Kashmir Lineage Teaching -- The Splendor of Recognition

This Lineage comes from the ancient vedic knowledge based in the ancient language of Sanskrit. This lineage was passed down orally for thousands of years – was written just a couple of thousands of years, and now is beginning to disappear. In Kashmir, the foremost school of philosophy is known as Pratyabhijna (Prat- ya- bin- ya)– which means the path of recognition – the ancient science of the Soul. I’ve choosen two sources of information for us to look at: Shaiva Devotional Songs of Kashmir, and The Splendor of Recognition.




We will find references in Sanskrit – which I will explain, as needed. Two basic teachings are: Shaiva or Shiva or Siva – refers to the all encompassing God of all. The luminous principle is Paramasiva, or Supreme Siva means the supreme the auspicious one. The supreme Siva is the one who bestows grace on humanity and is then, the highest source of benevolence.



In Sashmir Sivism, the awareness of the divinity of our own nature, of our heart, is called pratyabhijna. This recognition implies recalling, remembering. Far more than purely mental operation, the act as spoken by the Saiva sages, means coming to the awareness of our own divine consciousness and, in that awareness, understanding that this sensibility has always been with you. This is not a thought, but an immediate certainty, a sense of familiarity or rightness – a new experience may actually feel like you feel like you had always been in that state – you recognize the experience of God as one’s own innermost being. The sages knew that the Self is a fact of everybody’s direct experience. Pratyabhijna arises where the two experiences, the knowledge of the Lord as supreme power and the awareness of one’s own Self, are unified in one’s experience. That experience is gloriously luminous and brimming with ecstasy – and it is not just an exercise of the intellect. If we say “I am God, I am God, I am Shiva”, we recall we have said that before – it is not the same as pratyabhijna.



As we start our study/experience of this great lineage, it is the tradition to begin by reciting mantras to invoke the highest power and ask for knowledge to be revealed, otherwise known as a benediction at the outset of the journey. I will give you two verses, that I invite you to entreat: a – praising Lord Siva who performs the five acts in the eternal play of Consciousness: the creation, sustenance and dissolution of the universe, and the concealment and graceful revelation of Truth:



Salutations always to Siva,

Who performs the five acts,

Makes the Highest Reality shine forth,

And illuminates the Supreme Goal;

One’s own Self, a mass of bliss and Conciousness.

Om. Peace, peace, peace!







Sanskrit:

Om namo mangalamurtaye

Atha pratyabhijna-hrdayam



Namah sivaya satatam

Panca-krtya-vidhayine

cid-ananda-ghana svatmah

paramarthavabhasine.

Om, santih, santih, santih.



And secondly:



We praise the one who is filled with devotion,

Who meditates not nor recites by the rule,

And yet without any effort at all

Attains the splendor of Siva





I invite you to just sit with these and contemplate the phrases, called sutras. Allow them to enter your being, breathe them, they will open themselves to you.



Thank you all – we will be reviewing various topics with the sutras: The Creative Power of the Universe, The Mirror of Consciousness and its Countless Reflections, The World of Our Experience, Perception and the Human Condition, The Principles of Manifestation Exist in Our Bodies, The Many Faces of the One Reality, Destiny: The Choice is Ours, Paths of the Inward-facing Contemplation, Within Us, the Entire Universe.



Not bad for 60 days of contemplation!!!