Many times during these years, I have been asked, ‘Where do I go from here to learn more about Shaivism? What should I read?’ And these natural questions never fail to vex me. The simple truth is that there is no one good source for a layman or an aspiring Shaivite yogi to pick up the basics. Many of the books are scholarly and technical. The

Among many others, I draw on the ideas of two spiritual teachers I should mention. One is my friend Douglas Harding, whose unique and inimitable approach sheds light on the Self as Consciousness, which is pure Kashmir Shaivism. The other is the enigmatic 20th-century teacher G. I. Gurdjieff. I met his teachings in my earliest days as a spiritual

Sadhana is the movement from being a contracted individual back to our essential divine essence. It is the return home, from jiva to Shiva. This aspect of Shaivism includes contemplations and meditative techniques.

O Lord, how fruitful can this neuter Brahman be without the beautiful female of Your devotion which makes of You a person? (Bhatta Nayaka) The Kashmir Shaivite masters did not reject the world. They were not elitist. Their emphasis was on love and devotion. At the centre of Kashmir Shaivism is the opening of the heart to the divine Shakti. The

Happy for No Good Reason,

The ideas of Advaita Vedanta, nondual Vedanta, are usually associated with the great sage, Shankara (788–820 A.D.).

Self takes on the various philosophies as an actor takes on a role. At different stages of the soul’s journey, it is appropriate for the soul to adopt a relatively limited philosophy, suitable to its level of understanding.

While the historical facts are obscure and debatable, the Vedic culture is associated with the Brahmin caste and, in the popular mind, with the lightskinned, Aryan settlers from the north. At the same time, Tantric culture is originally associated with the dark-skinned, Dravidian peoples who were disenfranchised by the Aryans. There is great debate

One of the things that had appealed to me about Hinduism was its conception of a sanatana dharma, an eternal religion. This idea, called the Perennial Philosophy by Aldous Huxley, held that behind all the varieties of religious approaches and doctrines, there exists a common core that is the eternal religion of mankind. No individual religion had