Spanda

Spanda, or continuous pulsation, is one of the key concepts of the philosophical system of Kashmir Shaivism. The founder of the doctrine of Spanda is Vasugupta (9th century), who is also considered the author of "The Shiva-sutras". The principle of Spanda is realized and comprehended through the practice of constant self-awareness, Spanda itself is this awareness. 

The pulsation of Spanda is not of a physical or mental nature, but occurs at the level of the spiritual essence. The movement occurs simultaneously inward and outward. The movement inward is the state of the Absolute, resting in itself, the movement outward is the creation of the manifested world. Spanda is present in any living being, since the nature of individual consciousness is not different fr om the Absolute. Below are discussed issues related to the practice of awareness of Spanda.

Fixedness and Spontaneity

Staticity can be considered in two forms: one that permeates and contains everything, i.e. Kulakula, and that staticity that is inside the unmanifested and is considered a form, a spatio-temporal object. Such a form may seem fixed in our consciousness, depending on individual bandhanas (fetters).

Fetters are various imprints of empirical experience (samskaras), they can give rise to desires (vasanas), aspirations, preferences, etc. Actually, thanks to them, we see something as fixed in the spatio-temporal plane. But this experience is the result of our conditioning, which is why many shastras speak of cultivating detachment in ourselves. Not because the objects of our inert vision, or some pleasures or sufferings, are bad, but because considering the eternal to be impermanent is avidya (ignorance, delusion). Therefore, an unfixed, detached vision in the sphere of the relative can lead to the perception of the immutable and the infinite changes on another, higher level. In reality, both eternal stability and the infinity of changes contain any limited objects. And for Shiva they are, in fact, the power of greatness and beauty, and for a participant in His play, perhaps, a serious drama.

This game is twofold: on the one hand, it contains the lower “taste” of a conditioned being, who, however, does not cease to be Shiva even in such a state, on the other hand, it is the original perfect Shiva himself. If a person can realize and synthesize this, then, obviously, he will perceive everything in this world differently, as well as all the levels of his being. If we have realized ourselves as Shiva (and therefore, all our aspirations and the events formed by them, whatever they may be, are Shiva’s choice), then the conditioned environment can play a good role for the complete establishment in Shiva-tattva. Various Gurus and shastras say that this is exactly so, and that in this state Spanda is revealed in its most total state. Obviously, everything that exists and is beyond is one Spanda, one can say so.

All existing objects are different gradations of pulsations, and the levels of this pulsation, probably, cannot be described by any schemes in an adequate form, since the scheme is less chaotic in its essence, it is fixed. But still, the Teachers of tantrism gave general gradation of Spanda. They put a huge meaning into their writings, it is immeasurable. At least, if the texts of Kashmir Shaivism are read by a person with an open mind, then for him these philosophical texts can become upaya – the essence is contained even in a small part of the text, even in a sentence. Is this possible if someone is used to thinking in stereotypes: what practice should be and what it should not be? Most likely, in such cases a person will "cut out" from reality what corresponds to his karmic conditioned level, calling it practice. Such a person is like a bird flying only inside its cage and does not understand that outside of it one can fly everywhere.

We can say it differently: everything is present at any point in space, and the one whose consciousness is so all-pervasive, open to everything and all-encompassing, does not even have the need to include the direction of oneself to something fixed, spatio-temporal. The transcendental experience itself is so real that it stops any tendency to be attracted to everything mundane, unnatural, to tension, anxiety, and so on. Do not think that in this you become like a piece of wood indifferent to everything, this is simply a different level of life.

Questions for Guru Yogi Matsyendranath Maharaj

With limited perception, a skillful method can turn into a sophisticated but useless tool, with the help of which one can only develop and feed one's own obscurations. If the scale of awareness allows one to use the method for its intended purpose, then there is definitely no need for it. How to go beyond such a complex relationship and reach the level of real sadhana?

This is not an easy question. The whole effectiveness of Spanda-tattva is that it is not fixed, this gives it a supra-mental character, i.e. the vrittis (thought forms) of consciousness cannot receive any support from any structure, since everything becomes more chaotic, and the perceived order behind this is difficult for standard definitions. There is a certain unpredictability in Spanda, it is not some form of limited contrast and leaves room for a lively, but calm sobriety, and this property gives Spanda a mystical level.

It consists in the fact that the element of surprise, spontaneity against the background of balance and peace makes Spanda-tattva transcendental, but at the same time located in the usual sphere of perception of an ordinary human being. And this, perhaps, gives standard techniques completely different possibilities. A classic example on the topic of "If you ask yourself about God, then He is already here" is the tantric puja associated with avahana (invocation of the Deity into the human body).

The worship of a murti obviously gives some changes depending on the revelation of one's inner perception, but murti itself remains, as a rule, of the same stone. The presence of the Deity in the participant or participants of puja is somewhat different, however, one may object that human nature and the individual soul are not comparable with God.

However, at the moment of the presence of another reality and something transcendental, a person can forget for a while about his usual limited personality, since consciousness through samavesha (immersion) is absorbed by what seems clearly non-standard to him (I do not say "uncharacteristic"). We can say that this is the experience of Spanda, regardless of which aspect was called: Bhairava, Durga, Tripurasundari, etc. In monistic Shaivism, upayas are built on the disclosure of the perception of Spanda-tattva with the specification of certain aspects.

Can Spanda be present in the intellectual method? This obviously depends on how we perceive intellectuality, and here we come to the topic of the "scholarly environment". Many confuse jnana with abstruseness in the form of cramming texts, but jnana, according to advaita-vedanta, is the acquisition of the experience of Atman and Brahman. In Kashmir Shaivism, this is the use of a thought form (vikalpa) as a support for the acquisition of self-knowledge, wh ere limited states of mind are considered as manifestations of the original omnipresent consciousness – Chit-shakti. And in essence, a special vikalpa leads to dissolution, a return to the original transcendental source – Paramashiva.

If we, for example, use reading some texts for such an experience, without having the necessary adhikara (realization) for this, then we are unlikely to succeed. But in the traditional Indian system, including Pratyabhijna, everything is built on the relationship with Guru, while they talk about the path of "no-method" not because there is no method, but because the methods are connected with Guru. That is, there Guru can regulate any of the upayas, and, in accordance with this, there is less chance that the upaya itself will become something dead. 

It turns out that they integrate jnana with bhakti and with all types of practices, including even internal ones connected with chakras, pranas, or even such seemingly external methods as puja, homa, etc., which in each Tradition have their own subtleties. Conducting the spontaneous Transcendental to the level of the ordinary is the most difficult and fundamental task for each practitioner. The mechanisms of the empirical mind are extremely far fr om self-manifesting spontaneity.

Accordingly, the method in this situation is just a dry letter, and any sophisticated technologies will not save. Can the state of creative inspiration be considered an emanation of the great incomprehensible Pulsation, allowing one to turn one’s practice into a living process? Of course, that is exactly how it is. Note that in Kashmir Shaivism, everything is initially built on the fact that you are Shiva, and all his manifestations for self-awareness have levels of different energies, such as: Ichchha-shakti, Jnana, Kriya. That is, they are his creative auxiliary foundations, and in every human being they are manifested in the form of channels, chakras, etc., and most importantly, this is associated with methods (upaya).

Perhaps, due to the fact that these forces themselves are the creative energy of Shiva/consciousness, the texts express the essence, but do not analyze some details of the practices. The essence can be immutable and fundamental, and the variations of different upayas can change infinitely, someone can even say in this regard that they do not exist, and present it as a theory of "anupaya" (without method). For some, such awareness can lead in one moment to a holistic vision of what the Naths, Kashmir Shaivism and many other Tantric schools have.

We translated the book by A.K. Banerjee "Philosophy of Gorakshanath" (it was first published in India in Hindi, and then in English), and there is one small but interesting point wh ere Abhinavagupta and his Tradition are mentioned. Banerjee writes that Abhinavagupta's texts are the most powerful theoretical basis for all of Shaivism. That is, not only Kashmir Shaivism itself, but also the Shaivite doctrine as a whole. 

In my opinion, the abundance of deeply elaborated and flexible concepts in this doctrine, as well as the harmony of the presentation of essential elements, allows it to be useful for any of the Shaiva-Shakti doctrines. In this regard, we can recall the words of my Guru that tantra, both on the metaphysical-philosophical and on the applied, practical level, is "food" for Natha-yogis.