In Kashmir Shaivism, there are three states of awareness which Swami Lakshmanjoo explains here: first from the ordinary person's point of view, and then from the yogic point of view.
This is an excerpt from the Shiva Sutras: The Supreme Awakening, by Swami Lakshmanjoo, first awakening verses 8-10.
Now he explains this jāgrat (wakefulness), svapna (dreaming), and suṣupti (dreamless sleep) in three sūtras…
8. jñānaṁ jāgrat //
External organic knowledge constitutes
the waking state.
Exter...
In this beautiful excerpt from the Hymns to Shiva, Utpaladeva’s Shivastotravali (Chapter 14 verse 15) Swami Lakshmanjoo explains how Lord Shiva bestows grace to people – a very different Shaktipata – in Kashmir Shaivism, and why.
To learn more about grace also check out our online course “Grace on the Spiritual Path”.
Without qualifications, You bestow grace to people! That is śaktipāta. ~Swami Lakshmanjoo
Chapter 14a (40:37)
जयानुकम्पादिगुणानपेक्षसहजोन्नते ।
जय...
In this excerpt, Swamiji explains what meditation really is.
This is from Abhinavagupta’s Tantraloka 9th Ahnika, revealed by Swami Lakshmanjoo, from the audio archives of the Lakshmanjoo Academy Copyright © John Hughes
QUESTION: What kind of action is meditating?
SWAMIJI: It is not action, it is knowledge, it is cognition. Meditating is recitation of breath, it is just knowledge.
JOHN: That rest in jnanendriya or where? Or in manas [mind], buddhi [intellect] and ahamkara [ego], this med...
Revealing this first verse of the Śiva Sūtra Vimarśinī, Swami Lakshmanjoo explains how
“the supreme consciousness is the reality of everything“.
Prathamaḥ unmeṣa
First Awakening
Now Śiva sūtras will be explained here.
tatra prathamaṁ nareśvarabhedavādi pratipākṣyeṇa caitanyaparamārthataḥ śiva eva viśvasya ātmā iti ādiśati-
First, at first he exposes here that the reality of the universe is Self, it is not false. The reality of the universe is the real Self. And it is contrary to the sayin...
In this excerpt, Swami Lakshmanjoo explains why YOU are really Parabhairava (supreme state of God Consciousness). This is from the Bhagavad Gita, In the Light of Kashmir Shaivism, chapter 8 by Swami Lakshmanjoo.
Oṁ. Oṁ means:
antarālīnatattvaughaṁ cidānandaghanaṁ mahat /
yattattvaṁ śaivadhāmākhyaṁ tadomityabhidhīyate //271
Antarālīna tattvaughaṁ, where all of these differentiated thirty-six elements and one hundred and eighteen worlds are consumed inside (antarālīna ta...
Swamiji elaborates on why “The path is Shakti (energy); the path is not Shiva.” and why “Energy is the real path you have to tread.”
This lecture is an excerpt from the Vijnana Bhairava: The Manual for Self Realization, verses 20-21, revealed by Swami Lakshmanjoo . . .
शक्त्यावस्थाप्रविष्टस्य
निर्विभागेन भावना ।
तदासौ शिवरूपी स्यात्
शैवी मुखमिहोच्यते ॥२०॥
śaktyāvasthāpraviṣṭasya
nirvibhāgena bhāvanā /
tadāsau śivarūpī syāt
śaivī mukhamihocyate // 20 //
When you enter in the st
...
Here are two excerpts from the unpublished manuscript of the Parātrīśikā Vivarana by Swami Lakshmanjoo, from the Audio Archives of the Lakshmanjoo Academy.
Copyright @ John Hughes, all rights reserved.
māyīyakārmamalamūlamuśanti tāvad
ajñānanāmamalamāṇavameva bhadrāḥ /
bījaṁ tadeva bhavajīrṇataroḥ parasmin
saṁvinniśātadahane dahate kṣaṇena //
Māyīya-kārma-mala-mūlam-uśanti tāvad, bha...
In this important excerpt from the Shiva Sutras: The Supreme Awakening (verse 5 of the First Awakening), Swami Lakshmanjoo explains the importance of “active” effort, it is “That effort (the flashing forth of active awareness) that instantaneously makes universal consciousness shine.”
[This is not a transcript but an excerpt from the book!]
This is a beautiful devotional excerpt from Chapter 1 of the Hymns to Shiva, Utpaladeva’s Shivastotravali, revealed by Swami Lakshmanjoo, highlighting the need to achieve God in the activity of the universe, not by shunning it.
“So, you should find out the way to achieve God in the activity of the universe, not by shunning it. This is Shaivism. The real way of perceiving You is to perceive You in each and every action of life.” ~Swami Lakshmanjoo
शिवो भूत्वा यजेतेति भक्तो भूत्वेति कथ्यते ।
...
In this excerpt from the Shiva Sutras: The Supreme Awakening, Swamiji explains the 6th sloka. “Now, in the next sūtra, the author explains how, by the intensity of meditation (parāmarśa), the external state of dualistic consciousness is absorbed in non-dualistic consciousness.”…
“By establishing and meditating on the wheel of energies, the differentiated universe comes to an end.” ~Swami Lakshmanjoo
This verse from the Svacchanda Tantra appears in Kṣemarāja’s commentary on the last verse (109) of chapter nine. Similar in meaning is this verse #108 from The Magical Jewel of Devotion in Kashmir Shaivism – Bhaṭṭa Nārāyaṇa’s Stava Cintāmaṇī (scroll down).
Listen to the audio (Kashmiri) by Swami Lakshmanjoo explaining the verse below and/or read the English translation below…
iti | ca evārthe, bhāvitātmaiva prayuñjītetyarthaḥ | pāṭalikī
saṅgatiradūra eva —-
“kālāgnirnarakāścaiva pātālā hā...
In this excerpt, from the weekly Sangha, Bhagavad Gita in the Light of Kashmir Shaivism, Swamiji gives a unique and new explanation of a well-known verse from the Bhagavad Gita, calling for moderation in using the senses. Here, in this amendment of the verse, he explains how to put the Trick of Yoga in all Activities of your Life. The recording includes questions and answers and further discussion of the subject.
You are welcome to join us for the free weekly Sangha, Bhagavad Gita in the Light ...
