Bhakti in Paradvaita

[caitanya]

Namaskar All,


I do not find the Paradvaita section anymore .So thought of posting it in Advaita .

I have often been asked as to what is the concept of Bhakti in Paradvaita or Kashmir Shaivism .

What is Advaita Bhakti? Who is the object of your worship if there is no one other than your own self existing ?
what or Whom does a paradvaitin worship when he is in temple etc. ?

I would humbly request Yajvanji and other members expert in Kashmir Shaivism to please help me with this .

Jai Shree Krishna

Caitanya

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~
namasté

Namaskar All, I do not find the Paradvaita section anymore .So thought of posting it in Advaita . I have often been asked as to what is the concept of Bhakti in Paradvaita or Kashmir Shaivism .
What is Advaita Bhakti? Who is the object of your worship if there is no one other than your own self existing ? what or Whom does a paradvaitin worship when he is in temple etc. ? I would humbly request Yajvanji and other members expert in Kashmir Shaivism to please help me with this . Jai Shree Krishna Caitanya

Utpaladevācārya¹ was a luminary within kaśmir śaivism. His offer on bhakti is the śivastortāvalī and is devotional to its core. If there is bhakti there must be 2 for that to occur.

We are informed and encouraged by utpaladevacāra and his writings of the śivastortāvalī which he says, wherever one finds the Supreme, His presence ( in this case Lord śiva) it is worth having; he continues and says, wherever you (Lord śiva) are not found, that is worth abandoning. This is from the chapter called rahasyanirdeśanāma dvādaśaṁ stotram. This says, the 12^th stotra or hymn (dvādaśaṁ stotram) revealing of a secret (rahasyanirdeśanāma). This is one of the secrets utpaladevacāra offers us.

It seems simple enough. Within one's practice of devotion gravitate to that which the Supreme is most abundant to you , abandon the others. So, where is the ‘secret’ ? It is, iteyaṁ sārasaṅgrahaḥ - this in essence is saṃgraha, the summary, the epitome, the marrow of what is offered in this view. Pending one’s comprehension this can be viewed as mildly interesting or profoundly insightful.

Being immersed in devotion is substantial. It is not a fashion; something that is put-on and taken off later. It is kratu, a resolve, that 'this is so, not otherwise'. When this is complete we have niṣpatti avastha¹.

iti śivaṁ

words

• Ualadevācārya – 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.
  
• niṣpatti = completion + avastha = state

The highest level ( most bathed-in, immersed, as one would say) is the continuous and perpetual condition of bhakti that occurs every second of every day.
But one must ask, how can this even occur? In between worship I need to shop, pick up food, get my dry cleaning; oh, I have to go pay my bills, I have to….
In this state of doing (some call kalā śarīra) the native is in a differentiated/fractionalized level of awareness. The mind at times is surrounded by devotion, the temple, pūjā and in a millionth of a second the mind is off doing grocery shopping in the mind; running here and there. There must be more to this, there must be something deeper and more robust to comprehend. In viśiṣṭādvaita vedānta this view would be called out as a continuous stream of remembrance of God, uninterrupted – like a flow of oil from one vessel to another. There is no break or pause; it is continuous, pure, unending (niḥśeṣa without remainder).
What then is this ? It is bhagavat-cetana (god consciousness). This is undifferentiated awareness… it is without break or pause. Yet one must be mindful that this is not the next stop in consciousness… that is, wake – dream – sleep - bhagavat-cetana is constant.

[caitanya]

Namaskar Yajvanji ,

Thanks for the wonderful insights .

As I understand , Bhakti needs 2 . As Kashmir Shaivism is non-dual, I am inclined to understand that this distinction of two is there so long as we don't have the pauseless remembrance/absorption of/in God . In this case there will be no two . There will be no distinction between me , deity or anything of this world .

But as I have not reached this level of consciousness ( Bhagvat-cetana ) , I see two . So I worship deity( Sadashiva , Krishna, Rama etc.) where I see abundance of Shiv Tattva and abandon situations/objects where I am not able to see Shiva tattva . Will it not create an obstacle in my sadhana as I am abandoning something which in essence is also Shiva tattva ? If I am not having the level of awareness to realise Shiva tattva everwhere , I can still atleast intellectually percieve everything as Shiva . What would abandoning bring ?

I hope I am making sense . Please enlighten.

jai Shree Krishna

Caitanya

[yajvan]

hariḥ oṁ
~~~~~~
namasté

Namaskar Yajvanji ,

Thanks for the wonderful insights .

As I understand , Bhakti needs 2 . As Kashmir Shaivism is non-dual, I am inclined to understand that this distinction of two is there so long as we don't have the pauseless remembrance/absorption of/in God . In this case there will be no two . There will be no distinction between me , deity or anything of this world .

But as I have not reached this level of consciousness ( Bhagvat-cetana ) , I see two . So I worship deity( Sadashiva , Krishna, Rama etc.) where I see abundance of Shiv Tattva and abandon situations/objects where I am not able to see Shiva tattva . Will it not create an obstacle in my sadhana as I am abandoning something which in essence is also Shiva tattva ? If I am not having the level of awareness to realise Shiva tattva everwhere , I can still atleast intellectually percieve everything as Shiva . What would abandoning bring ?

I hope I am making sense . Please enlighten. jai Shree Krishna Caitanya

Let see if I can offer a few ideas for your kind consideration...

Yes, when one is not in continuity of that pause-less state (satatoditam¹) or absorption then there is the many or aneka - not one; many, much, separated. There is this 'me' and all the diversity (duality¹) of life. In fact my level of awareness is co-mingled into all that I see . One has ~lost~ the SELF and is co-mingled with objects. Many do not 'get' this because they never had the experience of being un-comingled and this is experiencing truīya or the 4th. This is okay, for if one sticks to their practice it will come; it must come because it is there 24 hrs. a day.

The secret of adoring your devata
One needs to be mindful that whatever expression of the Supreme ( īśá or Lord) is prevalent in your life, all other expressions reside in that same expression.
That is, one’s Lord is none other than fullness, wholeness and pervading all (vyāpin). That clearly implies that your divine, your adored permeates all
the other expressions of the Supreme too. That your īśá is vyāpin - all inclusive. So, even if you selected śiva to adore, you will see your adored in all other
expressions of the Supreme – you will see śiva in viṣṇu, in ganeṣa, in devī and the like. What one adores is found everywhere… śiva will be seen kṛṣṇa-jī,
or in lakṣmi or even a blade of grass. This is the secret. This gives one confidence that all expressions are none other than your adored ( the Supreme)
in a different robe. So, there is a upliftment in devotion and ( I hope) utpaladevacāra’s offer makes sense.

Yet there is more – and this is for yogam ārurukṣor muni, or the one that wishes to rise in yoga. This is offered only because we are discussing devotion within
parādvaita school of thought ( or trika , some like to call non-dual kaśmir śaivism ). So, if this causes a brain cramp, not to worry all’s well.

Most to all of us have heard the great saying (mahāvākyam) I AmThat… we know there are 4 of them and they are in fact formulaic.
I Am That suggests that I become aware ( the proper term is pratyabhijñā or re-recognition) of my own core SELF – Being, Presence. My frame of reference
is now Self and Non-Self. Nothing overshadows my direct personal experience of Self – it is there all the time , never subsiding. Self means I am grounded in
that never-changing experience of Being (That) , and when I look out from ~me~ everything is non-Self.

This sets the stage for additional expansion to Thou Art That - one grows and sees all of the environment as an expression of the SELF – everything is viewed as an expression of me.
In this experience they view the world and every molecule as His creation, His expansion , and the native experiences it as such. To this we give the name God-Consciousness.
We adore all of creation - all of it is seen as their adored, their īśá.

This once again sets the stage for another revelation ( re-evaluation), All This is That . I no longer see Me and That ( even That of His creation) as 2 , as separate, but
I only experience wholeness without break or pause in every thing. There is non-duality everywhere, 7 days a week 24 hrs a day…It is truly satatoditam.

I am That, Thou Art That, All This is That
That = sattā (pure Being). When it is in ‘me’ I say it is my SELF. When outside of me it is That – it is uccārarahitam vastu - that Reality (vastu) devoid (rahitam) of utterance (ucāra)
and one bathes in it (nimajjana¹). To suggest one bathes in it suggests ( still ) there is 2; in this case there is no two; the bath and bather are non-different. Total absorption - there
is no inside or outside , there's just That.

iti śivaṁ
words

• satatoditam - 'without break or pause' is some times called avicchinnātaparamārthaṁ, uninterrupted, yet the word I often use is satatoditam (satata + udita)

turyātīte bheda ekaḥ
satatodita ityam || tantrāloka 10.283

• dvaita - duality , duplicity , dualism ;
  
  • dvaita = dvi + tā = two + tā = tad = thus
  
  
• vyāpin - reaching through , pervading , covering , diffusive , comprehensive , spreading everywhere ; 'pervader' or a name of viṣṇu
• nimajjana - bathing , diving , sinking , immersion; to plunge into; some use this as ‘to drown’

[caitanya]

Namaskar yajvanji ,

Thanks for detailed explainations . It has really helped.

Happy Deepawali !!!


Jai Shree Krishna

Caitanya