12 Kali and Pratyabhijna..The Krama Tantricism of Kashmir
The doctrine of the 12th Kali is one of the earliest concepts of Kālīkula / Kālīkrama. Moreover, this doctrine is the most secret teaching in the tradition of Kashmiri Shaivism, which dominated the territory of Kashmir during the early Middle Ages. In the 10th-11th centuries, Abhinavagupta defined the teachings of the 12th Kali as the most exalted esoteric aspect of Trika. For him, the Kalikrama Goddess, the One who draws Time to Himself - Kālasaṁkarṣaṇī - outside the Supreme (Parātīta) of the goddesses of Trika: The Parā (Parā, the Supreme Goddess) and Parāparā (Aparā, the Inferior), which is doctrinal the basis of his Trika system.
According to Abhinavagupta, the doctrine of the 12 Kali was given to him along the line of spiritual continuity, in which Utpaladeva himself was present. Somananda IX century, the author of Shivadrishti, the first teacher in the Pratyabhidjna system was, according to Abhinavagupta, a follower of Govindaraja, the Teacher of the Krama line, who before his death gave him the teachings of the 12 Kali, set forth in Kālīkulapañcaśatakā.
Somananda gave this teaching along the line of spiritual continuity of Utpaladeva and Lakshmanagupta, and then it was transferred to Abhinavagupta. Utpaladeva did not address directly to his spiritual heritage, which was derived from the followers of Krama (probably in connection with the intentional advancement of the non-anatrical view of tradition).
Nevertheless, his view of sensual experience is imbued with the idea of lunar nectar. This concept, outlined in Śivastotrāvalī, an outstanding work of spiritual literature of Kashmiri Shaivism, is close to the ideas of Kalikrama concerning sense organs. Thus, Krama is an important foundation for the schools of Pratyabhijna,Trika and Spanda.
Perhaps not only these reasons were guided by the commentators Utpaladeva, Kshemaraja and Maheshvarananda, who developed the important ideas of Utpaladeva in the light of Krama-Mahartha. Especially worth mentioning is Ksemaraja, who in his commentary on Shivastotravali Utpaladeva expressed a firm commitment to the Krama system. who developed the most important ideas of Utpaladeva in the light of Krama-Mahartha. Especially worth mentioning is Ksemaraja, who in his commentary on Shivastotravali Utpaladeva expressed a firm commitment to the Krama system.
On the other hand, in the 13th century Mahesvarananda in his commentary (Parimala) on his work Mahārthamañjarī , which is the South Indian version of Kalikrama, developed the deep foundations of Pratyabhijna, he used quotes from Śivastotravali in the context of substantiating the secret Kaula ritual ( kula-yāga), which he regarded as the practice of śāktopāya. From this interesting configuration follows a certain consequence, namely the vague relationship of the schools of Krama and Kaula, which can be logically justified using the pratyabhijna axiomatic system. For example, 12 Kali as an image of reflective awareness (vimarśa).
At the center of the 12th doctrine is the Kalimistic experience embodied in the 12 Suns known as bhānavī-krama. This teaching is considered the most important in the northern transmission (uttarāmnāya).
12 Kali incarnate:
1) the dynamism of the cognitive act (saṁvit-cakra, saṁvit-krama).
2) the universal vibration of consciousness (sāmānya-spanda).
3) the 12 deified senses (prakāśa-cakra, marīcidevatā-cakra, raśmi-cakra). According to this concept, the 12 Kali symbolize the method (krama) and the instrument (senses) of the cognition process that generates reflective awareness ( vimarśa), which is the capacity of pure luminous consciousness (prakāśa, bhāsa) to reflect its eternal nature.
The concept of the vimarsha was of great interest to Utpaladeva, (Īśvarapratyabhijñā-Kārikā ), where he defines the vimarsha as the energy of the action of consciousness (citikriyāśakti), expressed in his commentary ( Vṛtti) on Isvarapratya-bhijna-Karika.
In this sense, the 12 Kali form an analytical model of the process of cognition, where special attention is paid to the energies associated with cognition, the sense organs and thoughts accompanying the process of perception, indicating the path to mystical interaction with phenomenal reality.
Revealed on the basis of purification of thought forms (vikalpa-saṁskāra), 12 Kali awakens pure knowledge (suddha-vidyā). The onset of freedom from thought forms ( nirvikalpa) is achieved when the mind "reaches the state of inner purity and becomes a means of reflection," in this case, what remains is the universal factor of mental representations.
Therefore, "he, who perceives everything as his own essence, thus knows:" all this variety of forms belongs to me, "he, even being in the stream of thoughtforms, reaches the state of Mahesh." Thus, if an individual continues to create thought forms that stem directly from the energy of God, he perceives the universe without any separation and transforms all thought forms into pure reflective awareness, he attains the state of Maheswara.
In addition to these basic epistemological principles, generalized by Pratyabhijna's terminology, the higher theoretical foundation of sense experience and the interpretation of this process, develops in the teachings of Kalikrama and the 12 Kali. In particular, in the sphere where the work of the senses is confirmed by experience, the views of Kalikrama and Utpaladeva merge.
Sensual experience plays an outstanding role in the concept of devotion to Utpaladeva. The pleasure in the senses entails the immersion in the higher awareness of the nature of Shiva, this sudden recognition (sāhasa-abhijñāna), "impregnated with a pure, ever-flowing nectar of consciousness (saṁvit-amṛta), pervading awareness, "All are one."
However, apart from the frantic dynamism characteristic of religious fervor, devotion also has another dimension. At first it seems static, on the whole consistent with what is called the Kalikrama secret doctrine, because for Utpaladeva devotion represents a state of equilibrium and stability (sthiti).
Utpaladeva says:
"Nothing can be used to achieve sustainability (sthiti-krta / sthiti-kṛta) in one's own Self, Luminosity is absolutely indubitable and eternal Let this idea become my stronghold. Only those who are invariably in their true Self (svasthā) are betrayed to you. Having hardened (sthitvā) in the seat of your pure consciousness. May I always honor you, O Lord of the Body, with speech and mind."
The state of immutability (sthiti) is one of the parts of the cognitive process ( sṛṣṭi, sthiti, saṁhāra), in addition, it is also associated with the supreme state of the Kalasamkarsani Goddess, embodying total resilience in the pure consciousness presented in the form of "pure knowledge" of the wheel of consciousness (samvit-chakra = 12 Kali), and is tasted like the lunar nectar of immortality.
The stability state (sthiti) connects the solar and lunar dimensions within the Kalasamkarshani vidya. Therefore, what first appears to be a static basis (sthiti), in pure consciousness includes the amazing wealth of the sensory experience embodied in the Sun 12 Kali.
The work of the senses simultaneously includes both expansion and contraction. During the expansion, one enjoys the blissful nectar of the expanding consciousness, symbolized by the 16 phases of the Full Moon; in the state of compression, there is a delight in the inner lunar nectar of the state of shambhava (śāmbhava) - the 17th phase of the New Moon.
Samvit-Marga, Samvit-Chakra
One of the main problems of the recognition theory (pratyabhijna) of Utpaladeva is an attempt to single out the unique dynamic subject, the "I" of Shiva, which manifests itself in the duality of the prakasa-vimarsha, pure luminous consciousness ( prakāśa/Śiva) and reflective awareness (vimarśa/Śakti). Polarization of prakasha-vimarsh is performed in order to strengthen the experimental basis of ultimate non-duality ( paramādvaita), bound by the knot of their inner unity (abheda / abheda).
This determines the unshakable foundation of the concepts of "transcendence" and "immanence" when they are viewed from the perspective of the phenomenology of perception leading to the recognition of the Absolute ("I" of Shiva) in all objective phenomena. Indeed, in Śhivastotravali Shiva is depicted as endowed with the sun's rays (bhānumarīcyaḥ). Shiva is the goal, the light of pure consciousness ( prakāśa), achievable through the sun's rays of reflective awareness (vimarśa). The sun's rays embody the recognition of the senses, in the work of which reflective awareness is used. For the believer, the way of the senses (saṁvit-mārga) is the path to Shiva. At a more internal level of mystical immersion, feelings are transformed into deities of the senses, whose sensory perception is used as sacrificial substances offered by Shiva.
"Glory to your awful wheel of the goddesses of the senses (śakti-vṛnda)!
Which, sacrificing the objects of feelings, Honor you through enjoyment."
In the commentary on this sloka from Śivastotravali, Ksemaraja defines shakti-vrindu as the wheel of consciousness (saṁvit-cakra). The concept of the samvit-chakra is analyzed in detail in the fourth chapter of the Tantraloka of Abhinavagupta, in the section devoted to the śāktopāya, indicating how the Kali included the dynamism of the cognitive process. The interpretation of shakti-vrinda Kshemaraja is unique. This term does not appear in the Kalikrama texts in the context of the 12th Kali, since it was intended solely to refer to the general reality of the metaphysics of Kalikrama, known as the Vrinda-cakra. However, an exception was found in Cidgaganacandrikā of Shrivatsa.
In this text, dated at least the XIII century, shakti-vrinda is associated with the image of the Goddess as the Sun of Consciousness in the exact meaning of the samvit-chakra. As stated in the text, This is the level of the 12-fold sequence, manifested in the world in the form of words, and also manifested everywhere in the form of triads. The 12-fold system (3x4 = 12) reflects the processing of cognitive energy occurring in the trinity of the cognizing (pramātṛ / pramatma) - the methods of cognition (pramāṇa ) - the object of knowledge (prameya). Each of the aspects follows a four-fold sequence: creation (sṛṣṭi), preservation (sthiti), dissolution (saṁhāra ) and indescribable transcendental state (anākhya ).
A careful awareness of this sequence (krama-parāmarśa ), which is the basis of the whole experience, is a practical application of the samvit-chakra. Creation of the object, which takes place through the opening of the will, is akalitollāsa / sṛṣṭi). Whenever this will comes in contact with an external object, there is maintenance of sensual enjoyment ( tatsambhoga, sthiti). Returning to one's true essence, which is a movement from expansion to contraction, is carvaṇa / saṁhāra.
The ultimate rest of individual objects that are in the unity of consciousness, where they exist as reflections of their original source (the absolute "I" (pūrṇa ahaṁ ) - is a transcendental state of completion (virāma/anākhya).
Anakhya is consciousness , free from the duality of thoughtforms (nirvikalpa), it still knows, because it recognizes the movement of thoughts as a pure luminous consciousness, and, moreover, contains in itself knowledge: "all this is my radiance." Thus, in the transcendental state head (anākhya ) stored : Activity, knowledge and feelings.
Rays of devotion
Utpaladeva uses senses as the basis for chanting of Holy Name, in the sense that the most exalted devotion is the fullness of their realization.
Devotion governs experience through feelings, generating a field of blissful delight, whose strength increases with religious feeling. Perhaps more strikingly, the truth of devotion is proved through sensual ecstasy, which penetrates the subjective and objective essence of the cognitive process.
Utpaladeva writes:
"Only those who are truly devoted to you, who know the subject and object through an expanded range of sensations."
The whole range of sensations included in the "religious methodology", "rays of devotion," as Utpaladeva calls it, leads to the fact that the sensory experience that gives the opportunity to experience a mystical fusion (samāveśa ) is judged to be the most important. Both Utpaladeva and Ksemaraja are equated with devotion (bhakti), obsession (āveśa ) and mystic confluence (samāveśa ), in the sense that religious devotion plays an important role in sensual involvement that leads to immersion in elevated states (rasa), which ultimately leads to interaction with the Absolute.
At this stage, the sense organs work in accordance with the spontaneity inherent in them initially, extracting from the objective sphere an essence, a subtle part in the form of a smell, color, sound, etc., which are means for achieving a secret union with a pure consciousness represented by pleasure in taste (rasa ). This awareness of taste in the realm of the senses is expressed in terms such as "bliss of taste" (rasana), "pleasure" (carvaṇa), "enjoyment of taste" (āsvadā ). They express the idea of universal interpenetration until the final merger. Pleasure with taste symbolizes mastering and means of increasing strength.
Acting at the junction of the semiotic and symbolic, the act of enjoying taste in the ontological sense means the process of dissolution (saṁhāra ), which serves as an example of the interiorization of the objective (the aram is the source of the krama).
Destruction occurs through the rays of the senses (which symbolize the 12 Kali), striving for universal dissolution. This metaphor is often found in the Kalikrama texts, it points to Paramarsh. As Torrell notes, the act of enjoying the taste, represented by terms such as charwana, aswada, rasana, are complementary to the vimarsha and its derivatives.
There is another point of view concerning those who are infatuated with the devotion of the senses. According to these ideas, feelings lead to the recognition of unity in differences (bhedābheda, kramākrama ) because of all-embracing connections and relationships. This is the idea of spreading (vyāpti).
The sense organs, because of their all-pervasive nature, are transformed into instruments acting in the field of the spell of devotion. The pervasive nature of the senses, the concept of interweaving everything where the lower is imbued with the higher, is the basis of the Kalikrama tradition.
The rays represent the all-pervasive nature of the senses. Like solar energy, the rays of the senses illuminate the world separately and all together. The sunshine spreads outward, it is this spreading in all directions that personifies the all-pervasive nature of the senses.
This symbolizes the fact, that everything is manifested by the light of consciousness and, as such, reaches its true being by realizing its unity with everything. As a tool for Vyapti, the senses have the ability to interconnect things. At this level, the senses are already losing their separated character and become inseparable from the higher self. The higher self is the subject who recognizes the movement of the senses as the activity of pure consciousness.
Consequently, the process of connection causes the dynamic nature of the spread, it triggers the senses, which actually play the role of agents of the energy union (mahāmelāpa ). This synthesis clearly emphasizes the central place of identity in the dynamism of the senses, which, being all-pervasive (vyāpaka), leads to the enjoyment of the unified taste of the non-dual consciousness (sāmarasya ) at each moment of perception.
Utpaladeva, in the culmination of his anthem, glorifying devotion, apparently strives to postulate the fundamental role of the feelings involved in the union.Immersion in the work of feelings that permeate objectively and subjectively, and their eternal combinations are implied in the concept of the great feast of worship (mahotsava ).
Utpaladeva writes:
I worship Shiva,
whom during the feast of dissolution
Steadily and hugly embraces Shakti (Parvati)
Through whom the whole universe enjoys
Through food, drink and ornaments.
Oh, glory to the great feast of worship of the
Sweet and inexplicable
With which even falling tears
Have the taste of the nectar of immortality.
In the context of tantric practice, Mahottsava means the principle of excess of feelings related to the great feast where siddhis and yoginis come to join the union (melāpa) for the sole purpose of producing nectar (amṛta ). In fact, Mahesvaranada prefers this interpretation, placing the concept of the Mahotsava Utpaladeva at the center of his definition of the shaktopaya from the position of Kaula-Krama.
However, restraining the desire to put aside purely ritualistic meanings, we advance the "cognitive" interpretation, stating that siddhi and yogini are an image of the deities of the senses and senses that merge in a pulsating union that generates the nectar of bliss. The nectar of bliss is an enlarged consciousness characterized by the outpouring of the energies of the senses that permeate the phenomenal being from within and without. The flow of poured energy, experienced through a piercing gust of feelings, generates a state of unity that allows everything to manifest, maintain and dissolve in an endless chain of interconnected compounds. This is inherent in the very nature of the senses, which they enjoy in the state of expansion and contraction of their internal energies, which include all things in their essential unity.
Purna: The moonlit nectar of bliss
All levels of Śivastotravali are permeated with a strong desire for spiritual experience of perfect completeness (pūrṇa ) manifested in the lunar nectar of immortality. Utpaladeva most clearly expressed the importance of purnah, connected with the highest state of shambhava (śāmbhava). This idea is illustrated by the oozing nectar of immortality (amṛta-pūrṇatva ), which brings bliss and fills the phenomenal world. Perfect completeness (pūrṇa/paripūrṇa ) is the realization of the ontological identity between the being of the phenomenal world and the pure consciousness of Shiva, which is expressed in the statement:
"the whole world is your perfect fullness." Moreover, the attainment of perfect completeness (pūrṇa ) with the help of the senses is a necessary condition for their deification, which empowers feelings with "radiant splendor".
Purna is often associated with the symbolism of the moon, illustrating the self-regenerating source, which at the same time empties, and fills itself with the nectar of moonlight. The full moon symbolizes the highest degree of external saturation; The new moon, on the contrary, symbolizes the peak of inner fullness. Utpaladeva takes into account both these dimensions in her description of the lunar nectar, which generates the experience of bliss.
"Purna - the full moon of sensual experience
Even relying on objects of
Feeling bestow upon the
Followers the nectar of immortality"
According to the interpretation of the concept of feelings in the Kalikrama tradition, the experience of objectivity, achieved through the solar action of the senses, is embodied in the moon nectar, which is a form of bliss. When the rays of the sense organs are filled with pure will (icchā ) to flow outward, they bring the sensory experience to its fullness.
The nectar of bliss arises from the desire to make the sensory experience complete. In this state, "concentrated consciousness" is experienced as a fivefold object of feelings. The ten rays of the sense organs, together with the mind (manas ) and intellect (buddhi ), regarded as one, give rise to 11. Thus, the bliss of sense experience generates 16. Number 16 is the symbol of the full moon of objectivity, nectar is its form; this bliss, because it is based on the great bliss of the object of will.
"Purna aham - the new moon of perfect fullness "I"
Bows to
Whose exceptional activity is the destruction of the
Great darkness of error
Whose radiance exceeds any light
Whose symbol is the Moon The
Lord that is free from thoughtforms (nirvikalpa) The perfect fulness of supreme bliss ( mahānandapūrṇa )."
The perfect completeness of the Self (pūrṇa ahaṁ) lies at the heart of Pratyabhijna's goal, because it represents the highest state of shambhava (śāmbhava). This state of freedom from thoughtforms (nirvikalpa), where the three parts of the cognitive process (subject, object and methods of cognition) are nondifferent from pure consciousness (cinmātra ). This identification is maintained by enjoying one taste (ekarasa ). Purna aham is a state of rest (viśrānti) in which the mind and feelings, free from separation, act by the energy of bliss (ānanda-śakti ).
The interconnection of the perfect fullness of the self (pūrṇa ahaṁ ) and the dynamism of the cognitive process, embodied in the functioning of the senses, is described by the symbolism of reflection.Purna-aham is the mirror (bimba ) foundation of absolute freedom (svātantrya), which maintains the unity of the play of universal reflections (pratibimba ) unfolding in the cognitive process. Given the absorbing nature of Shiva, which realizes the universal dissolution, the perfect completeness of the Self (pūrṇa ) is symbolically portrayed as the 17th phase of a new moon, but not as a full moon.
17th lunar phase symbolizes the perfect completeness of the inner realization, containing the lunar nectar of immortality, poured out in the manifestation of objective reality.
"Purna is a combination of the superconscious (unmanā ) and the conscious (samanā ).
Wherever I am with the body,
speech and mind
All this is just you.
Let this highest truth be
Completely realized (paripūrṇa ) in me."
Having carefully examined the sensory element of Utpaladeva's views on the mystical experience, we can see that the perfect realization (paripūrṇa) experienced as a taste of the nectar of immortality (amṛta ) is a fusion of two states.
The first state of expansion pulsating in the enjoyment of the senses, is harmonized by the second state of rest of the shambhava. In Kalikram, they are respectively associated with states known as samana and unman.
Samana means the sensual pleasure of the organs of perception, experienced as amazement (camatkṛti), giving the senses an outlet through which the adept attains the beauty of the sensory world in various forms: sound, touch, etc .; This sequence (krama ) of the flow of feelings, flowing in and out, is experienced as a pleasure in taste (rasana ).
When this activity ceases to exist, it dissolves, consciousness enters the state of unman, akrama. The state of the unman is a form of eternally conscious radiance, in which the various cycles of perception are identical to the pure consciousness of Shiva. In the state of unman, objectivity is perceived as the enjoyment of nectar (amṛta ).
Through this nectar, an inner outpouring of the senses takes place, and the adept feels that the phenomenal world is immersed in the divine stream. The fusion of these two states, occurring in an inconsistent sequence (karamākrama), is rooted in the higher state of stability (sthiti ) that underlies Kalikrama's view of sensory experience.
( Prof. Aleksandra Wenta)
The doctrine of the 12th Kali is one of the earliest concepts of Kālīkula / Kālīkrama. Moreover, this doctrine is the most secret teaching in the tradition of Kashmiri Shaivism, which dominated the territory of Kashmir during the early Middle Ages. In the 10th-11th centuries, Abhinavagupta defined the teachings of the 12th Kali as the most exalted esoteric aspect of Trika. For him, the Kalikrama Goddess, the One who draws Time to Himself - Kālasaṁkarṣaṇī - outside the Supreme (Parātīta) of the goddesses of Trika: The Parā (Parā, the Supreme Goddess) and Parāparā (Aparā, the Inferior), which is doctrinal the basis of his Trika system.
According to Abhinavagupta, the doctrine of the 12 Kali was given to him along the line of spiritual continuity, in which Utpaladeva himself was present. Somananda IX century, the author of Shivadrishti, the first teacher in the Pratyabhidjna system was, according to Abhinavagupta, a follower of Govindaraja, the Teacher of the Krama line, who before his death gave him the teachings of the 12 Kali, set forth in Kālīkulapañcaśatakā.
Somananda gave this teaching along the line of spiritual continuity of Utpaladeva and Lakshmanagupta, and then it was transferred to Abhinavagupta. Utpaladeva did not address directly to his spiritual heritage, which was derived from the followers of Krama (probably in connection with the intentional advancement of the non-anatrical view of tradition).
Nevertheless, his view of sensual experience is imbued with the idea of lunar nectar. This concept, outlined in Śivastotrāvalī, an outstanding work of spiritual literature of Kashmiri Shaivism, is close to the ideas of Kalikrama concerning sense organs. Thus, Krama is an important foundation for the schools of Pratyabhijna,Trika and Spanda.
Perhaps not only these reasons were guided by the commentators Utpaladeva, Kshemaraja and Maheshvarananda, who developed the important ideas of Utpaladeva in the light of Krama-Mahartha. Especially worth mentioning is Ksemaraja, who in his commentary on Shivastotravali Utpaladeva expressed a firm commitment to the Krama system. who developed the most important ideas of Utpaladeva in the light of Krama-Mahartha. Especially worth mentioning is Ksemaraja, who in his commentary on Shivastotravali Utpaladeva expressed a firm commitment to the Krama system.
On the other hand, in the 13th century Mahesvarananda in his commentary (Parimala) on his work Mahārthamañjarī , which is the South Indian version of Kalikrama, developed the deep foundations of Pratyabhijna, he used quotes from Śivastotravali in the context of substantiating the secret Kaula ritual ( kula-yāga), which he regarded as the practice of śāktopāya. From this interesting configuration follows a certain consequence, namely the vague relationship of the schools of Krama and Kaula, which can be logically justified using the pratyabhijna axiomatic system. For example, 12 Kali as an image of reflective awareness (vimarśa).
At the center of the 12th doctrine is the Kalimistic experience embodied in the 12 Suns known as bhānavī-krama. This teaching is considered the most important in the northern transmission (uttarāmnāya).
12 Kali incarnate:
1) the dynamism of the cognitive act (saṁvit-cakra, saṁvit-krama).
2) the universal vibration of consciousness (sāmānya-spanda).
3) the 12 deified senses (prakāśa-cakra, marīcidevatā-cakra, raśmi-cakra). According to this concept, the 12 Kali symbolize the method (krama) and the instrument (senses) of the cognition process that generates reflective awareness ( vimarśa), which is the capacity of pure luminous consciousness (prakāśa, bhāsa) to reflect its eternal nature.
The concept of the vimarsha was of great interest to Utpaladeva, (Īśvarapratyabhijñā-Kārikā ), where he defines the vimarsha as the energy of the action of consciousness (citikriyāśakti), expressed in his commentary ( Vṛtti) on Isvarapratya-bhijna-Karika.
In this sense, the 12 Kali form an analytical model of the process of cognition, where special attention is paid to the energies associated with cognition, the sense organs and thoughts accompanying the process of perception, indicating the path to mystical interaction with phenomenal reality.
Revealed on the basis of purification of thought forms (vikalpa-saṁskāra), 12 Kali awakens pure knowledge (suddha-vidyā). The onset of freedom from thought forms ( nirvikalpa) is achieved when the mind "reaches the state of inner purity and becomes a means of reflection," in this case, what remains is the universal factor of mental representations.
Therefore, "he, who perceives everything as his own essence, thus knows:" all this variety of forms belongs to me, "he, even being in the stream of thoughtforms, reaches the state of Mahesh." Thus, if an individual continues to create thought forms that stem directly from the energy of God, he perceives the universe without any separation and transforms all thought forms into pure reflective awareness, he attains the state of Maheswara.
In addition to these basic epistemological principles, generalized by Pratyabhijna's terminology, the higher theoretical foundation of sense experience and the interpretation of this process, develops in the teachings of Kalikrama and the 12 Kali. In particular, in the sphere where the work of the senses is confirmed by experience, the views of Kalikrama and Utpaladeva merge.
Sensual experience plays an outstanding role in the concept of devotion to Utpaladeva. The pleasure in the senses entails the immersion in the higher awareness of the nature of Shiva, this sudden recognition (sāhasa-abhijñāna), "impregnated with a pure, ever-flowing nectar of consciousness (saṁvit-amṛta), pervading awareness, "All are one."
However, apart from the frantic dynamism characteristic of religious fervor, devotion also has another dimension. At first it seems static, on the whole consistent with what is called the Kalikrama secret doctrine, because for Utpaladeva devotion represents a state of equilibrium and stability (sthiti).
Utpaladeva says:
"Nothing can be used to achieve sustainability (sthiti-krta / sthiti-kṛta) in one's own Self, Luminosity is absolutely indubitable and eternal Let this idea become my stronghold. Only those who are invariably in their true Self (svasthā) are betrayed to you. Having hardened (sthitvā) in the seat of your pure consciousness. May I always honor you, O Lord of the Body, with speech and mind."
The state of immutability (sthiti) is one of the parts of the cognitive process ( sṛṣṭi, sthiti, saṁhāra), in addition, it is also associated with the supreme state of the Kalasamkarsani Goddess, embodying total resilience in the pure consciousness presented in the form of "pure knowledge" of the wheel of consciousness (samvit-chakra = 12 Kali), and is tasted like the lunar nectar of immortality.
The stability state (sthiti) connects the solar and lunar dimensions within the Kalasamkarshani vidya. Therefore, what first appears to be a static basis (sthiti), in pure consciousness includes the amazing wealth of the sensory experience embodied in the Sun 12 Kali.
The work of the senses simultaneously includes both expansion and contraction. During the expansion, one enjoys the blissful nectar of the expanding consciousness, symbolized by the 16 phases of the Full Moon; in the state of compression, there is a delight in the inner lunar nectar of the state of shambhava (śāmbhava) - the 17th phase of the New Moon.
Samvit-Marga, Samvit-Chakra
One of the main problems of the recognition theory (pratyabhijna) of Utpaladeva is an attempt to single out the unique dynamic subject, the "I" of Shiva, which manifests itself in the duality of the prakasa-vimarsha, pure luminous consciousness ( prakāśa/Śiva) and reflective awareness (vimarśa/Śakti). Polarization of prakasha-vimarsh is performed in order to strengthen the experimental basis of ultimate non-duality ( paramādvaita), bound by the knot of their inner unity (abheda / abheda).
This determines the unshakable foundation of the concepts of "transcendence" and "immanence" when they are viewed from the perspective of the phenomenology of perception leading to the recognition of the Absolute ("I" of Shiva) in all objective phenomena. Indeed, in Śhivastotravali Shiva is depicted as endowed with the sun's rays (bhānumarīcyaḥ). Shiva is the goal, the light of pure consciousness ( prakāśa), achievable through the sun's rays of reflective awareness (vimarśa). The sun's rays embody the recognition of the senses, in the work of which reflective awareness is used. For the believer, the way of the senses (saṁvit-mārga) is the path to Shiva. At a more internal level of mystical immersion, feelings are transformed into deities of the senses, whose sensory perception is used as sacrificial substances offered by Shiva.
"Glory to your awful wheel of the goddesses of the senses (śakti-vṛnda)!
Which, sacrificing the objects of feelings, Honor you through enjoyment."
In the commentary on this sloka from Śivastotravali, Ksemaraja defines shakti-vrindu as the wheel of consciousness (saṁvit-cakra). The concept of the samvit-chakra is analyzed in detail in the fourth chapter of the Tantraloka of Abhinavagupta, in the section devoted to the śāktopāya, indicating how the Kali included the dynamism of the cognitive process. The interpretation of shakti-vrinda Kshemaraja is unique. This term does not appear in the Kalikrama texts in the context of the 12th Kali, since it was intended solely to refer to the general reality of the metaphysics of Kalikrama, known as the Vrinda-cakra. However, an exception was found in Cidgaganacandrikā of Shrivatsa.
In this text, dated at least the XIII century, shakti-vrinda is associated with the image of the Goddess as the Sun of Consciousness in the exact meaning of the samvit-chakra. As stated in the text, This is the level of the 12-fold sequence, manifested in the world in the form of words, and also manifested everywhere in the form of triads. The 12-fold system (3x4 = 12) reflects the processing of cognitive energy occurring in the trinity of the cognizing (pramātṛ / pramatma) - the methods of cognition (pramāṇa ) - the object of knowledge (prameya). Each of the aspects follows a four-fold sequence: creation (sṛṣṭi), preservation (sthiti), dissolution (saṁhāra ) and indescribable transcendental state (anākhya ).
A careful awareness of this sequence (krama-parāmarśa ), which is the basis of the whole experience, is a practical application of the samvit-chakra. Creation of the object, which takes place through the opening of the will, is akalitollāsa / sṛṣṭi). Whenever this will comes in contact with an external object, there is maintenance of sensual enjoyment ( tatsambhoga, sthiti). Returning to one's true essence, which is a movement from expansion to contraction, is carvaṇa / saṁhāra.
The ultimate rest of individual objects that are in the unity of consciousness, where they exist as reflections of their original source (the absolute "I" (pūrṇa ahaṁ ) - is a transcendental state of completion (virāma/anākhya).
Anakhya is consciousness , free from the duality of thoughtforms (nirvikalpa), it still knows, because it recognizes the movement of thoughts as a pure luminous consciousness, and, moreover, contains in itself knowledge: "all this is my radiance." Thus, in the transcendental state head (anākhya ) stored : Activity, knowledge and feelings.
Rays of devotion
Utpaladeva uses senses as the basis for chanting of Holy Name, in the sense that the most exalted devotion is the fullness of their realization.
Devotion governs experience through feelings, generating a field of blissful delight, whose strength increases with religious feeling. Perhaps more strikingly, the truth of devotion is proved through sensual ecstasy, which penetrates the subjective and objective essence of the cognitive process.
Utpaladeva writes:
"Only those who are truly devoted to you, who know the subject and object through an expanded range of sensations."
The whole range of sensations included in the "religious methodology", "rays of devotion," as Utpaladeva calls it, leads to the fact that the sensory experience that gives the opportunity to experience a mystical fusion (samāveśa ) is judged to be the most important. Both Utpaladeva and Ksemaraja are equated with devotion (bhakti), obsession (āveśa ) and mystic confluence (samāveśa ), in the sense that religious devotion plays an important role in sensual involvement that leads to immersion in elevated states (rasa), which ultimately leads to interaction with the Absolute.
At this stage, the sense organs work in accordance with the spontaneity inherent in them initially, extracting from the objective sphere an essence, a subtle part in the form of a smell, color, sound, etc., which are means for achieving a secret union with a pure consciousness represented by pleasure in taste (rasa ). This awareness of taste in the realm of the senses is expressed in terms such as "bliss of taste" (rasana), "pleasure" (carvaṇa), "enjoyment of taste" (āsvadā ). They express the idea of universal interpenetration until the final merger. Pleasure with taste symbolizes mastering and means of increasing strength.
Acting at the junction of the semiotic and symbolic, the act of enjoying taste in the ontological sense means the process of dissolution (saṁhāra ), which serves as an example of the interiorization of the objective (the aram is the source of the krama).
Destruction occurs through the rays of the senses (which symbolize the 12 Kali), striving for universal dissolution. This metaphor is often found in the Kalikrama texts, it points to Paramarsh. As Torrell notes, the act of enjoying the taste, represented by terms such as charwana, aswada, rasana, are complementary to the vimarsha and its derivatives.
There is another point of view concerning those who are infatuated with the devotion of the senses. According to these ideas, feelings lead to the recognition of unity in differences (bhedābheda, kramākrama ) because of all-embracing connections and relationships. This is the idea of spreading (vyāpti).
The sense organs, because of their all-pervasive nature, are transformed into instruments acting in the field of the spell of devotion. The pervasive nature of the senses, the concept of interweaving everything where the lower is imbued with the higher, is the basis of the Kalikrama tradition.
The rays represent the all-pervasive nature of the senses. Like solar energy, the rays of the senses illuminate the world separately and all together. The sunshine spreads outward, it is this spreading in all directions that personifies the all-pervasive nature of the senses.
This symbolizes the fact, that everything is manifested by the light of consciousness and, as such, reaches its true being by realizing its unity with everything. As a tool for Vyapti, the senses have the ability to interconnect things. At this level, the senses are already losing their separated character and become inseparable from the higher self. The higher self is the subject who recognizes the movement of the senses as the activity of pure consciousness.
Consequently, the process of connection causes the dynamic nature of the spread, it triggers the senses, which actually play the role of agents of the energy union (mahāmelāpa ). This synthesis clearly emphasizes the central place of identity in the dynamism of the senses, which, being all-pervasive (vyāpaka), leads to the enjoyment of the unified taste of the non-dual consciousness (sāmarasya ) at each moment of perception.
Utpaladeva, in the culmination of his anthem, glorifying devotion, apparently strives to postulate the fundamental role of the feelings involved in the union.Immersion in the work of feelings that permeate objectively and subjectively, and their eternal combinations are implied in the concept of the great feast of worship (mahotsava ).
Utpaladeva writes:
I worship Shiva,
whom during the feast of dissolution
Steadily and hugly embraces Shakti (Parvati)
Through whom the whole universe enjoys
Through food, drink and ornaments.
Oh, glory to the great feast of worship of the
Sweet and inexplicable
With which even falling tears
Have the taste of the nectar of immortality.
In the context of tantric practice, Mahottsava means the principle of excess of feelings related to the great feast where siddhis and yoginis come to join the union (melāpa) for the sole purpose of producing nectar (amṛta ). In fact, Mahesvaranada prefers this interpretation, placing the concept of the Mahotsava Utpaladeva at the center of his definition of the shaktopaya from the position of Kaula-Krama.
However, restraining the desire to put aside purely ritualistic meanings, we advance the "cognitive" interpretation, stating that siddhi and yogini are an image of the deities of the senses and senses that merge in a pulsating union that generates the nectar of bliss. The nectar of bliss is an enlarged consciousness characterized by the outpouring of the energies of the senses that permeate the phenomenal being from within and without. The flow of poured energy, experienced through a piercing gust of feelings, generates a state of unity that allows everything to manifest, maintain and dissolve in an endless chain of interconnected compounds. This is inherent in the very nature of the senses, which they enjoy in the state of expansion and contraction of their internal energies, which include all things in their essential unity.
Purna: The moonlit nectar of bliss
All levels of Śivastotravali are permeated with a strong desire for spiritual experience of perfect completeness (pūrṇa ) manifested in the lunar nectar of immortality. Utpaladeva most clearly expressed the importance of purnah, connected with the highest state of shambhava (śāmbhava). This idea is illustrated by the oozing nectar of immortality (amṛta-pūrṇatva ), which brings bliss and fills the phenomenal world. Perfect completeness (pūrṇa/paripūrṇa ) is the realization of the ontological identity between the being of the phenomenal world and the pure consciousness of Shiva, which is expressed in the statement:
"the whole world is your perfect fullness." Moreover, the attainment of perfect completeness (pūrṇa ) with the help of the senses is a necessary condition for their deification, which empowers feelings with "radiant splendor".
Purna is often associated with the symbolism of the moon, illustrating the self-regenerating source, which at the same time empties, and fills itself with the nectar of moonlight. The full moon symbolizes the highest degree of external saturation; The new moon, on the contrary, symbolizes the peak of inner fullness. Utpaladeva takes into account both these dimensions in her description of the lunar nectar, which generates the experience of bliss.
"Purna - the full moon of sensual experience
Even relying on objects of
Feeling bestow upon the
Followers the nectar of immortality"
According to the interpretation of the concept of feelings in the Kalikrama tradition, the experience of objectivity, achieved through the solar action of the senses, is embodied in the moon nectar, which is a form of bliss. When the rays of the sense organs are filled with pure will (icchā ) to flow outward, they bring the sensory experience to its fullness.
The nectar of bliss arises from the desire to make the sensory experience complete. In this state, "concentrated consciousness" is experienced as a fivefold object of feelings. The ten rays of the sense organs, together with the mind (manas ) and intellect (buddhi ), regarded as one, give rise to 11. Thus, the bliss of sense experience generates 16. Number 16 is the symbol of the full moon of objectivity, nectar is its form; this bliss, because it is based on the great bliss of the object of will.
"Purna aham - the new moon of perfect fullness "I"
Bows to
Whose exceptional activity is the destruction of the
Great darkness of error
Whose radiance exceeds any light
Whose symbol is the Moon The
Lord that is free from thoughtforms (nirvikalpa) The perfect fulness of supreme bliss ( mahānandapūrṇa )."
The perfect completeness of the Self (pūrṇa ahaṁ) lies at the heart of Pratyabhijna's goal, because it represents the highest state of shambhava (śāmbhava). This state of freedom from thoughtforms (nirvikalpa), where the three parts of the cognitive process (subject, object and methods of cognition) are nondifferent from pure consciousness (cinmātra ). This identification is maintained by enjoying one taste (ekarasa ). Purna aham is a state of rest (viśrānti) in which the mind and feelings, free from separation, act by the energy of bliss (ānanda-śakti ).
The interconnection of the perfect fullness of the self (pūrṇa ahaṁ ) and the dynamism of the cognitive process, embodied in the functioning of the senses, is described by the symbolism of reflection.Purna-aham is the mirror (bimba ) foundation of absolute freedom (svātantrya), which maintains the unity of the play of universal reflections (pratibimba ) unfolding in the cognitive process. Given the absorbing nature of Shiva, which realizes the universal dissolution, the perfect completeness of the Self (pūrṇa ) is symbolically portrayed as the 17th phase of a new moon, but not as a full moon.
17th lunar phase symbolizes the perfect completeness of the inner realization, containing the lunar nectar of immortality, poured out in the manifestation of objective reality.
"Purna is a combination of the superconscious (unmanā ) and the conscious (samanā ).
Wherever I am with the body,
speech and mind
All this is just you.
Let this highest truth be
Completely realized (paripūrṇa ) in me."
Having carefully examined the sensory element of Utpaladeva's views on the mystical experience, we can see that the perfect realization (paripūrṇa) experienced as a taste of the nectar of immortality (amṛta ) is a fusion of two states.
The first state of expansion pulsating in the enjoyment of the senses, is harmonized by the second state of rest of the shambhava. In Kalikram, they are respectively associated with states known as samana and unman.
Samana means the sensual pleasure of the organs of perception, experienced as amazement (camatkṛti), giving the senses an outlet through which the adept attains the beauty of the sensory world in various forms: sound, touch, etc .; This sequence (krama ) of the flow of feelings, flowing in and out, is experienced as a pleasure in taste (rasana ).
When this activity ceases to exist, it dissolves, consciousness enters the state of unman, akrama. The state of the unman is a form of eternally conscious radiance, in which the various cycles of perception are identical to the pure consciousness of Shiva. In the state of unman, objectivity is perceived as the enjoyment of nectar (amṛta ).
Through this nectar, an inner outpouring of the senses takes place, and the adept feels that the phenomenal world is immersed in the divine stream. The fusion of these two states, occurring in an inconsistent sequence (karamākrama), is rooted in the higher state of stability (sthiti ) that underlies Kalikrama's view of sensory experience.
( Prof. Aleksandra Wenta)
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