the Spanda school takes its name from one of its root texts, namely, the Spandakarikd, the Stanzas on Vibration. pg20
The philosophy of the Pratyabhijna focuses on the liberating recognition of the soul's authentic identity as Siva while the Doctrine of Vibration stresses instead the importance of experiencing Spanda, the vibration or pulse of consciousness. The mainstay of the Doctrine of Vibration is the contemplative experience the awakened yogi has of his true nature as the universal perceiving and acting consciousness. Every activity in the universe, as well as every perception, notion, sensation or emotion in the microcosm* ebbs and flows as part of the universal rhythm of the one reality, which is Siva, the one God Who is the pure conscious agent and perceiver. According to the Doctrine of Vibration, man can realise his true nature to be Siva by experiencing Spanda, the dynamic, recurrent and creative activity of the absolute. pg 20-21
The Spanda school, like the Pratyabhijna, originated and developed in Kashmir through the works of known authors, not in anonymous Tantras. Indeed, the origins of this school mark the beginnings of Kashmiri Saivism in our modern sense of the term. pg21
The motion of absolute consciousness is a creative movement, a transition from the uncreated state of Being to the created state of Becoming. In this sense Being is in a state of perpetual Becoming (satatodita); it constantly phenomenalises into finite expression. The shining of inner Being is the manifestation of outer Becoming and, as such, is the constantly self-renewing source of its own appearing as Becoming. pg77
Every event is a part of the greater rhythm of the total, cosmic event. Every object is part of the universal object and every subject shares in the agency of the universal subject. pg80
Kashmiri Saivism maintains that all things are spontaneously emanated by consciousness in such a way that the original source of the emitted product remains unchanged and one with its emanation. The plenitude of universal manifestation emerges out of the fullness of the absolute; both are perfect expressions of the all-encompassing totality of reality which, thus emitting itself, suffers no loss. pg87
Prior to their manifestation, all things reside within consciousness ina potential form just as in a peacock's egg, we find all the peacock's limbswith its feathers large and small, colours and patterns.85 pg 92
Siva, the universal agent, eternally active is never bound by Hisactivity. The universe is the unfolding effect of Siva's agency (kartfpratha)while He, as the agent, always remains true to His essential, autonomousnature.124 The law of action and reaction {karma) binds only theignorant.125 At the lower level, outer activity contrasts with innerawareness. The unfolding of the power of action coincides with thewithdrawal of self-awareness. At the higher level, the universal outpouringof consciousness is experienced as the inner Being of all things whichspontaneously rise out of it without obscuring it in any way pg 98
The Doctrine of Vibration urges us to be conscious of Spanda, therecurrent activity of consciousness. In all its outer phases, be they will,knowledge or action, we can catch a glimpse of our authentic identity andrealise our inherent freedom. The inner activity of consciousness, free ofall restrictions, is bliss itself. The experience of Spanda is wonder, anabiding bliss far higher than the transitory pleasures of life. We canexperience Spanda through the activity of the senses, mind and body,because its foundation is universal consciousness, our authentic Sivanature. Thus the Spanda yogi finds freedom where those who, failing toattend to the vibration of consciousness, are bound pg 98
the Doctrine of Vibration focuses onthe continuity and change which characterize every experience. pg 100
The opposites separate and merge in rhythm with the pulsing union of Siva and Sakti. This play of opposites is itself the absolute, the supreme form of Spanda.7 When Siva and Sakti unite, the universe, formerly experienced as a reality set apart from consciousness, ceases to exist. When they separate, it is once more created. The eternal rhythm of cosmic creation and destruction is consonant with the pulse of their union and separation. Spanda is the blissful relationship between these two aspects through which the universe unfolds pg 100
In India, metaphysics serves as a theoretical framework supporting a body of spiritual discipline; it is never merely abstract speculation. More than a reasoned opinion, it indicates the seeker's attitude to his own experience, an attitude that forms the path he treads to salvation. When the seeker acts upon the conclusions he has reached, philosophy blends imperceptibly into religion. To the degree in which he participates in this new attitude, death yields to immortality and the darkness of doubt and ignorance is banished by the light of spiritual illumination. Underpinning the quest is the ultimate goal: gnosis, which is not a knowledge of things but insight into their essential nature. Metaphysical insight is the pinnacle of knowledge. Long ago those who attained this absolute knowledge exclaimed: "no longer can anyone bring before us anything that we have not already found understood or known."1 It is essentially a state or experience of recognition. The ways to this realisation are various. We can tread the Path of Wisdom (jnanamarga) and seek to intuit the Real, illumined by its own brilliance, in the directness of (an essentially mystical) insight developed through meditative practice and disciplined reasoning (viveka). Another way is that of Devotion {bhaktimarga) to the embodiment of truth experienced with religious awe and wonder as Deity. A third way is to follow the Path of Yoga and seek freedom directly through mastery {aisvarya) of the Self and with it the All which it contains and governs pg 33
As Karl Potter remarks: The ultimate value recognised by classical Hinduism in its most sophisticated sources is not morality but freedom, not rational self- control in the interests of the community's welfare but complete control over one's environment—something which includes self-control but also involves control of others and even control of the physical sources of power in the universe.2 Freedom (svatantrya) in the sense of both autonomy (kaivalya) and mastery (aisvarya) is the goal. It can be attained only if we manage to rid ourselves of outer constraints and limitations. To do this we must be able to homologise with a single, all-embracing reality from which nothing is excluded—neither the world nor ourselves. Th,e dualism of most devotional approaches, however tempered, understands reality in terms which preclude the possibility of ultimate release. If we are to attain salvation, reality can only be one and absolute. In the Hindu tradition the nature of this absolute has been understood in a wide variety of ways. Here we shall consider only two. One is embodied in the metaphysics of Kashmiri Saivism and the other in that of Advaita Vedanta. Advaita Vedanta emerged, to a large extent, as a critique of Samkhya dualism. Classical Samkhya posits two realities, both eternal but of contrary nature. One is Puru?a, 'the Person1 , the other Prakrti or 'Nature'. The Person is the Self who, as pure sentient consciousness, is the witness of the activity of all that lies in the sphere of objectivity. The latter includes not only the outer physical world but also the body and mind the Person inhabits, vitalising and illumining it with his conscious presence. Although varied and constantly changing, all that lies in the sphere of objectivity shares a common nature. All thoughts, perceptions or physical phenomena are equally part of the play of Nature—Prakrti—which manifests in this way to fulfil the need of the Person for phenomenal experience. pg 34
Isvarakrsna explains: Just as a dancing girl retires from her dance after performing for the audience, in the same way Nature (Prakrti) retires after exhibiting herself to the Person.4 In this way the Person achieves a state of transcendental detachment (kaivalya). But because the Person is an independent reality, already separate from Nature, he can in fact neither be bound nor released. Therefore, no one is actually bound, no one released and no one transmigrates. [It is] Nature, the abode of diversity that transmigrates, is bound and released.5 Ultimately, bondage is unreal and no relationship is possible between an eternal subject and an equally eternal object. The problem is that they cannot be related to one another unless this relationship is also eternal. In order to preserve the transcendental integrity of the Person, the reality of Nature must be denied. Not only does the Advaita Vedanta do this, but it also denies that there is a plurality of Persons. The Self, each individual's most authentic identity, is beyond the specifications of the qualities of Nature, and so nothing can distinguish one 'self from another. The Self is one only and hence none other than the Brahman, the absolute, free of all specification. From this point of view the one reality can only be grasped through negation.6 However, although this safeguards it from predication it also implies that the empirical (vyavahara) is itself a negation of absolute reality. As Ksemaraja puts it: "the Brahman is what the world is not."7 And so the world is less than real. The Brahman is always empirically unmanifest (avyakta).* It is beyond the reach of the senses but, like the Person, is the witness (sdksin) of all things. It can never be an object of knowledge for "who can know the knower?"9 Ultimately it is that which cannot be grasped or perceived. The world which is 'grasped1 and 'perceived' cannot be the Brahman and is consequently less than real. pg 35
The Vedantin seeks to preserve the integrity of the absolute by safeguarding it from all possible predication. The Saiva24 defends the absolute status of the absolute by ensuring that it is in every way self- subsistent (svatantra) and all-embracing (puma). The integral nature of the absolute allows for the existence of the world of objectively perceivable phenomena along with the pure subjectivity of consciousness. The two represent opposite polarities of a single reality. Of these two, objectivity is insignificant (tuccha) with respect to the ultimacy (paramarthatva) of the subject.25 It is the sphere of negation, in which objectivity presents itself as a void (sunya) in relation to the fullness of the subject.26 Thus it appears in some Kashmiri Saiva works that objectivity is said to be false with respect to the ultimate reality of absolute consciousness.27 What is meant, however, is that nothing can exist apart from the absolute; not merely in the sense that only the absolute exists, but also that nothing exists separated from it. All things are as if nothing in themselves apart from the absolute in this sense alone—it does not mean that they do not exist.28 The world, in other words, represents a level of manifestation within the absolute which in the process of its emanation must, at a certain stage, radically contrast one aspect of its nature with another to appear as the duality and multiplicity of manifestation.29 The One is not any one thing because it is all things;30 excluding nothing from its omniformity, it cannot be defined in any other way than as the Supremely Real (paramartha). pg 38
The Real is, from this point of view, the All (nikhila). It is the pure absolute because nothing stands outside it which can in any way qualify its absoluteness; on this point at least, Saiva and Vedantin are in agreement. It is the Saiva's approach to establishing the absoluteness of the absolute which differs from the Vedanta. The Saiva method is one of an ever widening inclusion of phenomena mistakenly thought to be outside the absolute. The Vedantin, on the other hand, seeks to understand the nature of the absolute by excluding (nisedhd) every element of experience which does not conform to the criterion of absoluteness, until all that remains is the unqualified Brahman. The Saiva's approach is one of affirmation and the Vedantin's one of negation. They arrive at the absolute from opposite directions. pg 38
The New Way (navamarga)33 taught in Kashmiri Saiva doctrine is transcendence through active participation. Not freedom 'from', but freedom 'to'. Desire is not denied, but accepted at a higher level as the pure will or freedom (svdtantrya) of the absolute. Desire is to be eliminated only if it is desire 'for' (akariksa), rather than desire 'to' (icchd). Matter cannot sully the absolute, nor is it unreal. Freedom is achieved by knowing 'matter-unreality' completely pg 39
From this point of view ignorance is failure to experience directly the intimate connection (sambandha) between the infinite and the finite, thus justifying an active participation in the infinite-finite continuum. Following this New Way the transition from the finite to the infinite does not require that we postulate any ontological distinction between them. The finite is a symbol of the infinite. The infinite stamps its seal (mudra) onto its own nature replete with all possible forms of the finite.34 This is the transcendental attitude of the absolute, namely its impending manifestation as the finite. Reality is the state of eternal emergence {satatodita) of the finite from the infinite and vice versa. Expansion of the relative distinction (bheda) between the elements constituting the All is equivalent to contraction of the undivided (abheda) awareness of its totality and vice versa. Neither excludes the other, but together they participate in the all- embracing fullness (purnata) of the pulsation (spanda) of the absolute in its different phases of being. True knowledge (sadvidya) from this point of view, is to know that the apparent opposites normally contrasted with one another, such as subject and object, unity and diversity, absolute and relative, are aspects of the one reality. pg 40
The absolute yearns for nothing other than itself. Desire is not to be abandoned but elevated to the level of this pure will (icchdmdtra). This is achieved not by restraint or suppression of desire, but by merging it with the divine creative will of the absolute. pg 41
The absolute oscillates between a 'passion' (rdgd) to create and 'dispassion' (virago) from the created. This is the eternal pulsation— Spanda—of the absolute. Through it the absolute transforms itself into all things and then returns back into the emptiness (sunya) of its undifferentiated nature. Both poles of this movement are equally real; both are equally absolute. Allowing for the reality of manifestation, the Saiva absolute is called the Great Oneness (mahddvaya).43 An experienced music lover, hearing a fast sequence of notes played on the vind can distinguish whether the microtones are high or low.44 Similarly the well-practiced yogi can discern the unity of reality while phenomena are manifest to him. If duality and unity were in fact absolute contraries, the moment they appeared together, they would cancel each other out. This, however, is not the case. We continue to experience the diversity of daily life (yyavahdra)45 pg 41
Reality is the One (eka) which becomes manifest as the many (bahu). Universal Being moves between two poles, viz., diversification of the one and unification of the many. Thought (vikalpa) interferes with our direct intuitive understanding of this fact and splits up the two aspects of this movement into separate categories. Reality is a structured whole consisting of a graded hierarchy (taratamya) of metaphysical principles corresponding to the planes of existence (dasa). On the lowest planes up to the level of Maya, we experience division (bheda) between objects and ourselves; at the highest level we reach the plane of unity (abheda) which pervades and contains within itself all the others. pg 42
Abhinava explains that the exponents of different systems are like blind men who, presented with an elephant, touch one part or another and argue amongst themselves about what it could be. This is not because they disagree completely but because their agreement is only partial.55 Ultimately, differing views of reality are the result of the capacity (sakti) of the absolute to appear in different forms.56 Rather than reject all views as incorrect because they are not completely true, the Kashmiri Saiva prefers to accept them all because they are partially true. pg 43
Saivism equates the absolute wholly with consciousness. Reality is pure consciousness alone (samvid). Consciousness and Being are synonymous.58 To experience the essential identity between them is to enjoy the bliss (ananda) of realisation pg 43
The concept of consciousness is the firm foundation upon which Kashmiri Saiva metaphysics is constructed. One could almost describe it as a psychology of absolute consciousness. Consciousness is more than the awareness an individual has of himself and his environment; it is an eternal all-pervasive principle. It is the highest reality (paramartha) and all things are a manifestation of this consciousness (cidvyakti).61 All entities, without distinction, are of the nature of consciousness02 and hence reality can be positively affirmed to be a 'compact mass of consciousness and b\\ss\ (ciclanandaghana). There are no holes or gaps anywhere in reality where consciousness is absent. It is eternally and blissfully at rest within its own nature (svatmavisranta), free of all association with anything outside itself.63 Free of all craving for anything (nirakanksd) and independent (nirapeksa), it looks to none other but itself (ananyamukhapreksin). The essential nature (svabhava) of this pure universal consciousness is the true nature of the Self. As the supreme subject who illumines and knows all things, it is called the 'Great Light1 {mahaprakasa) which is uncreated and can never be taught (asrauta). Figuratively described as the sun of consciousness, its light absorbs duality in its brilliance, bathing the whole universe with the splendour of its divine radiance. Making all things one with its nature, it transforms them into the sacred circle (mandala) of its own rays.64 Not only is consciousness absolute, it is also divine. It is Siva, the Lord (cinnatha) of the universe.65 As the authentic identity (atman) of all living beings, consciousness is the supreme object of worship, the true nature of Deity.66 pg 44
Consciousness is not a passive witness (saksiri), but is full of the conscious activity (citikriya) through which it generates the universe68 and reabsorbs it into itself at the end of each cycle of creation. The freedom (svdtantrya) of consciousness to do this is its sovereign power (aisvarya) by virtue of which it is the one God Who governs the entire universe. pg 45
Both dynamic and creative, this divine power is Spanda—the vibration of consciousness. Its universal activity is the basis of Siva's divine sovereign status. Indeed, Spanda is Siva's most essential nature for without it He would not be God. pg 45
Kashmiri Saivism, on the contrary, believes in a personal absolute God Who is the one reality (isvaradvayavada). The planes within the absolute correspond to a hierarchy of deities which rule over them, empowered to do so by the Supreme Deity: consciousness. Absolute Deity is the highest level of consciousness which stands at the supreme summit of Being (parakas(ha). It is attained by a process of ascent through higher levels or, in other words, through increasingly expanded states of consciousness, until we reach the highest and most complete state of expansion possible (pumavikasa). The Supreme Lord rests at the end of the expansion or evolution of objectivity from the lowest level to the supramental state (unmana) of pure consciousness pg 46
Interiority {antaratva) is the keynote of both Kashmiri Saiva metaphysics and practice: it is a 'doctrine which maintains that everything is internal' {antararthavada).15 Everything, according to this view, resides within one absolute consciousness. It is the great abode of the universe.76 Full (puma) of all things, it sustains them all and embraces them within its infinite, all-pervasive nature pg 46
As Jayaratha says: Just as images manifest in a mirror, for example, are essentially mere appearances, so too are [phenomena] manifest within conscious- ness. Thus, beause they are external, [phenomena] have no being (sattva) of their own. The Lord says this [not with the intention of saying anything about the nature of things] but in order to raise the level of consciousness of those people who are attached to outer things; thus everything in this sense is essentially a mere appearance. [Knowing this], in order to quell the delusion of duality, one should not be attached to anything external.79 pg 47
The Saivite idealist. however, says that the object is a form of awareness (vijnanakara)** The objective status of the object is cognition itself.89 Perception manifests its object and renders it immediately apparent (sphuta) to those who perceive it.90 It does not appear at any other time.91 pg 48
Adopting the Buddhist Yogacara doctrine that things necessarily perceived together are the same (sahopa- lambhaniyamavada), the Saivite affirms that because the perceived is never found apart from perception, they are in fact identical.96 Reality (satya) is the point where the intelligible and the sensible meet in the common unity of being; it cannot be said to exist in itself outside, and apart from, knowledge or vision. pg 49
Consciousness is essentially active. Full of the vibration of its own energy engaged in the act of perception, it manifests itself externally as its own object. When the act of perception is over, consciousness reabsorbs the object and turns in on itself to resume its undifferentiated inner nature.98 pg 49
Even stones bear a trace (vasana) of consciousness, although it is not clearly apparent because it is not associated with the vital breath (prana) and other components of a psycho-physical organism.104 Somananda goes so far as to affirm that physical objects, far from being insentient, can only exist insofar as they are aware of themselves as existing. pg 50
Mahesvarananda writes: The Supreme Lord's unique state of emotivity (asadharanabhava) is the outpouring of pure Being (mahdsatta). It is manifest as the brilliance (sphuratta) of the universe which, if we ponder deeply, [is realized to be] the single flavour (ekarasa) of the essence of Beauty which is the vibration of the bliss of one's own nature.114 In this way all things are in reality one although divided from the one another sharing as they do the 'single flavour' (ekarasa) of the pure vibration of consciousness. pg 51
Kashmiri Saivism as a whole has been variously called a form of 'realistic idealism',115 'monistic idealism',116 'idealistic monism'117 and 'concrete monism' pg 51
The nature of the absolute, and also that of Being, is conceived as an eternal becoming (satatodita), a dynamic flux or Spanda,119 'the agency of the act of being'.120 It is identified with the concrete actuality of the fact of appearing, not passive unmanifest Being. Appearance (dbhdsa) alone is real.121 Appearing (prakdsamdnatva) is equivalent to the fact of being (astitva).122 pg 52
Liberating knowledge is gained not by going beyond appearances but by attending closely to them. pg 54
All things are known to be just as they present themselves. The concrete actuality of being known (pramiti), irrespective of content, is itself the vibrant (spandd) actuality of the absolute. Liberating knowledge is gained not by going beyond appearances but by attending closely to them. "The secret," Mahesvarananda says, "is that liberation while alive (jlvanmukti) is the profound contemplation of Maya's nature."136 pg 54
The yogi experiences every individual particular as the sum total of everything else. He recognises that all things have one nature and that every particular is all things.142 This is the 'essence' {sard) or co-extensive unity (samarasya) of all things. pg 54
Daily life proceeds on the basis of the operation and withdrawal of the conditions necessary for fruitful action to be possible. Appearance in this sense represents the actualisation of a potential hidden in consciousness made possible by virtue of its dynamic, Spanda nature which is both the flow from inner to outer and back as well as the power that impels it. The emergence from, and submergence into, pure consciousness of each individual appearance is a particular pulsation (visesaspanda) of differentiated awareness. Together these individual pulsations constitute the universal pulse (sdmdnyaspandd) of cosmic creation and destruction. Thus, every single thing in this way forms a part of the radiant vibration (sphurattd, sphurana) of the light of absolute consciousness pg 57