Re: On Monism and Dualism
For me, one of the essential concepts of Shaivism for helping me to understand non-dualism is the five functions of Shiva. His divine functions, in addition to the familiar creation, sustaining, and dissolving functions, are the two functions of concealing and revealing.
I experience these latter two functions all around me. The true nature of "reality" has been concealed. We seem to be separate from God (anava mala), the dualism of always liking or disliking this and that (mayiya mala), and thinking we are the root of action (karma mala). Without this, the "game" would be so very short. With it, the game is afoot.
The revealing aspect of Shiva is grace. This is why the guru is known as the grace bestowing aspect of God. To be a guru in a physical body, the master must hold sacred and be one with this power. This is part of why the supreme Sadguru Shiva is portrayed as one who performs austerities and lives the life of a sadhu.
The revealing aspect comes to people through events such as birth, child-rearing, the wisdom of age, and facing death. Also, that special wind in the treetops, the lilting song of the brook, the passing of the seasons. The heroic deeds of others, the spiritual sacrifices of the initiated. These are the sparkles reflecting through, calling to a life beyond this "concealed" life of duality.... when it is time to return home.
All of the sadhana and all of the bliss I experience are prasad from Shiva's experience of returning to himself. Ah, bliss. He has created a part of his consciousness that has forgotten who "I" am, and now can remember, a wonderful journey.
Being dissolves into being. Consciousness dissolves into consciousness. Bliss into bliss.
~ . . . ~ . . . ~ . . . ~ . . . ~ . . . ~
The other essential concept of understanding non-dualistic monism in Kashmir Shaivism is that the Supreme Lord is unfettered by any limitation to Him or his divine will.
He is God, He is supreme. So if he decides to contract his consciousness step by step through the tattvas, he knows how and is free to do this in a way that does not affect his absolute being at all.
He is Sat. He has being, which is immutable, unchanging.
He is Chit. Consciousness. He uses his power to create from his consciousness, deified as the Devi Kundalini. She moves as the active aspect of his dance of consciousness down through the tattvas into the form of the created universe.
In Shree Shankaracharya's Advaita Vedanta, the "spatio-temporal" world is an illusion. In paradvaita, the illusion is multiplicity itself. Again, Shree Maya has to hold our consciousness down to the level of this illusion of multiplicity to keep us from flying right back up and realizing there is only One, which of course would be a showstopper.
I have recently come to experience that the burning of the three malas through my sadhana and guru's grace is restoring and establishing the truth as the bliss and freedom which is never truly limited in my true Self, which is Shiva.
He is ananda, which is bliss.
I have become fearless. The mantra is my protection. I eagerly accept every moment of my life, for this burns the malas and I become free, more free every day. It's like a runaway chemical reaction! It's a wild ride, the best.
I had a lifetime, and especially the past ten years of CONCENTRATED PURIFICATION, heavy "circumstances" (karmas) that provided the fuel for my guru's fire, the purification of burning before this stage. When I emerged, my perspective was so different. A large part of the impurities were gone.
Grace is astounding and defies all expectation. My attainment is ALL through my guru and Sadguru. (Thank you...)
Om Namah Shivaya,
jnana shiva
jnanananda.com
"At the still point, there the dance is" -T.S. Elliot
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