The Spandakarikas are a number of verses that serve as a sort of commentary on the Siva-sutras. According to Saivagama, the divine consciousness is not simply cold, inert intellection. It is rather spanda, active, dynamic, throbbing with life, creative pulsation. In Siva-sutras, it is the prakasa aspect of the divine that is emphasized; in Spandakarikas, it is the vimarsa aspect that is emphasized. Together, these two books give us an integral view of Saiva philosophy. Ksemaraja has written a commentary on Spandakarikas, titled Spanda-nirnaya. He is fond of sesquipedalian compounds, long and windy sentences, but he is very profound in the comprehension of the subject and so cannot be ignored. The author tried to provide a readable translation of both the karikas and the Spanda-nirnaya commentary. Each karika (verse) is given both in Devanagari and Roman script, followed by its translation in English. This is followed by Ksemaraja's commentary in Sanskrit. Then follows an English translation of the commentary. After this, copious notes are added on important and technical words. Finally, a running exposition of each karika in the author's own words is given.

A central theme of the philosophy of Kashmir Shaivism is the highly esoteric principal known as spanda. Swami Lakshmanjoo tells us that the word 'spanda' means established stable movement. That is, it is movementless-movement, vibrationless-vibration. It is this secret, mysterious and yet essential principle that Swami Lakshmanjoo clarifies and elucidates in his revelation of the two texts dealing specifically with this principle, the Spanda Karika and the Spanda Sandoha. The theory of spanda is not new. It was hidden in the body of the Tantras and extracted by Vasugupta, founder of the Shiva Sutras, and initiator of monistic Shaivism in the valley of Kashmir. Vasugupta composed the Spanda Karika, a text filled with the fundamental precepts (karikas) regarding spanda and the philosophy surrounding it. Kshemaraja, the chief disciple of the very important and central figure in the tradition of Kashmir Shaivism, Abhinavagupta, is the author of the second pivotal text regarding spanda, the Spanda Sandoha. This text is an extensive exposition (sandoha) on the first verse of the Spanda Karika.

Spanda is the vibratory dynamism of the absolute consciousness. In the first section of his commentary, Kṣemarāja presents spanda as identical with the essential self of each person. The second section presents a methodology that allows access to the world of spanda yoga. The third section describes the spiritual powers attained by the realization of spanda. Through modern physics, we have grown accustomed to thinking of physical reality as waves of energy--as the matter-energy continuum. Tantric Shaivism presents the full matrix of energy pulsation of which physical reality is only a part. From the relatively superficial perceptions of the senses to the progressively subtle forms of inner awareness, a unified spectrum of spanda leads inward until the most delicate and powerful tendrils of individuality merge with the infinitely rapid vibration of the ultimate consciousness. The text prescribes a continuous refinement of perception in order for that aspect of spanda which continuously subsides into infinity to be discovered in the awareness of the practitioner. Through prescribed use of mantra, the yogi develops a continuous attentiveness to the presence of the spanda--the spanda that reveals itself to her as an ecstatic flashing forth within her own awareness. The Guru enlivened mantra leads the yogi through the vibratory spectrum of awareness to the ever subtler domains within. As this occurs, the surface word-form of the mantra falls away and only the original lively pulsation of enlightenment is left. At a certain definite point, the individual awareness is permanently caught up in this subtle pulsation of the ultimate. It then transcends all of the relative spatial distinctions of inner and outer, higher and lower, above and below. The nondimensional, global encompassing of the individuality by the absolute consciousness is the state of jivanmukti, the goal of the tantric practice prescribed by the Spanda Karikas.

“I’ve gained deeper understanding listening to Rupert Spira than I have from any other exponent of modern spirituality. Reality is sending us a message we desperately need to hear, and at this moment no messenger surpasses Spira and the transformative words in his essays.” —Deepak Chopra, author of You Are the Universe, Spiritual Solutions, and Super Brain Our world culture is founded on the assumption that the Big Bang gave rise to matter, which in time evolved into the world, into which the body was born, inside which a brain appeared, out of which consciousness at some late stage developed. As a result of this “matter model,” most of us believe that consciousness is a property of the body. We feel that it is “I,” this body, that knows or is aware of the world. We believe and feel that the knowing with which we are aware of our experience is located in and shares the limits and destiny of the body. This is the fundamental presumption of mind and matter that underpins almost all our thoughts and feelings and is expressed in our activities and relationships. The Nature of Consciousness suggests that the matter model has outlived its function and is now destroying the very values it once sought to promote. For many people, the debate as to the ultimate reality of the universe is an academic one, far removed from the concerns and demands of everyday life. After all, life happens independently of our models of it. However, The Nature of Consciousness will clearly show that the materialist paradigm is a philosophy of despair and, as such, the root cause of unhappiness in individuals. It is a philosophy of conflict and, as such, the root cause of hostilities between families, communities, and nations. Far from being abstract and philosophical, its implications touch each one of us directly and intimately. An exploration of the nature of consciousness has the power to reveal the peace and happiness that truly lie at the heart of experience. Our experience never ceases to change, but the knowing element in all experience—consciousness, or what we call “I”—itself never changes. The knowing with which all experience is known is always the same knowing. Being the common, unchanging element in all experience, consciousness does not share the qualities of any particular experience: it is not qualified, conditioned, or limited by experience. The knowing with which a feeling of loneliness or sorrow is known is the same knowing with which the thought of a friend, the sight of a sunset, or the taste of ice cream is known. Just as a screen is never disturbed by the action in a movie, so consciousness is never disturbed by experience; thus it is inherently peaceful. The peace that is inherent in us—indeed that is us—is not dependent on the situations or conditions we find ourselves in. In a series of essays that draw you, through your own direct experience, into an exploration of the nature of this knowing element that each of us calls “I,” The Nature of Consciousness posits that consciousness is the fundamental reality of the apparent duality of mind and matter. It shows that the overlooking or ignoring of this reality is the root cause of the existential unhappiness that pervades and motivates most people’s lives, as well as the wider conflicts that exist between communities and nations. Conversely, the book suggests that the recognition of the fundamental reality of consciousness is the first step in the quest for lasting happiness and the foundation for world peace.

Translation and commentary of one of the most important texts of the Kashmirian Shivaism tradition of Tantra • Author was a student of the late Kalu Rinpoche • Explores the transmission of Mahamudra, the Great Cosmic Gesture • Includes the Vijnanabhaïrava Tantra, which contains the totality of the oldest source text on Yoga The Spandakarika, the "Tantric Song of the Divine Pulsation," is said to have been transmitted directly to the sage Vasugupta from the hands of Shiva on Mount Kailas. In his commentary on these fifty-two stanzas, the sage Ksemaraja described them as the heart of the Mahamudra. The oldest masters of Spandakarika viewed everything in the universe, including matter, as consciousness and created a yoga practice in accordance with this realization. The sacred dance of Yoga Spandakarika, Tandava, is extremely subtle and difficult, requiring thousands of hours of practice to master, yet it surpasses any other physical practice, allowing the practitioner to touch the divine inner pulse. Once its third stage has been mastered, the yogi or yogini is able to manifest the dance of Shiva in space, a tradition visible in the statuary of Tantric temples in India and Tibet. Energy is no longer contracted by the perception of duality, and the mind and body become unbounded, forming a sphere that contains all that was formerly outside. In Yoga Spandakarika Daniel Odier passes on these vanishing teachings as he received them from his Tibetan master, Kalu Rinpoche, and Kashmiri yogi Lalita Devi.

Siva Sutras are considered to be a revealed book of Yoga: the supreme identity of the individual self with the Divine. Here an English translation of the Siva Sutras has been provided, together with an abstract of each sutra, which throws a flood of light on the entire system of Saiva Yoga. A glossary of technical terms and index are appended for the convenience of the reader. Four commentaries on Siva Sutras are available at present, the Vimarsini commentary of Ksemaraja in prose, the Siva-sutra-vrtti by some anonymous author in prose, the Siva-sutra-varttikam by Varadaraja in verse. The Siva-Sutra-vrtti is so close to Vimarsini that it appears to be either a preliminary draft or a later abstract of the Vimarsini. There is a strong presumption that the author of the Vrtti was Ksemaraja himself. For more information, please head to www.mlbd.co.in

The Paramārthasāra, or ‘Essence of Ultimate Reality’, is a work of the Kashmirian polymath Abhinavagupta (tenth–eleventh centuries). It is a brief treatise in which the author outlines the doctrine of which he is a notable exponent, namely nondualistic Śaivism, which he designates in his works as the Trika, or ‘Triad’ of three principles: Śiva, Śakti and the embodied soul (nara). The main interest of the Paramārthasāra is not only that it serves as an introduction to the established doctrine of a tradition, but also advances the notion of jiv̄anmukti, ‘liberation in this life’, as its core theme. Further, it does not confine itself to an exposition of the doctrine as such but at times hints at a second sense lying beneath the evident sense, namely esoteric techniques and practices that are at the heart of the philosophical discourse. Its commentator, Yogarāja (eleventh century), excels in detecting and clarifying those various levels of meaning. An Introduction to Tantric Philosophy presents, along with a critically revised Sanskrit text, the first annotated English translation of both Abhinavagupta’s Paramārthasāra and Yogarāja’s commentary. This book will be of interest to Indologists, as well as to specialists and students of Religion, Tantric studies and Philosophy.