KASHMIR SHAIVISM: TANTRA

The high plains and clear air of Kashmir has been the centuries-old home of scholars and philosophers of both Buddhism and the branch of Hinduism known as Kashmir Shaivism or Tantra. In the third century B.C. the teachers of Buddhism and their disciples traveled from Kashmir to Tibet, China and the Far East, spreading the doctrine of Buddhism far and wide. The earliest known manuscripts worshiping the Hindu God Shiva date from the mid-eighth century to the eleventh century. These writings are called Tantras or Agamas. Some of these texts describe rituals of a magical, shamanic nature. Others are philosophical inquiries into he nature of reality and consciousness. These latter texts give instructions in meditation techniques to attain a direct experience of higher consciousness and the reality of the spiritual origin of mater. There are two texts in particular that give a well-rounded impression of the most potent concepts of the teachings of Kashmir Shaivism. They are VIGNANABHAIRAVA, translated by Jaideva Singh, and THE DOCTRINE OF VIBRATION by Mark S. G. Dyczkowski. VIGNANABHAIRAVA is a dialogue between Shiva and his feminine expression, Shakti -- but here they are called Bhairava and Bhairavi. THE DOCTRINE OF VIBRATION is a compilation of major teachings from several texts that expound on the subject of the ever-moving pulse of creation. At the heart of Tantrik teaching is the idea: Man is a microcosm. This implies that man is a miniature version of the whole of reality, including Shiva, the Creative Principle, and that each man can find in himself the pulse of creation and have a direct experience of his own divinity. Home