On 11/22/2014 7:13 PM, Bhairitu wrote:
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Do you know what shaktipat is?
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The term "Shaktipat" in Sanskrit means /the transference of psychic
energy to another person/ either by means of an initiation, a sacred
word or phrase, a mantra, a touch or even a thought or a mere glance.
Swami Muktananda was a great teacher of the shakti tradition who used
shaktipat on many occasions to initiate his students.
The question is, how or why did the Shankara Saraswati tradition adopt
the shakti siddha doctrine?
According to this tradition, Shankara journeyed to Kamarup - the present
Guwahati-in Assam and held a controversy with Abhinava Gupta, the Shakta
commentator. Kamarupa is the site of an ancient tantric cult of the
Shakti Kamakhya which is located in Assam. It is one of the main
Shakti-pithas in the tanric Shakti cult. Shankara supposedly won an
important debate with Abhinava.
Shankara then went to the Himalayas and built a Mutt at Joshi and a
Mandir at Badri and then he then proceeded to Kedarnath higher up in the
Himalayas where he became one with the Shakti Devi in 820 A.D. in his
thirty-second year.
The Sharda Temple, which by tradition was visited by Shankara in his
travels, is located in Kishanganga Valley just across the Line of
Control in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The meaning of this tradition
story is that Shankara reached the peak of spirituality when he
converted to Shaki worship.
As it is not possible to visit this shakti peetha, one can visit the
famous Saraswathi temple in Basara in Nizamabad district of Andhra
Pradesh. Basara is 200 km from Hyderabad. You can read more about the
Shakti Pithas here:
http://www.srinithyakalyani.org/index.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamakhya
Suggested Reading:
*Play of Consciousness: A Spiritual Autobiography*
by Swami Muktananda, Gurumayi Chidvilasananda and Paul Muller-Ortega
SYDA Foundation, 1994
*Secret of the Siddhas*
by Swami Muktananda
SYDA Foundation, 1994
*The Doctrine of Vibration*
An Analysis of the Doctrines and Practices of Kashmir Shaivism
by Mark S. G. Dyczkowski
State University of New York Press, 1987
*Meditation Revolution*
A History and Theology of the Siddha Yoga Lineage
by S.P. Sabharathnam and Douglas Brooks
Agama Press, 1997
