Kashmir Śaiva Tantra

An extract from the book A Yoga philosophy guidebook.

Over the centuries, hundreds, if not thousands of streams of tantra evolved. In some way, although they relied on shared texts that maintained some philosophical integrity, each individual guru led each individual sadhāka (aspirant) on their own unique path. Over time, philosophical streams emerged, converged, and defined themselves, and broader communities formed around a set of teachings, practices, and cosmologies. Some of these communities tended to align with the Vedic orthodoxy and affirm the social norms of the day. Others deviated slightly from conventional norms, and still others directly spurned the status quo.

These distinctions came to be known as the “right-hand path” and the “left-hand path.” Right-hand communities tended to be dualistic and conformist, with gurus who were more like officiants. They didn’t need to be “awakened” themselves, as long as they were educated about the ritualistic structures that they needed to teach. Left-hand communities moved in the direction of nondualism, worship of the feminine, inclusion of women, transgression of social norms, and charismatic gurus who had directly experienced the nondual nature of reality and could transmit their experiences to their students directly. The most extreme left-hand communities performed rituals that directly transgressed social norms, and even included practices that most people would consider disgusting. One purpose of these practices was to break down the idea that Śiva only lives as things that we consider clean or palatable, and open consciousness to the indwelling divinity in everything. And like all tantrik practices, they were also meant to strip the individual of the self-referential stories that come to define us and inhibit the experience of our own divinity.

The Śaiva Tantra traditions, especially the “left-hand path” were influenced by early Śiva-worshipping groups like the Paśupatis, who took the mahāvrata, or “Great Vow.” These yogis imitated Bhairava, a fierce and fearsome form of Śiva, by wandering naked, smeared with ash, and begged for food using a bowl made from a human skull. They meditated around funeral pyres in cremation grounds and often acted insane. Significantly, these ascetics were voluntarily assuming a lifestyle that was the common punishment for someone who committed the worst sin of all–murdering a brāhmin priest. They intentionally placed themselves completely outside of society to establish complete independence and freedom from a socially defined self.

In general, our self-concept is small. Our basic experience of self, made up of beliefs and stories that repetition weaves into a sturdy fabric, diminishes us. We think and behave as if we are only capable of loving so much, of giving so much, before we run out. We don’t feel capable of fully giving ourselves to Love, to Life, to serving humanity or the Divine. We experience ourselves as finite and so we protect and hoard. But according to Śaiva Tantra traditions, we are not finite at all, and there is nothing we need to protect or hold onto. Our essential nature is Śiva, Whose freedom is limitless, and Whose very infinite nature is Love itself.

These right and left-hand traditions did agree on this: that ignorance veils our true divine nature, and this is the root of human suffering. They all also considered the tantrik texts to be divine revelations, given by Śiva out of compassion to point the way to liberation. The texts provide the framework for an initiation ceremony that someone who had received a śaktipāta would go through. A guru would look for signs of true śaktipāta before taking on a student, and then would conduct the ceremony, essentially standing in for Śiva, who is the real ceremonial officiant. During the ritual, all previous karma that would inhibit spiritual growth was burned up, opening the path to freedom.

Generally, the right-hand path traditions were more homogeneous, while the left-hand path traditions were less institutionalized and thus harder to summarize or define categorically. Over time the name kaula, or “from the family” arose to group left-hand-leaning tantrik traditions, which interestingly would not have called themselves tantrik. That’s because the sense of the word tantrik has the feeling of ritualism, and while these traditions employed rituals in their seeking of liberation, they saw themselves as transcending the dogmatic application of set rituals and expanding, reworking, and recontextualizing rituals as needed for the case at hand.

In northwest India, in the area known as Kashmir, a particular branch of Kaula Tantra developed that has come to be known as Kashmir Śaivism. During the last century of the first millennium, the tantrik lineage became connected with the royal court. As a result, many highly educated people were initiated and introduced to the tradition. The writings that come from this time are powerful, sophisticated, and incisively clear, and they also had the benefit of royal benefactors who ensured that they were preserved and honored, even revered. These writings, some commentaries on original tantrik texts and others original tantrik treatises in their own right, were rooted in the ancient tantrik teachings, but introduced new elements that distinguished a coherent school.