A Sanskrit text which deals with self-realization. Its dating is not settled but it probably is contemporaneous with the Yoga Sutras of Patañjali which would date it about fourth century CE. It is one of several basic or canonical (āgama) works of Kashmiri Śaivism written in Sanskrit. All such āgama texts of this school are considered to be revelations, and in fact for several centuries were passed down from teacher to pupil as a secret oral tradition; they were first committed to writing in the latter part of the 8th or beginning of the 9th century CE. This form of ŚAIVISM is non-dualistic, therefore shares some similarities with ADVAITA VEDĀNTA, but it identifies Śiva (rather than the Upaniadic Brahman) as the ultimate reality of the universe and maintains that the ultimate reality is active rather than inactive. In the 1970s, I. K. TAIMNI recommended the study of this work by theosophists and did a translation of it under the title of The Ultimate Reality and Realization (TPH, Adyar, 1976). There are three stages of the unfoldment of various levels of consciousness: the first from the point of view of Divine Consciousness; the second from the point of view of Divine Power; the third from the point of view of the product of the first two, i.e., mind or citta.

The text deals first (Śāmbhavopāya) with the methods which utilize consciousness itself and which are appropriate to the highest grades of disciples or those who are already liberated. These beings reincarnate to work for the Divine plan. The next section is called Śāktopāya which implies that it deals with the utilization of Divine Power which is the cause of the manifested universe. This Power works through sound or Nāda. The third section is called Ānavopāya, which means “methods related to the Point,” because it deals with the expression of Divine Consciousness and Power through a Monad (individual spirit) who is a center in the Ultimate Reality. All the aphorisms in this section illuminate different aspects of the consciousness, life and functions of the Monad in the world of manifestation, but the subjects are dealt with from a very elevated point of view and are not amenable to a simplistic approach.

P.S.H./R.W.B.

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