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Thread: Shaiva Sampradayas/Traditions - An attempt to List

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    Shaiva Sampradayas/Traditions - An attempt to List

    Namaste,

    I'm a member of HDF for a few months now.I've noticed that there are many schools of Shaivam.I'm trying to make a small list based on my limited knowledge.

    Purpose:
    -Primarily to know the Vedanta interpretations of the schools.
    -Associated religious practices

    Firstly,these two images from the internet.




    (I do not know about the accuracy of the above charts)

    SHAVISM-SCHOOLS AND DEVOTEE PRACTICES:

    1.Shaivam (not affiliated to any particular Sampradaya,
    corresponds to Puranic & popular worship of Lord Shiva)
    Features:
    1.May worship other deities.
    Philosophy:Unknown

    2.Smarta Shaivam (also corresponds to Puranic & popular worship of Lord Shiva)
    Features:
    1.Smarta devotees accept other deities as equal to Lord Shiva,such as Lord Vishnu and Goddess Devi and worship them too.
    Philosophy:
    Advaita Vedanta of Sri Adi Shankaracharya.
    Institutions:
    -The four amnaya pithas established by Sri Shankaracharyas at Sringeri,Puri,Jyotirmath and Dwaraka.

    3.Saiva Siddhanta
    Features:
    1.Accepts the Vedas,Puranas and Agamas.
    2.Found predominantly in Tamil Nadu and also in Andhra Pradesh & Telanagana.
    3.Emphasis on the various Agamas and the tamil devotional literature of the 63 Nayanmars & others.

    Philosophy:
    It seems that there are three interpretations:
    1.Advaita(Monism): based on Rishi Tirumular's Tirumantiram(P1)
    2.Dvaita(Dualism): based on Meykanda Shastras(P2)
    3.Bheda Abheda(Difference as well as oneness) ( P3 ) I don't know

    Thus,there are three different traditions.

    Institutions:

    I think some Shaiva members here study either P1 or P3.The Saiva Siddhanta Church-Adheenam of Kauai,Hawaii follows P1(& P3?).

    P1:Kauai Adheenam-Kailasa Parampara-Nandinatha Sampradaya

    P2 & P3:
    1.Unknown...
    2.Maybe Madurai Adheenam

    4.Veera Shaivas(correspons to Lingayat in the chart)
    Actually,there are two sub-schools here:
    a)Srauta Shiavas
    b)Lingayats

    4)a)Srauta Shaiva(Accept authority of the Vedas[Sruti=Srauta],Puranas,Agamas etc.)
    Also known as Aradhyas(a sect of Brahmins)
    Features:
    1.Practice four-fold Varna system and Ashrama Dharma
    2.Emphasize Grihasta Dharma(Householder,family)
    3.Found mosty in Andhra Pradesh and may be in Tamil Nadu,Telangana and Karnataka.
    Philosophy:Unknown
    Institution:Unknown

    4)b)Lingayats/Lingavanta/Lingadharins(
    accepts the same scriptures as the Srautas)
    Features:
    1.Reform group that rejected Varna Dharma on the call given by Sri Basaveshwara in the 11th century.
    2.Found mostly in Karnataka and also in Telangana & Andra Pradesh.
    Philosophy:Shakti Vishishta-Advaita
    Institutions:
    -The five simhasanas(seats) established by the five Siddha Acharyas/Aradhyas at Kashi,Kedarnath,Ujjani,SriShaila and Balehonnur.

    Common Features:
    *In my knowledge these two are the only schools that have the concept of wearing a Siva Linga on the neck.
    Pictures: http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/sho...80&postcount=5

    5.Kashmira Shaiva:

    Some terms related to this school,Trika,Spanda,Pratyabhijna etc.

    Features:
    1.Unknown
    2.From Kashmir
    Philosophy:Advaita?
    Institutions:
    -Unknown
    -Maybe related to Sri Abhinavagupta

    I assume that one of our best and senior member Ji studies this system.I hope he will be able to tell us more about this school

    6.Shiva Vishishta-Advaita
    Features:
    1.Based on
    Srikanthacharya/Nilakanthacharya's commentaries on the Upanishads and Brahma Sutras.
    2.
    School's existence unknown
    3.May or may not accept Agamas
    4.Srauta Shaivas it seems rely on these commentaries


    About other schools:coming soon

    Wherever I wrote unknown or '?',it means that I do not know about that.I think our members can help me to fill in the gaps.
    If there are any mistakes,please do tell me,I'll correct them.

    to be continued..




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    Re: Shaiva Sampradayas/Traditions - An attempt to List

    Off the topic :

    The Ram with perumal as profile pic has transformed into a new Avtar. Good Luck...
    Anirudh...

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    Re: Shaiva Sampradayas/Traditions - An attempt to List

    Quote Originally Posted by Anirudh View Post
    Off the topic :

    The Ram with perumal as profile pic has transformed into a new Avtar. Good Luck...

    Namaste,

    How is my new profile pic?
    Last edited by Ram11; 05 December 2014 at 10:08 PM. Reason: Nothing to say.

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    Re: Shaiva Sampradayas/Traditions - An attempt to List

    Namaste,

    Continuing with the list of schools of Shaivism.

    There are other Sampradayas but I hardly know anything about them,I'll just list them now and update as I get to know more.

    a)Natha Sampradaya
    The Natha tradition is probably synonymous with the Siddha Sampradaya but I do not know who is the person referred by the word 'Natha'.

    Features:

    There are three nathas:
    1.Gorakshanatha/Gorakhnath
    2.Matysendranath(Shaiva?)
    3.Adinatha

    Philosophy:Unknown
    Institutions:Unknown

    b)Some other school's whose existence is not known to me:
    1.Pasupata Saiva:Maybe the oldest Shaiva school.

    Features:
    1.There seems to be some confusion even among historians as an ancient Shaiva tradition and a later tradition shared the same name.
    Scripture:Pasupata Sutra(?)
    Philosophy and Institutions:Unknown

    2.Lakulisha/Nakulisa Tradition:
    Founded by one teacher by the name of Nakulisa or Lakulisha as mentioned in some Puranas.
    Philosophy and Institutions:Unknown

    3.Kapalika,Kalamukha,Aghori and some others.
    Philosophy and Institutions:Unknown

    4.Kaula & related Tantric schools:
    Philosophy and Institutions:Unknown

    If I have missed out any traditions,please do tell.Corrections are welcome.

    to be continued...

    Last edited by Ram11; 27 December 2014 at 04:36 AM. Reason: Removed some unnecessary critical statements.

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    Re: Shaiva Sampradayas/Traditions - An attempt to List

    Namaste,

    A few points to note:
    The Shaiva traditions of importance here are Smarta Shaiva,Siddantha Shaiva and Kashmira Shaiva.
    I am not focusing on the two schools of Veera Shaivam(the Srauta Shaivas and the Lingayatas) and
    the extreme schools as they are quite distinct externally from the others.

    Points of similarity:
    Texts Accepted as Scripture:
    -The Vedas
    -The Upanishads
    -The Itihasas
    -The Puranas
    -The Agamas


    1.Siddantha Saiva accepts all of the above.
    2.It is not clear whether the Kashmira Shaivas accept the the Vedas and Upanishads but they certainly accept the Agamas.
    3.It is not known whether the Smarta Shaivas accept the Agamas but they obey the rest.
    *The Sringeri Shankaracharyas and the Kanchi Paramacharya seem to acknowledge the Periya Puranam (an important text of Saiva Siddhanta) as they teach moral stories from it.
    4.I discovered that there is a popular misconception that the Lingayats have refused to accept the Vedas and other texts but in truth they have only rejected the concept of discriminating based on birth but not the scriptures.
    5.An other unique Sampradaya is the '3000 Chidambara Deekshitars' based primarily on the Vedas.They do not refer to the Shaiva agamas but have their own literature that defines worship in the Chidambaram Temple.

    Agamas:
    There are 28 Agamas in the Saivism:
    10 Shiva bheda Agamas that teach Advaita
    philosophy.
    18 Rudra bheda Agamas that teach Vishishta-Advaita/Dvaita philosophy.

    There are other Agamas allegedly dark in nature & are known as the Bhairava Agamas.

    Apart from the Agamas that are common to most schools,each Shaiva tradition has its own notable supplementary scriptures:

    1.Smarta Shaiva:
    By Sri Adi Shankaracharya
    -Shivananda Lahari
    -....
    2.Saiva Siddhanta:
    -the Tamil devotional literature & the hymns of the 63 Nayanmars
    -Tirumantiram(Advaita)
    -Meykanda Shastra(Dvaita)
    3.Kashmira Shaiva:
    -Shiva Sutras by Vasugupta
    -Works of Abhinavagupta and Kshemaraja
    4.Lingayats:
    -Vachana Sahitya(devotional/philosophical poetry) by Basaveshwara,Allama Prabhu,Akka Mahadevi and others

    Corrections and comments are welcome.

    An interesting thread I found in the net about Saiva Siddhanta
    http://www.arunachala-ramana.org/for...p?topic=7129.0


    to be continued
    Last edited by Ram11; 07 December 2014 at 08:00 AM. Reason: Added a link.

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    Re: Shaiva Sampradayas/Traditions - An attempt to List

    Namaskar Ram,

    Excellent thread, thank you. I look forward to reading more, as the history of the traditions is an area of interest for me, too. So very much to learn.

    ~Pranam
    ~~~~~
    What has Learning profited a man, if it has not led him to worship the good feet of Him who is pure knowledge itself?
    They alone dispel the mind's distress, who take refuge at the feet of the incomparable one.
    ~~Tirukural 2, 7

    Anbe Sivamayam, Satyame Parasivam

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    Re: Shaiva Sampradayas/Traditions - An attempt to List

    Quote Originally Posted by Aanandinii View Post
    Namaskar Ram,

    Excellent thread, thank you. I look forward to reading more, as the history of the traditions is an area of interest for me, too. So very much to learn.

    ~Pranam

    Namaste Aanandinii Ji,

    I was thinking of posting no more to this thread as I felt nobody is interested.Now that I know there is a reader I feel encouraged to add to this thread.Thank you.



    more about Shaivam:coming soon


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    Re: Shaiva Sampradayas/Traditions - An attempt to List

    Namaste,

    I found a small booklet(13 pages) in the internet by the name 'Facets of Shaivism' by Swami Harshananda.

    http://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct...82001339,d.c2E

    The books covers all traditions of Shaivism and includes the details about of the number of tattvas(25-36) accepted by various Sampradayas.

    The appropriate name for
    the Kashmir Shaiva school is 'Ishwara Pratyabhijna Darshana' and there is a good summary of this school in the book.

    A must read!
    Last edited by Ram11; 04 January 2015 at 09:10 AM. Reason: error corrected

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    Re: Shaiva Sampradayas/Traditions - An attempt to List

    Namaste,

    In the previous post I erroneously mentioned that Saiva Siddhanta teaches only Advaita philosophy,it is only partially true.

    There are two schools of thought:
    1.Rishi Sri Tirumular's Shuddadvaita(Monism) System(
    Advaita Ishwara Vaada-Monistic theism)
    2.Meykanda Devar's Dvaita(Dualistic) Shastras

    It seems there are a number of Adheenams(Madurai,Dharmapuram,Tiruvavaduthurai) in Tamil Nadu.

    Most follow 2.

    Sri Sivaya Subramuniya Swamiji of Kauai Adheenam,who follows 1,says that 1& 2 are more or less similar externally except for some philosophical differences.

    So there are two traditions within the Saiva Siddhanta Sampradaya.

    He dances in the golden hall of Chidambaram, Let us worship His rosy anklet girt Feet.

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    Re: Shaiva Sampradayas/Traditions - An attempt to List

    Harih Om,
    could anybody refer me to some Saiva school that welcomes women as students? I live in Europe, so it is not possible for me to visit temples, but I would love to be able to learn teachings and participate in activities if they are not necessary limited on particular place. I came across Kuai's academy, but as far as I can see, it is basically a monastery for men, so I have to search somewhere else, but I don't know where.
    If anybody would be willing to help, I'd be very happy.

    Om Namah Shivaya

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