According to John Hughes, a TM teacher (Rishikesh TTC 1968), Kashmere Tantracsm agrees with many of MMY's teachings concerning transcendental meditation using bija mantra sound vibration, and siddha yoga.
[image: Inline image 1] MMY and Swami Laksmanjoo in Kashmere 1968 "My wife and I first journeyed to Kashmir in the spring of 1969, along with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and a group of his Western students. During our stay Swami Lakshmanjoo gave a discourse to our group on Kashmir Saivism. As a graduate student of Indian philosophy and religious studies, I was intrigued by this impressive speaker and the relatively unknown philosophy he spoke about. In 1971 returned to Kashmir along with my wife Denise and daughter Shanna to learn from Swamiji the philosophy and practical teachings of Kashmir Saivism. Although I still knew very little about Kashmir Saivism I knew it was a tradition that emphasized realizing and experiencing the supreme truth in the context of one's own life. Furthermore, I knew deep down that if I wanted to learn the secrets of Kashmir Saivism I needed to study with a teacher who not only understood the tradition, but had practically experienced its fruit and truth in his own life and being. My research convinced me that Swami Lakshmanjoo was such a man. He was, at the time, the last living master of the Kashmir Saivaite tradition; that is, he was the last in a line of masters/disciples whose spiritual genealogy was marked by direct oral transmission of the secrets of Saivism. Being the last living guru of Kashmir Saivism meant that Swamiji held the pure distillation of a rich spiritual tradition" - John Hughes Read more: 'Self Realization in Kashmere Shaivism' The oral teachings of Swami Laksmanjoo. By John Hughes SUNY, 1994 p. 3 'Kashmir Shaivism: The Secret Supreme' by Swami Lakshmanjoo, John Hughes Authorhouse, 2000 On Fri, Dec 6, 2013 at 9:26 AM, Richard J. Williams <pundits...@gmail.com>wrote: > MMY taught a meditation (dhyana) technique (yoga) using sound vibrations > (mantras) as a means for going beyond (transcending) the normal states of > consciousness to a transcendental state that is beyond the senses. A mantra > is a sound vibration whose effects are known, assigned to the practitioner > to be used in their meditation. Mantras are non-ideational, non semantic > sounds that provide the ideal opportunity to transcend to altered states of > consciousness. > > The idea being that every thing, substance or entity in that exists has a > vibration of some kind; from this vibration come consciousness, mind, > ideas, name and form (nama-rupa). Thus everything is sound vibration - no > matter how gross or fine.The Indian philosophy that supports this practice > is Yoga. In this philosophy of sound the supreme (para) subtle vibration is > the first cause, which set in motion the myriad other sounds and hence > other sounds - the whole phenomenological universe is sound vibration > starting with a single primordial vibration which set the cosmos in motion. > > So, the whole creation is made up of sound currents; from the original > subtle sound vibration down to objects and hence to human speech. The > original vibration did not contain any grossness but when entering the > plane of relativity takes on a coarseness, experienced as the human word > arranged in speech. MMY called this "the science of subtle sounds", which > produced "Vac", the Goddess of Speech and "Chit" universal consciousness, > as "Saraswati", the Goddess of Knowldege, which is one and includes the > whole: Shiva - creation, dissolution, and maintenance. > > The spiritual exercises of yoga meditation includes silent repetition, > "simran" on a seed (bija) by means of repetition (bhajan) and meditation > given in intiation by a guru. Bija mantras are not words but subtle > vibrations, the most subtle of which are the imperishable letters of the > Sanskrit alphabet, which were cognized by the ancient rishis and are > revealed to us as devine sounds and words. > > According to Swami Sivananda Radha, in order to attain single-pointedness > of mind, a mantra can be used in the following ways: by chanting (japa) > speaking (vaikhari japa), whispering or humming (upamsu japa) or by writing > (likhita japa), or by silent mental repetition (dhyana). > > Universal Consciousness and subtle vibration theory is called "spanda" in > the Trika philosophy of Kashmere. Trika refers to the three states: waking, > sleeping, and dreaming; and a fourth state (turyia) which is beyond the > "three cities" - Transcendental Wisdom (srividya). Turiya, pure > consciousness, is the fundamental, basic component of the universe. > > The spanda system is described as the "vibration/movement" of > consciousness, a kind of throb, which is the essence of some sort of > movement; a vibration that is charterized as an ecstatic self-recurrent > universal consciousness. > > As a yoga system, Trika draws teachings from the scriptures, such as the > monist Bhairava Tantra by Abhinava Gupta and the Sound Arya Lahari by the > Adi Shankara. The Absolute universal consciousness is the Purusha, the > Transcendtal Person, which does not change - it is the world itself that > changes; the 'world' being composed of the interplay of the three gunas > born of nature. Purusha, the absolute, which is unchanging is, according to > the Trika and Sri Vidya, the source of a subtle science of sound vibrations > (shabd). > > Shabd never disappears and the sound current is always present as subtle > asideas or thought. For our practice a TMer does not concentrate on a > particular sound, but instead just becomes aware of the seed sound, not by > concentration but by just sitting quietly with eyes closed, with purpose in > mind, and a spontaneous awareness occurs when the bija is cognized as a > thought. > > Thus a TMer's meditation is not stressful, but an awareness followed by an > arrangement in intelligent and coherent impulse to activity. If a tree > falls and there is nobody around to hear it, does it make a sound? A stone > thrown into a pond produces ripples all around. So, every thought and > action produces a reaction; a cause produces an effect somewhere in the > cosmos. > > Yoga, as explained by Patanjali, is concerned with mental activity, and as > every sadhak knows means that yoga is mental activity cessation "yogash > chittavritti nirodha",or as Charles Johnston translates: "Spiritual > conciousness is gained through the use of the versatile psychic nature." > Varenne writes that the idea being conveyed is that the mind consists of an > uninterrupted succession of thoughts all linked to one another like the > circle of fire traced in the air by Sri Nata-raja. > > The mind (manas) can never be at rest belonging as it does to the world of > existence, and is thus a permanent dynamism, multiplying and diversifying > its activity to infinity. According to Varenne, "It goes without saying > that this mental agitation is in the highest degree distracting; the din it > sets up within us is such in fact as to even prevent us from hearing the > voice of intelligence, with the result that we are swept along, as if we > were in an eddying flood, and not just without resistence, but even with > pleasure, and with active compliance on out part." > > By acting in a given way at any given moment, we can bend the future fate > of this being I call 'me,' however slightly, in a direction we am not yet > aware of, because at the moment I perform that action (karma), my being is > one with the cosmic value of the forces involved in that action. > > The goal at hand is Self-realization (moksha) and the fruit of the > individual’s practice (sadhana) is the attainment of freedom and > immortality (samadhi). In our TMer tradition, the state of liberation > (mukti) is easy (sahaja) and is characterized by the attainment of > unwavering bliss-consciousness while yet living one’s ordinary life as > simple householders. How to be? Stop thinking, but don't go to sleep! Just > Be. That's all there is to it. Simple. It's not complicated. > > However, there are several caveats in practicing effective meditation: > focusing on the gross aspects of human physiology, such as the breath, > tends to hold one on the conscious thinking level of awareness, thus > inhibiting effortless transcending. The same applies to 'chanting' or other > forms of thought control in which there is mental or physical effort. > > The idea behind TMer meditation is to just "Be" and the measuring rod is > for Being is to be bored, or not. In the case of TMers if one is practicing > meditation correctly, there is increased enjoyment at every level, and > speaking for myself, a good meditation is never boring. I mean, how could > I, the Tejas Wallah, be boring to my SELF? For I am my Self! - "I" am all > THAT; all that I have, and the whole world is my IDEA. Go figure. > > "Intone a sound audibly, then less and less audible as feeling deepens > into this silent harmony." - Bhairava Tantra (translation by Reps and > Sensaki) > > Works cited: > > 'The Doctrine of Vibration: An Analysis of Doctrines and Practices of > Kashmir Shaivism' > by Mark S. G. Dyczkowski > p. 44 > > 'Mantras: Words of Power' > by Swami Sivananda Radha > p. 54 > > 'Yoga Sutras of Patanjali' > Translated by Charles Johnston > I, V. 2. > > 'Yoga' > by Jean Varenne > p. 88 > > 'Zen Flesh, Zen Bones' > by Paul Reps and Nyogen Sensaki > > Read more: > > Kashmir Shaivism: > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashmir_Shaivism > > 'Human Physiology: Expression of Veda and the Vedic Literature' > by Prof. Tony Nader, M.D., Ph.D. > Maharishi Vedic University, 2001 > > Amazon review: > > "Also impressive is the correlation with Vedic 'gods' which are shown to > actually be the different types of intelligence within our physiology. For > instance, Ganesh, the 'elephant god' and remover of obstacles, comprises > the pons, medulla and cerebellum. In their function, they exactly represent > the same functions ascribed to Ganesh. Together these structures also look > exactly like Ganesh." > > 'Instant Healing: Gain Inner Strength, Empower Yourself, and Create Your > Destiny' > by Susan Shumsky, Ph.D. > New Page Books, 2001 > > Amazon review: > > "According to Shumsky, discovering your true purpose in life and > manifesting this purpose in a positive way is the key to abundance that > attracts others to you. Similarly, a person can find peace by welcoming > positive, peace-loving thoughts. These thoughts include tolerance, > acceptance, patience, modesty, humility, inner strength, comfort, inner > strength, kindness, reverence and honor." >
