Amazon.com: Shiva Sutras: The Supreme Awakening: 9781434314055: Lakshmanjoo, Swami, Hughes, John, Kshemaraja: Books

The book, Shiva Sutras: The Supreme Awakening, is revealed by the twentieth century's great philosopher saint Swami Lakshmanjoo. This spiritual treasure, gifted by God to the sage Vasugupta for the upliftment of humankind, is considered to be one of Kashmir Shaivism's most important scriptures. Here, Swami Lakshmanjoo gives the reader a penetrating vision of the glorious journey of Supreme Awakening; the traveling from limited individuality to absolute oneness with God. Swami Lakshmanjoo draws on his own experience and the Lineage of Kashmir Shaiva Masters to reveal the esoteric commentary of Abhinavagupta's chief disciple Kshemaraja. the secrets of this sacred teaching are once again being made available for the upliftment of humankind.

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Kundalini, an ideological home in Kashmir Shaivism
Reviewed in the United States on December 7, 2013
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In 1996 I was struck by lightning. I inadvertently triggered a massive Kundalini discharge while investigating my own nature. It took me years to reassemble even a patch of the external world. Ever since then I have been examining the consequences of this experience travelling through the sacred texts of Advaita Vedanta, Bhuddhism, etc. etc. It was not so much that with patience I could not understand the consequences thereof in terms of a vast literature that I devoured over the intervening years but more than that, the only text that even vaguely approached the truth of the matter (Sri Ramana Maharshi notwithstanding) was this book published by Universal Shaiva Fellowship. And really I have read hundreds and hundreds of other such books.

What I wish to convey to the Universal Shaiva Fellowship is that prior to this Kundalini experience (ref above), as a scientist (ecologist) I “knew” nothing of the Divine whatsoever. This book (Siva Sutras) contains an abundance of insights which I independently know to be correct and these are not to be found anywhere else. But right here, I have just learned (externally so to speak) that Kashmir Shaivism already knew that in this world the supreme is Kundalini. That Kundalini is the revealing and concealing energy of Lord Siva, it is the existence of Siva, the light and glory of Siva, it is Siva itself. So in a way Lord Siva is thus dependent on Kundalini as through her “sound” i.e. through the vocalization of the experient, thus appears the universe as it is. (Siva Sutra 2.3 etc).

Incredible as this may sound, good as this exposition on the Shiva Sutras is, respecting the matter of Kundalini, it has barely scratched the surface. For the last fourteen years or so I have engaged myself in creating and defining a language in plain English to describe the insights conveyed by Kundalini and with no small thanks also to the publication under review, originating with the Universal Shaiva Fellowship (plus several others dealing with Kashmir Shaivism).

And why was this necessary (one might ask)? The reason is very simple: Kundalini makes her presence known silently and since there are no words in this region of creation, in a very real sense one term or another is merely a shadow attached in retrospect to a state of understanding and no more than that. This is the reason that Kashmir Shaivism takes Kundalini as its center-piece. The chosen experient visited by Kundalini has to labor mightily to attach words to the impressions experienced. In brief, Swami Lakshmanjoo covers this procedure so clearly that that I knew at once how my own vocabulary, based on an entirely different structure, exactly fitted the model he (and Shaivism) had chosen to use.
So anyway, the real purpose of this note is to pay tribute to the Universal Shaiva Fellowship for publishing Swami Lakshmanjoo’s insights for without his critical observations I would still be lost in doubt (can it be true that what I have come to understand is really so?) and really quite alone but at least now I see that I have an ideological home.
Thank you
Robin Harger (PhD, U of California @ Santa Barbara)

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Handbook for spiritual practitioners in the Kashmiri Shivaite lineage
Reviewed in the United States on February 23, 2019
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Documents called Sutras are strings of short aphorisms written for the disciples of a guru. They are meant to trigger memories and also lift the disciple to the states of consciousness implied in each sutra-- which are also mantras. The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali or the Vigyan Bhairav and the Shiva Sutras should, I believe, be seen in this way. They are not meant to really be intellectual or philosophical works; and if intellectuality is brought in it is meant to illustrate points in sadhana.
Swami Lakshman Joo's translation and commentaries of the Shiva Sutra's based on Kshemaraja's commentaries should be approached in this way. This book is the edited transcription of talks given by the Swami to his disciples; and clearly Swami Lakshman Joo approaches the Shiva Sutras as a practitioners tool.
The Shiva Sutras are a series of 77 aphorisms strung together in three chapters. Interestingly the first chapter is for those who have attained the most advanced states, whereas the later chapters descends to the level of more ordinary disciples who are still stuck at the level of individuality. This explains some of the truly unusual translation and explanation of the sutras by the Swami. For instance the first sutra, "chaitanyamatma" is translated as, " the independent state of supreme consciousness is the reality of everything" vs a more straightforward translation which would have been " Consciousness is Self".
Approached in this way this version of the Shiva Sutras becomes a rich and interesting document--- even when one disagrees with the translation and commentaries.

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profound book
Reviewed in the United States on April 3, 2009
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this is an excellent book.

different, perhaps, to other translations and commentaries on the shiva sutras.

the author is a master of the kashmir shaivism system of philosophy and practice.

for those seeking to practice rather than just studying the philosophy, i consider the book to have a companion piece - the vijnana bhairava tantra. not just any translation and commentary, though. get the one from the same author - swami lakshmanjoo.

on the universal shaiva fellowship website ( www dot universalshaivafellowship dot org ) the book and audio recordings of it can be purchased. i have these and they are superior to any other translation or commentary.

a fairly good one though, in the spirit of kashmir shaivism, is from jaideva singh which can be purchased here from amazon. however he does not give the same practical advise that is given in swami lakshmanjoo's exposition of the practices and in some places his information contradicts with lakshmanjoo's (who taught him the book).

the shiva sutras as presented by swami lakshmanjoo will guide an aspirant to which practices outlined in the vijnana bhairava tantra are most suitable for him or her.

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profound book

Reviewed in the United States on April 3, 2009
this is an excellent book.

different, perhaps, to other translations and commentaries on the shiva sutras.

the author is a master of the kashmir shaivism system of philosophy and practice.

for those seeking to practice rather than just studying the philosophy, i consider the book to have a companion piece - the vijnana bhairava tantra. not just any translation and commentary, though. get the one from the same author - swami lakshmanjoo.

on the universal shaiva fellowship website ( www dot universalshaivafellowship dot org ) the book and audio recordings of it can be purchased. i have these and they are superior to any other translation or commentary.

a fairly good one though, in the spirit of kashmir shaivism, is from jaideva singh which can be purchased here from amazon. however he does not give the same practical advise that is given in swami lakshmanjoo's exposition of the practices and in some places his information contradicts with lakshmanjoo's (who taught him the book).

the shiva sutras as presented by swami lakshmanjoo will guide an aspirant to which practices outlined in the vijnana bhairava tantra are most suitable for him or her.

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S. Ferguson
Why this is the BEST!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 24, 2011
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Swami Lakshmanjoo was the last in the Vasugupta, Utpaladeva and Abhinavagupta lineage of Kashmir Shaivite sages. Every Sanskrit scholar who studies and translates the Kashmir Shaivite texts acknowledges his immanence as the source. Without Swami Lakshmanjoo these invaluable texts would have remained incomprehensible to even Indian scholars.

The meaning of Sanskrit words in Kashmir Shaivite texts is often very distinct from their meaning in the texts of other schools. This is quite natural, for Kashmir Shaivism considers the other schools incomplete in their understanding of the eternal Wisdom that is the substratum of this universe.

Jaideva Singh has acknowledged his indebtedness to Swami Lakshmanjoo in the dedications of his various translations of Kashmir Shaivite texts. Boris Marjanovic mentions Swami Lakshmanjoo in his introduction to his translation of the Bhagavad Gita.

Mark Dyczkowski, an Oxford don, is reported to have said, "Somehow he [Swami Lakshmanjoo] sees much more in them than could ever be grasped through mere bookish knowledge and we could feel that behind his words lay another dimension beyond them in which he lived and from which he beckoned us to join him."

I first discovered and began reading Swami Lakshmanjoo's Shiva Sutras in 2005 and I have been reading, listening to the CDs, and studying his revelations ever since. For me one word from Swami Lakshmanjoo is often worth a 1000 from others. This has been my experience with him, because Swami Lakshmanjoo was in fact an enlightened Master - the real thing.

I had previously read Jaideva Singh's wonderful translation many times since 1997 and thus I did have a background familiarity of these verses. But as always, Swami Lakshmanjoo takes them to a new deeper-higher level. His words carry the frequency of his state of consciousness, PARABHAIRAVA.

In Kashmir Shaivism the final state is termed ParaBhairava. This is an acrostic word: para - the highest; bha - maintenance of the world; ra - withdrawal of the world; and va - projection of the world. This state is where Swami Lakshmanjoo resides, even though he may appear as an ordinary old man to those without understanding.

The Shiva Sutras are like the Bhagavad Gita in the sense that every time you read these verses, a more profound insight into their meaning will be revealed to you. The knowledge transmitted to you will vary, of course, and depend what you can receive, meaning on your own consciousness at the time you read and listen.

For example, Sutra 1.2: Knowing differentiatedly is bondage and not knowing undifferentiatedly is bondage.

From the point of western academia, all knowledge is to be sought and revered. But this verse tells us that the deeper we sink into differentiated knowledge, our bondage to the temporal hologram increases. And `not knowing' is that state of not knowing your own undifferentiated Self within. If you remain unconscious and ignorant of the God-within you, the Self, you remain bound to the wheels of endless birth and death, Samsara.

It is true that with Kashmir Shaivsm you are going to want to learn at least a few Sanskrit terms. But these words carry a higher consciousness in their vibratory frequency and they will give you far more than the time it takes to assimilate them.

These waveforms as words formed by the sound of the Sanskrit letters, contain the essence of timeless eternal spiritual experiences, which unfortunately have not been prevalent in our western culture and thus are arduous to describe in English, a language of commerce. This is why Sanskrit is a sacred language.

For those of you who are dedicated and sincerely long to return Home, to be Liberated in this life, the Shiva Sutras as revealed by Swami Lakshmanjoo are priceless gems that will move you into an ever deepening conscious and bring you far greater lasting Joy than anything in the external, now from all appearances, dissolving world. And once you come to understand him a bit, Swami Lakshmanjoo's sense of cosmic humor is fun! We really are involved in our own Time/Space playfulness here.

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Shiva Sutras: The Supreme Awakening Paperback – September 13, 2007

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5.0 out of 5 stars Kundalini, an ideological home in Kashmir Shaivism

5.0 out of 5 stars Handbook for spiritual practitioners in the Kashmiri Shivaite lineage

5.0 out of 5 stars profound book

profound book

Images in this review

Top reviews from other countries

5.0 out of 5 stars Why this is the BEST!

Kundalini, an ideological home in Kashmir Shaivism

Handbook for spiritual practitioners in the Kashmiri Shivaite lineage

profound book

Why this is the BEST!