16/02/2020 SivaSakti | Introduction To Shaivism, Part 1
Introduction To Shaivism, Part 1
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Shaivism is practically the oldest spiritual
path of the world. In India, Shaivism is
millennium old, and the archeological
researches from Mohenjo Daro and Harappa
revealed a history going back even beyond
the calcolitic age.
Shiva
[http://sivasakti.com/glossary/shiva/]
represents that hypostasis of God that is
manifested as Great Savior or Great Master
of the ignorant, limited beings. Any sincere,
frantic aspiration towards the state of
spiritual freedom is addressed in fact to this
aspect of God, Shiva the Good and Kind.
Any sign of the manifestation of the divine
grace, which is indispensable to reaching the state of supreme spiritual
freedom is closely connected to Shiva. Therefore, we may even say that
Shaivism can be found in any place where a strong, authentic spiritual
tradition flourished.
In India, there are six main forms of Shaivism, from which three are
essential:
1. VIRA-SHAIVA, spread mainly in the central area of India;
2. SHIVA-SIDDHANTA, in the south.
3. ADVAITA [http://sivasakti.com/glossary/advaita/] -SHIVA, the
most pure and elevated form of the Kashmir Shaivism, in the northern
India.
The tradition of the Kashmir Shaivism was transmitted from master to
disciple centuries in a row, according to the method named “from mouth to
ear”.
The first fundamental work of Shaivism, attributed to Vasugupta, the first
initiate of this spiritual path, who lived at the end of the VII-th century and
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16/02/2020 SivaSakti | Introduction To Shaivism, Part 1
the beginning of the IX-th century AD is named
Shiva Sutra
[http://sivasakti.com/glossary/sutra/] and is a
compilation of aphorisms, completely hermetical
for the uninitiated person, and it presents the
three cardinal path in reaching spiritual freedom:
1. Shambhavopaya, or Shiva’s Path
2. Shaktopaya, or Shakti
[http://sivasakti.com/glossary/shakti/] ‘s path or
the Path of the Energy
3. Anavopaya or the Path of the limited people
Vasugupta mentioned that he is not the author
of Shiva-Sutra, but that he found it written on a
rock that came out from the water and that went
back into the water after he read and memorized
the text.
The entire written tradition (shastra) of the Shaivism is divided into three
parts:
1. Agama Shastra – considered as a direct revelation from Shiva (God). It
includes works as: Shiva Sutra, Malinivijaya Tantra
[http://sivasakti.com/glossary/tantra/] , Vijnana Bhairava Tantra, etc.
2. Spanda Shastra – contains the doctrine of the system. The main work
in this category belongs to Vasugupta – Spanda Karika.
3. Pratyabhijna Shastra – contains metaphysical works, with a high
spiritual level, and is the least accessible to the common reader. From this
category the most important works are: Ishvara
[http://sivasakti.com/glossary/ishvara/] Pratyabhijna of Utpaladeva and
Pratyabhijna Vimarsini, a commentary of the first.
There are several important schools of the Shaivism, of which the most
elevated belong to the Trika system. The word “trika” means “trinity” in
Sanskrit and suggests the idea that in our universe, all things have a
threefold nature.
We may express this trinity through: Shiva
(God), Shakti (His fundamental creative energy)
and Anu (individual, the limited projection of the
divinity).
Trika includes several spiritual schools:
Krama – in Sanskrit “process”, “orderly
succession”.
Kaula (Kula) – in Sanskrit “community”,
“family”, “totality”.
Spanda – term that defines the Supreme Divine
Creative Vibration.
Pratyabhijna – term that refers to the direct
recognition of the divine essence.
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16/02/2020 SivaSakti | Introduction To Shaivism, Part 1
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