The Philosophy of Sadhana: With Special Reference to the Trika Philosophy of Kashmir (An Old and Rare Book)

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It is a great joy to introduce this third volume in the State University of New York Press series on Tantric Studies. Deba Brata SenSharma's The Philosophy of Sadhana introduces the essentials of Tantric sadhana in the light of the process of saktipata-the divine descent of the power of Siva. It contains a systematic and careful exposition of aspects of the tantric worldview as seen through the texts of the Trika-Kaula traditions of non-dual Kashmir Shaivism. It is an exceedingly useful and readable study of the technical components of Hindu tantric thought as these relate to sadhana. After reading this book, I had wondered what kind of a person comes to write in such an erudite and deeply insightful way. I was therefore happy that I had the pleasure of meeting Professor Sen Sharma on a recent trip to India. We coincided for a few days in the beautiful environs of the Gurudev Siddha Peeth in Ganeshpuri near Bombay. I came to know the author of this book as a very refined person, of deep humility and possessed of a great love for the ancient wisdoms of India. In our conversations, Professor Sen Sharma recounted to me his many years at Banaras Hindu University studying under the direction of the late Gopinath Kaviraj, probably the leading Indian expert on the Saiva and Sakta traditions of the Tantra. SenSharma spoke of his explorations of a variety of tantric texts under the guidance of Kavirajji (as he affectionately referred to his teacher). He told me of his increasing appreciation for the works of the tenth century Saivacarya, Abhinavagupta, such as the Tantrasara, the Tantraloka, the Paratrimsika, and many others. In fact, these works form the textual horizon of the present volume. Sen-Sharma explained that his teacher, Gopinath Kaviraj, was not just a scholar but an initiate and practitioner of these traditions. He spoke with deep feeling about the times he had been privileged to accompany Kaviraj on expeditions to meet some of the extraordinary beings that embody sadhana such as the great saint Ananda Mayi Ma. Sen Sharma then went on to tell me something about his distinguished career as a university professor and administrator at Kurukshetra University. In the following pages, readers will accompany Sen Sharma as he guides them through an exploration of the conceptual bases at the heart of the tantric sadhana. As the fruit of many years of textual study as well as the attempt to gain accurate insight into the meaning of these texts, Sen Sharma presents a detailed sur-vey of tantric Shaivite sadhana. He treats in a careful and systematic fashion the notion of the supreme reality of Siva, as well as the various Sakti-s that expand his power. If there is one theme that seems to be at the heart of Sen Sharma's book, it is the notion of saktipata, the divine descent of grace. In order to properly elaborate his analysis of saktipata, Sen Sharma carefully explains the structure of the tattva-s or principles of Shaivism, as well as the way these result in the contraction of the supreme conscious-ness of Śiva by the agency of three successive impurities (mala-s). He then goes on to elaborate the variety of conscious experiencers (pramatr-s) that arise as a result of the contraction of the infinite consciousness. This leads him to a detailed consideration of the nature of grace and its transmission through the guru by the process of initiation (diksa). There then follows a detailed exposition of the nature of the various upayas or methods of the tradition, all of which lead to the final goal of perfection or self-realization, and, in some cases, jīvanmukti-liberation while still alive.

This book aims at an exposition of the philosophy of spiritual discipline (sadhana), especially of the Trika philosophy of Kashmir. Several decades ago N. K. Brahma published his pioneering work Philosophy of Sadhana based on his study of spiritual discipline as formulated in the texts of some orthodox schools of Indian philosophy, and since then there has been no supplement to his studies on the subject. Therefore I have attempted to shed some light on this important but thus far neglected branch of philosophical studies.

I have made a critical examination of the philosophy of sadhana as presented mainly in the Sanskrit texts of the Trika school, especially those of Abhinavagupta in which the sadhand aspect occupies a prominent place. I am conscious of the fact that the aspect of sadhana in general and in the Trika texts in particular is, by its very nature, abstruse and is also garbed in secrecy, and that only those spiritual seekers who have been bestowed with divine grace by the teacher and are actually on the way to spiritual realization are capable of knowing the profound mysteries that the subject involves. Nevertheless I have attempted, despite my limitations, to understand the problem intellectually and to decipher whatever I could from the published texts. How far I have been successful in my attempt, I leave it to my readers to judge.

My study is divided into seven chapters. The first chapter gives an outline of the metaphysics of the system relevant to the understanding of the nature of man and of his present condition in the worldly existence. Advocating a purely monistic system of the thought, the Trika school postulates the existence of one Ultimate Reality, called Parama Siva, who pervades and permeates the entire cosmos as the cosmic Reality and yet, at the same time, transcends it as the Absolute Being. Exercising his divine Sakti, he assumes self-contraction (sankoca) out of his free will (Iccha) and reveals himself as the world consisting of thirty-six levels of creation in which he assumes different roles as the limited experience (pramata), the objects of experience (prameya), and so forth.

The second chapter is devoted to the examination of the origin and nature of man, and what the Trika system refers to as the malas, or different kinds of defilements that cover his real nature. The human component in the various levels of creation as envisaged in the Trika texts is discussed in the third chapter.

The fourth chapter, entitled "The Way to Ultimate Self-Realization," is divided into three sections. The first deals with such topics as the role of different types of defilements (malas) which prevent man from getting a glimpse of his real Self and the various means to overcome them. The second section deals with divine grace (saktipata), a crucial factor in spiritual discipline. The third section examines the concepts of guru (teacher) and diksa (spiritual initiation), important ingredients of spiritual discipline as envisaged by the system. The fifth chapter, entitled "The Ways of Spiritual Discipline," is divided into five sections discussing different kinds of spiritual aspirants (sadhakas) and the four recognized ways of spiritual discipline (upayas) called anupaya, sambhava upaya, sakta upaya, and anava upaya, which are prescribed for as many kinds of aspirants. The anava upaya prescribed for aspirants receiving grace in very mild form is of great importance to ordinary human beings who are incapable of adopting other upayas. This section has been revised and enlarged. Although other schools of Indian philosophical tradition also recognize the necessity for prescribing different ways of sadhana in conformity with the varying temperaments of spiritual aspirants, the Trika texts make these distinctions according to the difference in the intensity of the di-vine grace received by the aspirants.