Consciousness Is Everything: The Yoga of Kashmir Shaivism

Basic to any library are the excellent translations by Jaideva Singh of the Shiva Sutras, Spanda Karikas, Pratyabhijnahridayam and the Vijnanabhairava. These are widely available, published by Motilal Barnarsidass, and are the fundamental texts. Mark Dyczkowski has also done editions of the Shiva Sutras and the Spanda Karikas. These are also well w

Among many others, I draw on the ideas of two spiritual teachers I should mention. One is my friend Douglas Harding, whose unique and inimitable approach sheds light on the Self as Consciousness, which is pure Kashmir Shaivism. The other is the enigmatic 20th-century teacher G. I. Gurdjieff. I met his teachings in my earliest days as a spiritual se

Among them, I recommend Pandit’s Specific Principles of Kashmir Shaivism for the new student. More yogic works are Swami Lakshmanjoo’s Self Realisation and The Secret Supreme, Swami Chetanananda’s Dynamic Stillness I and II, and, of course, Siddha Meditation by Swami Muktananda.

Happy for No Good Reason,

In general, Shaivite texts are completely unintelligible for the unawakened. An illumined guide is needed to explicate them. Siddha Meditation is, undoubtedly, the most lucid and helpful treatment from a yogic point of view, but it is far from comprehensive. I always look at the individuals who ask me, ‘Where do I go from here?’ and wonder, could t