forefathers came from Kannauj in Uttar Pradesh in India.

Kashmir Shaivism - 15 sutras of wisdom

1. The brilliance of the One Being's light does not vanish in external light or in darkness because all light and darkness resides in the supreme light of God Consciousness.

2. This Being is called Lord Siva. He is the nature and existence of all beings. The external objective world is the expansion of His Energy and it is filled with the glamour of the glory of God Consciousness.

3. Siva and Sakti are not aware that they are separate. They are interconnected just as fire is one with heat.

4. He is the God Bhairava. He creates, protects, destroys, conceals, and reveals His nature through the cycle of this world. This whole universe is created by God in His own nature, just as one finds the reflection of the world in a mirror.

5. The collective state of the universe is His supreme Energy (Sakti), which He created in order to recognize His own nature. This (Sakti), who is the embodiment of the collective state of the universe, loves possessing the state of God Consciousness. She is in the state of ignorance, remaining perfectly complete and full in each and every object.

6. The supreme Lord Siva, who is all-pervasive and fond of playing and falling, together with the Energy of His own nature simultaneously brings about the varieties of creation and destruction.

7. This supreme action cannot be accomplished by any other power in this universe except Lord 'Siva, who is completely independent, perfectly glorious and intelligent.

8. The limited state of consciousness is insentient and cannot simultaneously expand itself to become the various forms of the universe. The possessor of independence is absolutely different from that insentient state of consciousness. You cannot, therefore, recognize Him in only one way. The moment you recognize Him in one way you will also recognize Him in the other way.

9. This Lord Siva, who is completely independent (svatantra), has the diversity of creation and destruction existing in His own nature. And, at the same time, this diversity is found existing in its own way as the field of ignorance.

10. In this world you will find varieties of creation and destruction, some of which are created in the upper cycle, some of which are created below, and some of which are even created sideways. Attached to these worlds smaller portions of worlds are created. Pain, pleasure, and intellectual power are created according to the status of being. This is the world.

11. If you do not understand that there is actually no span of time, this misunderstanding is also the independence (svatantrya) of Lord Siva. This misunderstanding results in worldly existence (samsara). And those who are ignorant are terrified by worldly existence.

12. & 13. When, because the grace of Lord Siva is showered upon you, or due to the teachings or vibrating force of your Master, or through understanding the scriptures concerned with Supreme Siva, you attain the real knowledge of reality, that is the existent state of Lord Siva, and that is final liberation. This fullness is achieved by elevated souls and is called liberation in this life (jivanmukti).

14. These two cycles, bondage and liberation, are the play of Lord Siva and nothing else. They are not separate from Lord Siva because differentiated states have not risen at all. In reality, nothing has happened to Lord Siva.

15. In this way the Lord, Bhairava, the essence of all being, has held in His own way in His own nature, the three great energies: the energy of will (iccha-sakti), the energy of action (kriya-sakti), and the energy of knowledge (jnana-sakti). These three energies are just like that trident which is the three-fold lotus. And seated on this lotus is Lord Bhairava, who is the nature of the whole universe of 118 worlds.

16. I, Abhinavagupta, have written and revealed these verses for some of my dear disciples who have very little intellectual understanding. For those disciples, who are deeply devoted to me, I have composed these fifteen sutras just to elevate them instantaneously.

yajvan
02 February 2008, 04:13 PM
Hari Om
~~~~~

Namaste devotee,

this wisdom is always welcomed...thank you

Agnideva
02 February 2008, 07:00 PM
Kashmir Shaivism - 15 sutras of wisdom

Namaste Devotee,

Thank you for posting these sutras of the Bodhapañcadaśika. It is probably Abhinavagupta's shortest work, but captures the essence of all monistic Shaivite teachings so beautifully.

Aum Namah Shivaya.

srivijaya
03 February 2008, 11:45 AM
Many thanks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-JtdztuijY&feature=related

Namaste

Agnideva
03 February 2008, 12:54 PM
Namaste Srivijaya,

Thx for sharing the video. There is a decent translation of Adi Shankaracharya's Shiva Manasa Puja on this site (http://www.stutimandal.com/gif_adi/siva_manasa_puja.htm). The fourth verse is definitely my favorite :).

Aum Namah Shivaya.

yajvan
03 February 2008, 01:25 PM
Hari Om
~~~~~~



4. He is the God Bhairava. He creates, protects, destroys, conceals, and reveals His nature through the cycle of this world. This whole universe is created by God in His own nature, just as one finds the reflection of the world in a mirror.




Namaste,
Perhaps this is His 5 faces....creates, protects, destroys, conceals, and reveals His nature

srivijaya
03 February 2008, 03:09 PM
Namaste Srivijaya,

Thx for sharing the video. There is a decent translation of Adi Shankaracharya's Shiva Manasa Puja on this site (http://www.stutimandal.com/gif_adi/siva_manasa_puja.htm). The fourth verse is definitely my favorite :).

Aum Namah Shivaya.

Hi Agnideva,
Many thanks for the translation. Yes, the fourth verse is splendid.

Namaste

Arjuna
19 April 2008, 07:57 AM
One of the teachers I admire is the late Swami Lakshmanjoo but he is billed (in his book The Secret Supreme) as "the last of the saints and masters of this tradition".
Is this the case? Are there still living gurus of this tradition in India or elsewhere?


Namaste,

I am not sure about Lakshmanji, who was according to late B.N. Pandit "very sattvic man" and not more. But the Tradition is alive, though obviously not in the same form as in 11th century. In my view the living KSh is Kaula Shrividya. The only publicly known Master of it i know in person is Sri Amritanandanatha of Devipuram.

srivijaya
19 April 2008, 04:22 PM
Namaste,

I am not sure about Lakshmanji, who was according to late B.N. Pandit "very sattvic man" and not more. But the Tradition is alive, though obviously not in the same form as in 11th century. In my view the living KSh is Kaula Shrividya. The only publicly known Master of it i know in person is Sri Amritanandanatha of Devipuram.

Thanks Arjuna,
Do you know of any books or online teachings of this tradition?

namaste

Arjuna
20 April 2008, 08:02 AM
Thanks Arjuna,
Do you know of any books or online teachings of this tradition?

Contemporary accessible Masters: Sri Amritanandanatha, devipuram.com. Maybe Ganapati Saccidananda also.

Original texts: Parashuramakalpasutra with Rameshvara's commentary, writings of Sri Bhaskararaya, Nityotsava, Vamakeshvara-tantra, Jnanarnava-tantra, Srividyarnava, Kularnava-tantra, Kamakalavilasa, Lalita-sahasranama, Saundarya-lahari etc.

Academic authors: D. R. Brooks, M. S. G. Dyczkowsky, Paramahamsa Mishra etc.

Philosophy of SV is almost identical to that of KSh, so study of Bhairava-tantras and Trika and Spanda-shastra is recommended :).