Sublime

Swami Chinmayananda,

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 se

Among them, I recommend Pandit’s Specific Principles of Kashmir Shaivism for the new student. More yogic works are Swami Lakshmanjoo’s Self Realisation and The Secret Supreme, Swami Chetanananda’s Dynamic Stillness I and II, and, of course, Siddha Meditation by Swami Muktananda.

At the deepest level, the one without whom none of this would have happened is Gurumayī. The spiritual awakening I had through her grace catalyzed a process of unfolding that allowed me to encounter the words of the Tantrik master Abhinava Gupta as palpably living energy, not mere fossils. Without Gurumayī’s unfailing love and grace, I would likely

Sufi teacher Idries Shah

Swāmī Muktānanda (“Bābā”) probably did more than anyone else in the 20th century to make the teachings of Śaiva Tantra known in the West,