Kashmir Shaivism is so trippy!
I just found out about Sanatan Dharma’s trippiest, wildest philosophy and it has broken my mind. Yup, it’s Kashmir Shaivism, and here’s the tea!
KS is a soup of ideas that brewed in Kashmir through the 9th-11th centuries CE. One lineage traces itself from Lord Shiva himself to Rishi Durvasa (दुर्वासा) down to Somananda (सोमानन्द). And another parallel line starts with Vasugupta (वसुगुप्त).
Finally, it was Abhinavagupta (अभिनवगुप्त) who put all the ideas together for us in his gigantic books like the Tantraloka (तन्त्रालोक).
Drawing from the 64 Bhairava Tantra sections of a set of ancient books called the Shiva Agamas, this school grew in the fertile grounds of Kashmir, which was already a melting pot of ancient traditions like Shaiva Siddhanta (शैव सिद्धान्त), Tantric and Kaula (कौल) goddess worship, and Buddhism.
KS basically says you are Shiva Himself, who chose to appear as this whole universe and forget his own identity, just to play a joyful game, Lila, as a separate guy.
This eternal consciousness, Paramshiva (परमशिव), is both Prakasha (प्रकाश), the bright light that lets the whole movie play, and Vimarsha (विमर्श), that light being aware of itself.
But through his creative energy, Shakti (शक्ति), he dances like an actor on stage, wearing 5 costumes called the Kanchukas (कञ्चुक), and appears as Nara (नर), the living individual, a.k.a. YOU.
These three forces - Nara, Shakti and Shiva - form one of the triads that give the school its other name, Trika (त्रिक).
The Nara has malas (मल), impurities that make you feel small and alone.
So your mission in the game is Pratyabhijna (प्रत्यभिज्ञा): recognising your true nature as Shiva.
You get there through 4 routes called the Upayas (उपाय), and more specifically through about 112 dharanas (धारणा) or techniques to centre your awareness.
Unlike Advaita Vedanta (अद्वैत वेदान्त), which calls this world mithya (मिथ्या) or a fake illusion, KS says the world is completely real & valid. In fact, it’s a beautiful, constantly expanding and contracting vibration of the divine: the Spanda (स्पन्द).
That’s why KS is so mind-blowing - it breaks the idea that you’re a small soul trying to reach God; actually, you’re God who chose to forget. So all you have to do is remember.
If you want a free curated YouTube playlist to dive deeper, comment SHIVA and I’ll DM it to you!