Scriptures of Kashmiri Shaivism?

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~
namasté

from some past posts...

This wonderful knowledge is found in the āgama-s. The āgama-s¹ are made up of the following:
· Bhairava śāstra-s - 64 in number; these are considered non-dual some call monistic; parā
· Rūdra śāstra-s - 18 in number; these are considered dual-non-dual or mono-dualistic ; parāparā
· Śiva śāstra-s - 10 in number; these are considered dualistic; aparā
You can see they total 92 śāstra-s that make up the āgama-s.

In kaśmir śaivism it operates on the notion of the trika ( 3 fold) system. We know this as śiva , śakti and nara. These are composed of the 3 energies of Śiva-Bhairava i.e.
· parā śakti - considered Supreme energy (śakti)
· parāparā śakti - considered medium śakti
· aparā śakti - lower śakti
Within these 3 energies the whole universe and every action ( worldly, mental, physical, spiritual, etc) exists or are fueled within these 3 śakti-s.

So within kaśmir śaivism and the trika philosophy or Trika Śaivism, it consists of 4 schools of thought:

Pratyabhijñā ( SELF recognition),
Kula ( a grouping and used for 'totality' , Universal Consciousness),
Krama ( progress made step-by-step),
Spanda ( the throb, movement, SELF-referral of the Divine).

The lineage
From my studies, svāmī Lakṣman-jū'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 dīkṣā was Tryambakanātha, his son. What is of special note this putrapravara ( son & 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 śiṣya-s. 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.

A bit more
It is with the 15^th siddha ( of which I do not know his name) married a pure and good woman and they had a son named saMgamAditya. It is he that came to Kashmir . From here he too married a son named varSAdiya who married, and has a son named aruNAditya. All these son’s were grounded non-dual Shaivism ( from the bhairava tantra-s). Then aruNAditya-ji too also had a son ānanda. It is with the the sage ānanda that we come to somānandanātha. He is the author of the pratyabhiJNA school within Saivism and the author of siva-dristi where the principles for this darsana are laid out. It was with somānandanātha that the teaching of non-dual bhairava tantra knowledge went from master-to-disciple rather then father-to-son as in the past. Hence somānanda-ji was the mater of utpaladeva. And from Utpaladevācārya came the student-disciple laksamanagupta.
Laksamanaguptācārya was the master of abhinavagupta-ji of which I write so much about. And it is our good fortune that svāmī Lakṣman-jū comes from this tradition.
Yet starting with somānandanātha muni the dīkṣā began from master to disciple. It is from this lineage that Abhinavagupta came to be initiated into this great knowledge of kaśmir śaivism.

It's interesting to note there are a few views on how durvāsā ṛiṣi divided up the teaching of Śaivāgama (Śiva-āgama-s).
One view is the triad of advaita ( non-dual), dvaita (dual) and dbaitādvaita ( non-dual +dual). From this view ( offered by svāmī Lakṣman-jū).

Tryambakanātha received advaita ( non-dual) from durvāsā ṛiṣi
Amardaka received dvaita (dual) from durvāsā ṛiṣi
Srinatha received advaitādvaita ( non-dual +dual) ) from durvāsā ṛiṣi

The other view is the same recipients shown above , yet Tryambakanātha's daughter founded a 4th school , some call this the third-and-one-half way and is identified with the Kaula tradition, called kula-pratkriyā.
I mention this because Abhinavagupta suggests there are 2 teachers qualified to teach Śaivism, that of Lajuliśa and Śrīkaṇṭha ( another name for Śiva). It is my understanding that Lajuliśa was the founder of the Paśupata-s; Śrīkaṇṭha, as mentioned in the quote above, gave the knowledge to durvāsā ṛiṣi , who then passed it on to the mind born śiṣyas mentioned.

The above is the lineage of kaśmir śaivism, considered a pure trika system i.e. Pratyabhijñā ( SELF recognition), Kula ( grouping and used for 'totality' , Universal Consciousness), Krama ( progress made step-by-step), and Spanda ( the throb, movement, SELF-referral of the Divine). These are the 4 areas I have been studying and sharing with you as I find items of interest. This is the wonderful knowledge that is found in the agama-s¹.

I thought , since I have talked much about Abhinavagupta, I would offer the meaning of his name and some of the observations I have made. In one of his works Abhinavagupta himself calls out Abhinava + gupta as always new + hidden. We can take his name as Abhi+ nava + gupta.
· abhi अभि - is a prefix to verbs and nouns that expresses to , towards , into , over , or upon. The hi root is to convey , bring , procure , yet is also to send forth set in motion , impel , or urge-on
· nava नव - new , fresh , recent , young , modern
· gupta नव - protected , guarded , preserved; hidden, concealed , kept secret - from gup too hide , conceal
From this one can suggest this name means one that is always headed towards or seated in that which is young, fresh and anew. What is that? Consciousness or Awareness. Always present without decay ( vimala - stainless , spotless , clean , bright , pure); Yet at the same time hidden or concealed as one does not 'see' this Consciousness or the state of Consciousness in the open, it is sahaja or innate, hereditary , original , natural in us.

So the interesting part ( for me) is the definition begs the observation of Abhinavagupta's status of saṃghaṭṭa¹ - the union of the fresh and new with the hidden and concealed. That is , his status of being established in khecarī samatā¹ - movement within sameness. His name then suggests ( to me) his mukta status (liberated , delivered , emancipated ), secure in the SELF.
It also suggests Abhinavagupta's status as a guru, He that moves sends forth set in motion, others to nava, a fresh start of Consciousness that is hidden or concealed; he as guru un-conceals the concealed in the śiṣya-s.

iti śivaṁ

Words and Reference books:

āgama आगम - a traditional doctrine or precept , collection of such doctrines , sacred work ; ā = towards or towards us + gam =to go to or towards , approach; So the question is to go towards or approach what? To approach us , to us the aspirant, or to Śaivism or Śiva? It is that knowledge that brings us toward , and to approach Him
Parā-trīśikā Vivaraṇa -or- That (Śrī Devī) who transcends and is Identical with trika. It also means That which speaks out (kāyati) the three (tri) śakti-s (śa) of the Supreme (parā). Vivaraṇa means the act of uncovering, opening, or explanation - by Abhinavagupta

The Triadic Heart Of Śiva - by Paul Eduardi Muller-Ortega. This is a study of Abhinavagupta's many works in Tantra and Non-dual Śaivism
saṃghaṭṭa संघट्ट - union
khecarī samatā - please see the following HDF Post: http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/sho...9&postcount=16
śāśvata शाश्वत is from śaśvat शश्वत् - eternal , constant , perpetual , evermore
Kṣemarāja was Abhinavagupta-ji’s disciple.
Utpaladevācārya’s master was somAnanda some report this was his father, but that could be the report of the guru-student relationship. SomAnanda-ji laid the groundwork for the pratyaabhija ( or Self) recognition view of unfoldment in his siva-dRSTi. Somananda’s liniage (somānandanātha) comes by way of duvasya mentioned above and his liniage. somānandanātha’s father was the sage ānanda

utpala+deva+ācārya utpala = blossoming, any flower + deva = divine, of highest excellence + ācārya is the master, knowing or teaching the ācāra or rules, the spiritual guide

Utpaladevācārya was a luminary within kaśmir śaivism. This work I am quoting from is the śivastortāvalī is devotional to its core;

laksamanagupta’s master who in turn was Abhinavagupta-ji’s master for learning the pratyabhijNA system or darsana.