There is no Shiva without Shakti.
We don't know why the Adi Shankara Tradition adopted the Shakti tantric
system. Maybe that cult was just "in the air", so to speak. What we do
know is the the Adi Shankara, by tradition, is associated with the
Shakti tradition at present. All the Shankarachara Saraswati Dasanamis
worship the Shakti as the Goddess of Learning at Sringeri and also at
Kanchi Mutt.
According to the Shakti tradition, the Adi Shankara composed the Sound
Arya Lahari, the most important scripture of the Sri Vidya sect. As I
have pointed out in a previous post, according to the Shankarachya
tradition, the Adi traveled up to Kashmere and obtained a copy of the
Sri Yantra and brought it back with him to South Asia. This symbolic
mandala was installed at Sringeri and at Kanchi and worshiped there as a
symbol of the Shakti Goddess Tripurasundari Saradampa (Saraswati).
So, we do know the Shankara Tradition adopted the Shakti system, and
apparently all the Shankaracharya Sannysins are partial to Sri
Saraswati. She is depicted with four arms, in which She holds a book in
one hand, the Sri Yantra in another, and a string of pearls and a vina
in the others.
According to what I've read, Sringeri Matha is located in the north-west
of the State of Mysore, nestling in the beautiful foot-hills of the
Western Ghats, surrounded by virgin forests, lies the village of
Sringeri and here Sankara established his first Mutt. "The river Tunga-a
branch of the river Tungabhadra-runs through the valley closely touching
the walls of the temple; and its pure and limpid waters are as famous
for drinking purposes as the waters of the Ganges are for bath (Ganga
Snanam, Tunga Panam)."
Sringeri is a place of great sanctity and its beauty has to be seen to
be appreciated. The Mutt is 'still going strong' as the phrase goes. The
homage paid to the Mutt by countless aspirants and devotees is as much
due to the greatness of illustrious men like Vidyaranya who have been at
its head ever since its foundation as to the renown of the founder himself.
"Sringeri was the first headquarters of Sri Shankaracharya. He
established four main maths - in Josimath, Dwarka, Puri, and Sringeri.
Shankara spent 12 years of his life at Sringeri. Lord Chaitanya went
there as well. Shankaracharya established the Sri Sharada Devi Temple.
The deity installed in the temple stands on a Sri Chakra (yantra)."
"Mandana Misra, assuming the name of Suresvaracharya, was installed at
Sringeri as the successor of Sankaracharya before the latter resumed his
tour to found his three other pithas at Puri, Dwaraka and Badrinath."
Work cited:
'Holy Places and Temples of India'
by Jada Bharata Dasa (John Howley)
Spiritual Guides, 1996
Read more:
Goddess Sharadamba, Sringeri:
http://www.templenet.com/Karnataka/sringeri.html
On 12/16/2013 4:28 PM, Bhairitu wrote:
How do you resolve that the Shankaracharya Tradition is Shaivite and
the TM teaching is Shakta (goddess)?
On 12/15/2013 04:11 PM, Richard Williams wrote:
This short study is the report of a Westerner who has practiced yoga
under a teachers from India and Tibet and Japan. The primary purpose
of my investigation was to test by personal experience the techniques
of Tantra Yoga. So, after getting an initiation with the requisite
mantra and instruction on their use, I went to various yoga camps
with the aim of testing the techniques and to follow a course of
traditional training, taking notes and making critical observations
in order to appraise the results in the light of my own personal
discovery.
I was one of the first in the U.S. to be initiated into Tantra Yoga.
In order to further my studies, I have delved deeply into the subject
of meditation that is transcendental for over forty years, I still
find nothing to match the work done by MMY. In my continued research
I have found that almost all the writings fail to mention where the
TM mantras came from.
In fact, according to my research, all the MMY mantras come from the
Sri Vidya tradition which is in turn based on the "Shat Chakra
Nirupana," which elaborates on the seven chakras corresponding to the
seven states of consciousness in the subtle body. You will find
illustrations of the chakras along with the vertical axis of the
spine and the various petals that emanate from each chakra, and the
diagram of the Sri Yantra mandala.
Inline image 1
There are numerous commentaries explaining the esoteric meaning of
the Sri Yantra and the mode of worship, such as the commentary by
Lakshmidhara on Sound Arya Lahari and on the Ananda Lahari, both
composed by the Adi Shankara. There is a chapter in the Tripura
Upanishad and one in the Bhavano Upanishad and the importance of the
importance given to the worship of Sri Yantra.
Worship of the Sri Yantra is as interesting as it is complex: it is
ritualistic, abstract and esoteric, and yet the Sri Yantra is one of
the most meaningful and useful symbols that has been handed down to
us from the Adi Shankaracharya: The essence of the vibration is the
ecstatic self-recurrent consciousness. Impelled by universal welfare,
the Adi Shankara gave great importance to Sakti worship. And to this
end, the Adi Shankara installed a Sri Yantra in at places of Sakti
worship.
The very quintessence of the Sri Vidya is a chapter which deals with
the fundamentals of the ancient mystic syllables that constitute Devi
worship and the relevance of simple worship of Sri Saraswati - Lalita
- Tripurasundari and the place where the Sri Yantra is installed.
There is also the life story of Bhaskararaya which shows how
effective are the mystic diagram and the mantras used in the
meditation on Devi Shakti.
The most complex yantra, like the Oregon yantra, is the Shri Yantra
of the tantric school of Sri Vidya. Khanna says that the structure of
this yantra is described in the Shankara's Saundaryalahari (Wave of
Beauty). "Mantras, the Sanskrit syllables inscribed on yantras, are
essentially 'thought forms' representing divinities or cosmic powers,
which exert their influence by means of sound-vibrations."
Works cited:
Sri Saraswati : The Goddess of Knowledge (Sakti Darsan 6)
by T.R. Ramachandran
Tattvaloka Publication, Sri Sharada Peetham, Sringeri
p. 112
'Yantra: The Tantric Symbol of Cosmic Unity'
by Madhu Khanna
Inner Traditions, 2003
p. 21
Other titles of interest:
'Meditation Revolution: A History and Theology of the Siddha Yoga
Lineage'
by Paul E. Muller-Ortega and Douglas Brooks
Agama Press, 1997
'The Doctrine of Vibration: An Analysis of the Doctrines and
Practices of Kashmir Shaivism'
by Mark S.G. Dyczkowski
Albany, New York: State University of New York Press, 1987
