Results 1 to 2 of 2

Thread: Para, Apara and Parapara

  1. #1

    Para, Apara and Parapara

    Can anyone enlighten me on the philosophy and practice behind the 3 shaktis in kashmir shaivism, para,apara and parapara ~ beyond the Transcendant, Imminent and Transcendant-Imminent meaning.

    para,apara & parapara reference comes in nitya puja viddhi in pitha puja, hence my curosity.
    Last edited by sm78; 12 September 2008 at 05:08 AM.
    What is Here, is Elsewhere. What is not Here, is Nowhere.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    September 2006
    Age
    71
    Posts
    7,705
    Rep Power
    223

    Re: Para, Apara and Parapara

    Hari oṁ
    ~~~~~
    Quote Originally Posted by sm78 View Post
    Can anyone enlighten me on the philosophy and practice behind the 3 shaktis in kashmir shaivism, para,apara and parapara ~ beyond the Transcendant, Imminent and Transcendant-Imminent meaning.

    para,apara & parapara reference comes in nitya puja viddhi in pitha puja, hence my curosity.
    Namaste singhi,

    I noticed that no-one addressed your question as of yet so I thought to offer the following. This is not exhaustive but offered to give a direction on where your question may be answered.

    In Kaśmir Śaivism it operates on the notion of the trika ( 3 fold) system. We know this as śiva , śakti and nara. These are composed of the 3 energies of Śiva-Bhairava i.e.
    • parā śakti - considered Supreme energy (śakti)
    • parāparā śakti - considered medium śakti
    • aparā śakti - lower śakti
    Within these 3 energies the whole universe and every action ( worldly, mental, physical, spiritual, etc) exists or are fueled within these 3 śakti-s.
    So within kaśmir śaivism and the trika philsophy or Trika Śaivism, it consistes of 4 schools of thought:
    Pratyabhijñā ( SELF recognition),
    Kula ( a grouping and used for 'totality' , Universal Consciousness),
    Krama ( progress made step-by-step),
    Spanda ( the throb, movement, SELF-referral of the Divine).

    This is where one that is interested can round out their understanding of where parā, parāparā & aparā reside, their influnces, ownerships and transformations of the native occur.

    This wonderful knowledge is found in the āgama-s. The āgama-s are made up of the following:
    • Bhairava śāstra-s - 64 in number; these are considered non-dual some call monistic; parā
    • Rūdra śāstra-s - 18 in number; these are considered dual-non-dual or mono-dualistic ; parāparā
    • Śiva śāstra-s - 10 in number; these are considered dualistic; aparā
    You can see they total 92 śāstra-s that make up the āgama-s , yet some say there are 96.

    IMHO the best way to know parā, parāparā & aparā is through the catagoires of śāstra-s mentioned above & that are available today ( not always easy to get the books with a translation and commentary)

    FYI - for the linegage of Kaśmir Śaivism according to Svāmi Laksmanjoo, you may wish to visit this HDF post: http://www.hindudharmaforums.com/showthread.php?t=3150

    pranams
    यतस्त्वं शिवसमोऽसि
    yatastvaṁ śivasamo'si
    because you are identical with śiva

    _

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •