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03 Jul Kashmir Shaivism
As I have been practicing the hum sah meditation shared by Tara Judelle, and as I’m practicing it right now as I’m writing, I notice the in-breath is invigorating, and the exhale is relaxing and centering. This is undoubtedly true without the mantra, but the mantra brings it to my attention. It feels like a vibration that is always going on with or without my conscious awareness.
This week’s readings on Kashmir Shaivism refer to what is known as tantra that comes from the northern part of India. The historical aspects as recounted by Judelle were particularly fascinating – that this philosophy came about by cross-pollination from the intersection of trade routes from China, Tibet, and the Near East, and that the dualist philosophies of body as inferior to mind/spirit came out of a time period when it wasn’t very pleasant to be in a body due to illness, poverty, and short life spans. This spawned the idea of disidentifying with the body in order to get to spirit.
The nondual Śaiva Tantra (NST) that Wallis writes about is full of do’s and don’ts’s, ways to practice and ways that are not approved, and a hierarchical structure. This actually does not seem nondual at all. It’s a nondual approach to eventually, hopefully, achieve nondual realization.
Judelle’s approach and her explanation appear nondual in practice as well as theory – instead of going beyond the body, the stance is to go as deeply as possible into it and follow its lead. It is about learning from the here and now, recognizing that anything can be a doorway. The practitioner immerses herself into the felt sense of the body in order to become the full self. The body is seen as the immediate entry point. There is a valuing of experience and the recognition that nothing needs to be left out, that you can use whatever emerges.
© 2024 Catherine Auman
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