Tantrism?
FOURTH CHAPTER OF THE TANTRALOKA by Abhinavagupta, Sãktopãya
SUMMARY
1-32. Since the path of energy (sâktopâya) is also the path of knowledge or gnosis (jnâna), the yogin who sets out on it must first purify his vikalpa, his discursive thought, until, rising to a plane of higher knowledge, it gives way to intuitive reason (sattarka), which goes beyond ordinary reasoning and opens onto the vision of the reality of the world.
33-85. As this purification can only be achieved under the guidance of a qualified master, the characteristics of such a master, and above all the nature of the grace he receives, are considered.
86-109a. Since intellectual effort (under the master's guidance) is necessary on this path, a certain form of yoga is used in it. Abhinavagupta nevertheless sets aside everything that does not seem essential to him on a path where only the adherence of the heart to Reality matters. He thus states that the eight ‘limbs' (anga) of Patanjali's ‘classical' yoga are of no use here; he reviews them, giving them a new interpretation according to which only one limb (absent from Patanjali) remains essential: tarka, reason, and it is only in order to obtain it that the other anga may have some reason to exist.
109b-122a. Worship and other outer ritual practices are equally useless. Only purified knowledge and immersion in the mystical bath matter. Worship is useful only insofar as it can help the one who performs it to identify with divine Consciousness (121-122a).
122b-181. Once ritual and yoga practices have been set aside, or reduced to the mere role of aids, so that only identification with the infinite consciousness of Bhairava remains, Abhinavagupta then shows how the wheel of the energy of Consciousness unfolds, with the movement of the twelve Kâli. This is a movement at once divine, cosmic, spiritual and psychological, which tends to identify the movements of the yogin's consciousness with the cosmic ‘functioning' of Reality. To support these views, five interpretations are then given of the root KAL, from which the word kâli is formed (173-181).
181-193. Abhinavagupta then deals with the efficacy of mantras, which is that of the original vibration (spanda). The highest of these mantras, the one that brings the universe into existence, is SAUH, the seed of the Heart, hrdayabija (186b-189a). Its counterpart is the mantra of reabsorption, samhârabija, the pindanâtha, KHPHREM (189b-193), which is equally essential.
194-211. The one who is constantly immersed in the practice of these two mantras, united with the consciousness of Bhairava, melted into divine energy, escapes contingencies. All his attitudes are mudrâ. In this very life, he attains liberation.
212-278. Such a yogin is no longer concerned by what the Scriptures command or forbid. Although still united with his body, he is free. For him everything is pure
(221-247). He does not have to observe the rules concerning food
Abhinavagupta reviews the various ritual prescriptions of the tantras that do not apply here: these actions and behaviours are in fact neither prescribed nor forbidden; they belong to a domain other than that of the path of energy, a theme taken up and confirmed in the conclusion of the chapter.
Tarka!
This first passage sets out the idea of "tarka": reason which, illuminated by the opening of the heart, becomes a marvellous sadhana...
INTUITIVE REASON (SATTARKA)
13. Those who know cut down at the root the baleful tree of division (bheda) with the axe of intuitive reason sharpened to the highest degree: this is [for us] a certainty. The commentary specifies that these beings have recognised the Self directly by immersing themselves in reality immediately, thanks to their perfect discernment. And at the heart of the subject object duality, they perceive only unity, so lucid is their consciousness, whose vikalpa have been purified.
14. The awakened ones call this intuitive reason ‘bhâvanâ', mystical realisation. [It is, one might say,] the ‘cow that fulfils all desires', for it makes reality (vastu), which surpasses all that one can imagine, suddenly blossom (sphutayet). This reality, says Jayaratha, is Consciousness, the supreme knowing subject (parapramâtr). It blossoms suddenly, appearing directly (sâksât), beyond all vikalpa.
15. The Ancient Treatise proclaims: « Reason (tarka) is the supreme limb of yoga because it makes it possible to distinguish both what must be avoided [and what must be obtained]. It is therefore good to train in it. »
16. « He whose heart has settled on a path to be avoided, because of his desire for sensory things, must abandon it with the help of this reason and reach, as he moves away from it, the domain free from all ills (padam anâmayam). » Jayaratha lists the six limbs of yoga as found in the Shaivite âgamas and as described in chapter
17 of the Mâlinïvijayottaratantra. They are: prânâyâma, breathing exercises; dhyâna, which in these texts corresponds to the precise creative visualisation of the deity, and as such is close to bhâvanâ; pratyâhâra, withdrawal of the faculties; dhâranã, which here designates not concentration but at once a location in the subtle body, the deity present there and the technique for concentrating on it; then come reason (tarka) and samâdhi. The yogin who distinguishes what must be reached from what must be avoided knows Reality. He turns away from the paths advocated by other systems and, thanks to this discernment, finally finds rest in the domain free from all ills, which flashes forth (prasphuret) as the supreme conscious light beyond all things.
17-18a. The path to be avoided is the one that other treatises regard as a means of liberation. The enslaving desire that reigns there belongs to the level of attachment, combined with that of restriction, because of which one becomes attached to one particular thing rather than another.
18b-19a. Just as the being of limited intelligence becomes attached to lower enjoyments, whether or not he knows the full enjoyment of universal sovereignty, so it is with regard to liberation, because of attachment.
19b-20a. It is such [an attachment that certain texts] call ‘portion, fragment', which they describe as ‘natural' and which is, without any doubt, a factor in obtaining supernatural powers. 20b-21a. According to those who know, [this is] an obstacle to liberation; although he recognises the greatness of the Shaivite teachings, the ignorant man is satisfied with Vaishnava and other similar teachings, seduced as he is by the attachment [he has to them].
21b-22a. The sovereign energy called baleful (vâmâ) clearly unfolds for those who are attached to such systems, for these followers of the Pâncarâtra, of Brahmâ, of Buddha, and so on.
22b-25a. Consequently, as we can see, these simpletons criticise the enjoyment of universal sovereignty, and not out of satiety, since they indulge in their own [limited] enjoyments, while others disparage absorption in Bhairava, pure Consciousness, having fallen into the power of most dreadful energies. Thus the one who knows the greatness of the Shaivite [teachings] and nevertheless relies on other teachings cannot be pulled out of the deep ocean of the differentiated (bheda).
25b. The venerable Kâmikâgama states this precisely in its chapter on bonds
26-27. « Those who devote themselves to the knowledge of the Veda, the Samkhya, the Purâna, or who give themselves to the Pâncarâtra, the rsi firmly attached to other treatises, as well as the Buddhists and the Jains, all those bound by attachment and [limited] knowledge, do not obtain Shaivite initiation, for they are fettered by the bonds of illusion. »
28. What the term ‘attachment' designates lies at the level of the cosmic tattva of attachment (râgatattva), whose function is to restrict a given individual to a given system tainted by illusion. Two divine energies at work in the universe are distinguished: one, vâmâ, pours its flow outwards and veils the divine essence; it binds to samsara and is only one aspect of the obscuring energy (tirodhanasakti) (see introduction, p. 40). The other, the eminent jyestha, grants liberation by revealing the Self. Attachment is one of the five ‘armours' (kancuka), tattva located between purusa and mâyâ. Abhinavagupta thus emphasises the universal nature of attachment.
29-30. Thus what the followers of Visnu and others regard as deliverance stems from an imaginary construction of their own; whether it is the state of union with primordial nature (prakrti), a state of beatitude, or again simple pure consciousness, the extinction, like that of a lamp, of the series of individual existences, all this is in fact merely the condition of beings deprived of kalâ [and other tattva] by virtue of cosmic dissolution (pralaya), whether or not they have kept ties with the knowable.
31-32. Even the one who long ago obtained a [liberation] of this kind, with the corresponding enjoyments or absence of enjoyments, moves on to higher levels of manifestation when the cosmic level relative to him dissolves, and thus becomes a mantra by virtue of an awakening conceived (kalpita) by Anantesvara. But we will deal with this later; for now, we can stop here. These are the levels above the tattva of mâyã, corresponding therefore to pure manifestation, as Jayaratha indicates, levels where the Mantra, Mantresvara, etc. are found. Anantesvara, also called Ananta and Aghoresa, is the first of the Mantramahesvara, the « Great Lords of the Mantras », the highest conscious subjects before Siva. We know that beings who have not yet exhausted their karman at the time of pralaya wait at a higher level for their reincarnation at the next cosmic creation. It is to this kind of cosmic function that the Vaishnavas can at best aspire, and not to fusion in Siva, the liberation to which the Trika alone leads. NATURE OF THE SPIRITUAL MASTER In the Trika, the true master, the sadguru, is recognised by sattarka, intuitive reason, right discernment.
33-34. Even the one who, caught in the bonds of illusion, lets himself be led astray by the words of the ignorant and places his trust in a bad master, even he is led to the true master thanks to his intuitive reason. This reason is none other than pure Knowledge, which is one with the will of the Lord. This reason culminates in suddhavidyâ, constant self awareness, pure mystical Knowledge.
Tantrism and Yoga...
Abhinavagupta was one of the greatest minds of India. He lived in Kashmir at the end of the 10th and the beginning of the 11th century of our era. An aesthetician and philosopher, he had the vast culture of the brahmins and that of the darshana, and knew Buddhist thought well. Above all he was a Shaivite, and it is this non dualist form of Shaivism that he sets out in the Tantraloka...
The following verses give a precise idea of the place of the stages of Yoga in a tantric vision.
Patanjali's vision, with its 8 limbs, is reworked here, and a new element of extreme beauty appears, Tarka: Reason.