u/kuds1001

Sometimes, as people first explore KS, often in conjunction with reading other interesting modern theories of consciousness and generic non-duality teachings, I've found a not-too-common-but-not-altogether-uncommon tendency for some people to mix up these teachings and mistake the KS teachings for solipsism.

The mistake they make is a simple one to make: when one sees the phrase "śivo'haṃ," that "I am Śiva," they understand the "Śiva" correctly as the universal consciousness replete with its inherent cosmic energies to will, to know, to act, to conceal, and to reveal; but do not understand the "I." They think that their personal constructed empirical self, their day to day experience, is what they must recognize as identical to that Śiva, and that they, from their individual specific locus of experience, as Dinesh or Sandy sitting on their bed, have created that bedroom and the entire world around them. Just like we fall asleep and a whole dream world arises in our individual minds, so too is our waking world a product of that same individual mind. This is solipsism and is a major mistake.

To be sure, there are some traditions that will try to deny the intersubjective shared reality that we experience during our waking life. That will insist it's an illusion, and perhaps an illusion that we create as individuals. (Because to recognize a shared basis for it would also be to contradict its status as illusion). The KS view is more profound than that. It shows us, through practice, how just as our dream-self and its reciprocal dream world arises in our personal consciousness, our waking-self and its reciprocal waking world arise in Śiva consciousness. KS does not reinforce the isolated individual consciousness of our waking experience, but returns that consciousness to its transcendent universal state.

Taken to its culmination, this is an experience so powerful that even a few seconds of it, this intense unfathomable fullness of being the totality, mark the end of any and all further seeking. Swami Lakshmanjoo was forever changed after he had this experience in ways that we should perhaps discuss sometime soon, as they remain mostly in the oral teachings rather than in the published books.

For now, the point is that we are not here to reinforce the individuality of our waking consciousness by pretending the waking world is its dream, but to recover that universal consciousness which first transcends all the states of waking, dreaming, and deep sleep, and then reinhabits them: not as illusions that arise, but as active manifestations of the inherent cosmic energies of that universal consciousness. These manifestations are incredible and varied, and appear differently for different types of bodies, from insects to humans to gods, but they are not personal illusions. They are genuinely intersubjective, which is what makes them so full and capable of eliciting wonder.

The Īśvarapratyabhijñākārikā of Ācārya Utpaladeva (3:2:16–17) in just two verses makes this clear: that while our dreams mistakenly seem to be something other than our individual consciousness, the waking world is defined by its stability and intersubjective knowability, being shared by different beings. Here are those verses, as translated by Paramaguru Balajinnātha Paṇḍita:

>मनोमात्रपथेऽप्यक्षविषयत्वेन विभ्रमात् ।
स्पष्टावभासा भावानां सृष्टिः स्वप्नपदं मतम् ॥ १६ ॥
mano-mātr-apathe 'py akṣa viṣayatvena vibhramāt ।
spaṣṭāvabhāsā bhāvānāṃ sṛṣṭiḥ svapna-padaṃ matam ॥

In the dream state, the clear manifestation of objective existence, which is brought about only through the mind but, through misapprehension, seems to be brought about by the senses, is taken as actual existence.

>सर्वाक्षगोचरत्वेन या तु बाह्यतया स्थिरा ।
सृष्टिः साधारणी सर्वप्रमातॄणां स जागरः ॥ १७॥ 
sarvākṣa-gocaratvena yā tu bāhyatayā sthirā ।
sṛṣṭiḥ sādhāraṇī sarva-pramātṛṇām sa jāgaraḥ ॥

The creation that proves to be externally stable, on the basis of being commonly known to all knowing subjects through all their senses, is the waking state.

For more on this error as it's come up in the Trika triadic context on this sub, see here.

When starting out on the path of Kashmir Śaivism, it is very easy to default into generic non-duality thinking, thinking that ironically creates a duality between the "high" forms of practice that are internal, pure contemplation, and transcendental vs. the "low" forms that are more external, ritual, and embodied/immanent: thinking that often prompts people to seek to embrace the former and discard the latter. It is easy also to read verses from, say, the Vijñāna Bhairava outside the context of the broader tradition and seek justification to readily discard external rituals. But, people often forget, the Vijñāna Bhairava literally begins with the Goddess describing how she's studied all the tantras and engaged in many of the esoteric mantras and practices and only then does Bhairava teach her about transcendence of ritual.

What's the point? The point is not primarily whether you perform rituals or not, but for you to eradicate the false distinction in your mind between the higher and lower, external and internal, transcendent and immanent practices, the entire duality between the "non-dual" practices and the "dualistic" practices, and the sense of superiority that can come with attachment to the transcendent practices and ignoring of the immanent. KS is not a practice or philosophy of just transcending, but of returning back from transcendence to embody all the variety of immanent forms, and some of those most beautiful forms are embodied within ritual practice.

I remember very well asking my guru this very question from time to time in various forms: when I'm in the transcendent state, why do you tell me to continue the ritual practices? Why not just dwell in that state? It took me a long time to finally understand what he was teaching and I hope anyone who reads this will learn more quickly than I did!

To that end, I'd like to share a little gem from Ācārya Abhinavagupta's Tantrasāra (Ch. 13). It addresses exactly this objection from those who are attached to the transcendental states, and provides the KS response for why we continue to do external rituals like nyāsa, pūjā, and so on. He explains that the transcendent state of Bhairava-consciousness is indeed waveless, but there is an impulse to creation within its wavelessness, such that he manifests all the endless variety of immanent forms. And so one should learn to unite the immanent forms with the waveless consciousness, and then continue on doing both external and internal pūjā practices.

>tenaitadanavakāśam yadāhuḥ: ataraṅgarūḍhau labdhāyāṁ punaḥ kiṁ tattva-sṛṣṭi-nyāsādineti

Thus, there is no space (anavakāśam) to make the argument: “Once one has become established in the “waveless” (ataraṅga) state [of identity with Bhairava], what use can there be in further performing the ritual placement (nyāsa) of the tattvas in the order of emanation (sṛṣṭi) and so on?”

>tāvaddhi tadataraṅgaṁ bhairava-vapuryat svātmanyavabhāsita-sṛṣṭi-saṁhāra-vaicitrya-koṭi

[We respond as follows:] That waveless (ataraṅga) [state] is indeed (tāvat) the very body (vapus) of Bhairava which has radiated (avabhāsita) within itself (svātmani) tens of millions (koṭi) of emanations (sṛṣṭi) and reabsorptions (saṁhāra) of wonderful variety (vaicitrya).

>evam anyonya-malaka-yogena parameśvarībhūtaṁ prāṇa-deha-buddhyādi bhāvayitvā bahirantaḥ-puṣpa-dhūpa-tarpaṇādyair yathāsambhavaṁ pūjayet

Thus, by the yoga of reciprocally integrating the two (anyonya-melaka-yogena) [i.e., the waveless state of Bhairava and the wonderful variety he radiates], a practitioner, having contemplated their prāṇa, body, intellect, and so on as becoming the Supreme Goddess (parameśvarī-bhūtaṁ), should perform puja [both] externally (bahis) and internally (antar), using flowers (puṣpa), incense (dhūpa), libations (tarpaṇa), and so on, as much as is feasible (yathāsambhavaṁ).

The Abhinavagupta Institute of Advanced Studies warmly invites you to a special and deeply meaningful screening of Mark Dyczkowski’s exploration of the 13 Śākta temples of Kerala.

This work holds particular significance, as it documents his final field visit, making it a rare and precious offering for all who cherish the traditions of Śākta Tantra and Indian spiritual heritage.

We invite you to join us not only for the screening, but also for an engaging discussion that will follow—an opportunity to reflect, share insights, and honor a remarkable scholar’s lifelong dedication.

Topic: In Search Of Kha
Date and Time: May 9, 2026 09:00 PM Mumbai, Kolkata, New Delhi

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Meeting ID: 869 5123 3162
Passcode: 972657

Your presence will greatly enrich this gathering.