In verse 40 of the first awakening of the Shiva Sutras, The Supreme Awakening of Vasugupta, Swamiji explains how we are often drawn outward toward the objective world rather than inward toward awareness of our true nature. In verses 41 and 42, he then describes what happens when consciousness is firmly established in that inner reality.
This edited excerpt comes from the original audio recordings of The Śiva Sūtras: The Supreme Awakening as revealed by Swami Lakshmanjoo. It continues from verse...
This is the continuation of a previous lecture on the Bodhapañcadaśikā by Abhinavagupta, who wrote the [15 verses of wisdom]. In this part, Swamiji is explaining the 10th verse…
“Time only appears; it does not exist.” ~Swami Lakshmanjoo
तेषु वैचित्र्यमत्यन्तमूर्ध्वाधस्तिर्यगेव यत् ।
भुवनानि तदंशाश्च सुखदुःखमतर्भवः ॥१०॥
teṣu vaicitryam-atyantam-ūrdhvādha-stiryageva yat /
bhuvanāni tad-aṁśāśca sukha-duḥkham-atir-bhavaḥ // 10 //
In the previous śloka he has explained that these varie...
In this excerpt from the book Light on Tantra in Kashmir Shaivism, Abhinavagupta’s Tantraloka, Chapter One, Swami Lakshmanjoo explains the nature of ignorance in Kashmir Shaivism.
General Introduction
A) The nature of Ignorance (22–30)
Audio 1 – 42:04
इह तावत्समस्तेषु शास्त्रेषु परिगीयते।
अज्ञानं संसृतेर्हेतुर्ज्ञानं मोक्षैककारणम्॥२२॥
iha tāvatsamasteṣu śāstreṣu parigīyate /
ajñānaṁ saṁsṛterheturjñānaṁ mokṣaikakāraṇam //22//
In this world of spirituality, everywhere, in each and every ...
In this verse of the Bodhapañcadaśikā, Swami Lakshmanjoo reveals a striking truth: it is through not knowing—not seeing the true nature of time or our own awareness—that we become entangled in saṁsāra. And even this confusion, he explains, is not a mistake but part of the divine freedom (svātantrya) of Lord Shiva. Continuing from the previous teaching on the illusion of time, Swamiji shows how ignorance itself is crafted by the divine play, and how, for those who remain unaware of their own unkn...
In this excerpt from the Parātrīśikā Laghuvṛitti, Swami Lakshmanjoo illuminates anuttara, that which is unparalleled and beyond. This is from an unpublished transcript of the original audio from the archives of the Lakshmanjoo Academy.
[divyarūpatvena] pratyakṣābhāvātparokṣeṇa tadetaducyate
Now he explains here the anuttara. And anuttara is, because of its divinity, divya rūpatvena, being divine, it is not understood by the organs of senses. Pratyakṣa abhāvāt it can’t be pratyakṣa. Pratyak...
Excerpt from the Bhagavad Gita in the Light of Kashmir Shaivism, revealed by Swami Lakshmanjoo. In Chapter 12, verse 9, Krishna tells Arjuna: "If you cannot do that—if you do not have the strength to focus all of your desires, thoughts, ambitions, cravings, and longings on Me—then..."
DVD 12 (18:23)
अथावेशयितुं चित्तं न शक्नोषि मयि स्थिरम् ।
अभ्यासयोगेन ततो मामिच्छाप्तुं धनञ्जय ॥९॥
athāveśayituṁ cittaṁ na śaknoṣi mayi sthiraṁ /
abhyāsa-yogena tato māmicchāptuṁ dhanañjaya //9//...
This is excerpt from the Bhagavad Gita in the Light of Kashmir Shaivism revealed by Swami Lakshmanjoo, which we studied during our Weekly Sangha #76. We played an unpublished earlier recording, which John made in 1978, when Swamiji first revealed the Bhagavad Gita in English. This will really start to give the crux of Shaiva philosophy and what Shaivism means in regard to meditation and practice.
In Chapter 12, verse 11-12, Krishna tells Arjuna, “If you cannot do that also, that public-serving,...
In this excerpt from the book Shiva Sutras: The Supreme Awakening, Swami Lakshmanjoo reflects on the second sūtra of the First Awakening, where Lord Shiva says, “differentiated perception is bondage.” Then, in the the 9th sūtra of the second Awakening, we learn what knowledge means on the level of Shaktopaya, and what we need to do in that state…
9. jñānamannam //
(For such a yogī)
Differentiated perception is his food
or
Knowledge of his own nature is his food.
This yogī ...
In this excerpt from the Hymns to Shiva, Utpaladeva’s Shivastotravali Swami Lakshmanjoo shares with us how Utpaladeva desired to embrace his Master (Nātha), “just by my will”, because “by Thy embrace I have conquered everything.”
Chapter 6 (15:53)
भवदङ्गपरिष्वङ्गसम्भोगः स्वेच्छयैव मे ।
घटतामियति प्राप्ते किं नाथ न जितं मया ॥१०॥
bhavadaṅgaparisvaṅga sambhogaḥ svecchayaiva me /
ghaṭatāmiyati prāpte kiṁ nātha na jitaṁ mayā //10//
Nātha, O Master, just by my will112–not by action–just
...
In this excerpt, Swami Lakshmanjoo explains how to understand the question:
“Śivo’haṁ cet, if I would have been Śiva, why these things happen against my wishes in this world?”
[Answer:] You should not say why? [Because,] I’ll make you understand.”
This is an extract from Tantraloka, Āhnika 14, Verse (and commentary) 28-31, (unpublished). Audio Archives Lakshmanjoo Academy. Copyright © John Hughes. Do not use without permission.
In this excerpt from the Hymns to Shiva, Utpaladeva’s Shivastotravali, Swami Lakshmanjoo reveals when this whole differentiated world becomes one offering in the fire of consciousness.
This is an excerpt from our Free Weekly Sangha, where we studied the "Utpaladeva's Hymns to Shiva" in depth. You can find the replays on the same page.
Chapter 3 (21:28)
गर्जामि बत नृत्यामि पूर्णा मम मनोरथाः ।
स्वामी ममैष घटितो यत्त्वमत्यन्तरोचनः ॥११॥
garjāmi bata nṛtyāmi pūrṇā mama manorathāḥ |
svā...
This is a beautiful excerpt from the devotional text of the Hymns to Shiva, Utpaladeva’s Shivastotravali, explained by Swami Lakshmanjoo. In which Utpaladeva asks Lord Shiva: “When that festival will appear to me?”
The Intensity of the Festival of Devotion by Utpaladeva is to get entry in universal God Consciousness.
Chapter 9 (11:49)
कदा मे स्यात्विभो भूरि भक्त्यानन्दरसोत्सवः ।
यदालोकसुखानन्दी पृथङ्नामापि लप्स्यते ॥५॥
kadā me syātvibho bhūri bhaktyānandarasotsavaḥ /
yadālokasukhāna...
