The Sivaism is strictly speaking the oldest spiritual path. The archaeologic discoveris at Mohenjo Daro and Harappa reveals Sivaism to have an ancient history of thousands of years. Traces of it can be found under different names in all genuine spiritual paths. 

This is easy to understand if we think that Siva is that aspect of God that manifests as the Great Initiator or the Great Saviour of the beings enchained by ignorance and suffering. We can say that any aspiration and passionate prayer for spiritual growth and liberation is addressed to this aspect of the Divine. In India, this aspect is known as Siva ("The Good and The Kind"). Any manifestation of the Divine liberating Grace comes from Siva. In any process of spiritual breakthrough, whether we know it or not, it is actually the grace of Siva that manifests.

Sivaism has lots of ramifications and forms. In India we can find three main forms: Víra-Saiva , mostly developed in central India, Siva-Siddhanta in the South of India and Advaita-Siva in Kashmir (North of India). The latter is the most pure and elevated form of Sivaism known to the present time. There are many aspects that are common to these three main branches of Sivaism but there are also many important differences between them. 

This article refers especially to the Advaita-Siva system as it was known and practiced in Kashmir.

The tradition of Kashmir Sivaism was transmitted during centuries from master to disciple only, from "mouth to ear". The first great initiate recorded in history of this extraordinary spiritual path was Vasugupta (end of VIII century - beginnning of IX century B.C.). Vasugupta formulated for the first time in writing the principles and main doctrines of this system. After Vasugupta , the esoteric litterature of Kashmir Sivaism explosively blossomed and lasted for almost four centuries, during which it became very voluminous and it reached an exceptional philosophical depth.

The first fundamental work of Sivaism , traditionally attributed to Vasugupta , is Siva Sutra , a collection of extremely elegant and precise aforisms, completely unintelligible for the uninitiate. This fundamental work describes the main spiritual modalities to reach the state of spiritual liberation. According to Siva Sutra there are three main paths to the supreme goal: The Path of Siva , The Path of Sakti (or The Path of Energy) and the Path of the Individual. Siva Sutra is considered to be a revelation coming directly from Siva .

This work outlines a more direct and quick spiritual path in which the appeal to the Divine Grace has an essential role . Vasugupta says that he found Siva Sutra written on a rock that miraculously came out of a lake. He read and memorized it, after which the stone went back into the depths of the lake.

This phenomenon of miraculous revelation of a spiritual text is not singular. The Tibetan tradition often mentions "treasure texts", works of spirituality that have no physical author and which were found as such, either as a manuscript in a cave or as inscriptions on stones or trees. Such a "treasure text" is for example Bardo Thödol (somehow innacurately translated as 'The Tibetan Book of the Dead'). 

Another important work of Kashmir Sivaism , attributed to Vasugupta , is Spanda Karika - the verses ( Karika ) about the supreme Divine creative vibration ( spanda ) - work which is a genuine esoteric treatise on resonance.

In general, the whole written tradition of Sivaism can be divided in three fundamental parts: Agama Sastra , Spanda Sastra and Pratyabhijna Sastra .

1. Agama Sastra are those writings that are considered as being a direct revelation from Siva . These writings were first communicated orally, from Master to the worthy Disciple. They include essential works such as MalénivijayaTantra , Svacchanda Tantra , Vijnana Bhairava Tantra , Ratnamala Tantra, Mrgendra Tantra , Rudrayamala Tantra , Siva Sutra and others. There are also numerous commentaries to these works, Siva Sutra having most of them.

2. Spanda Sastra are those writings that contain the most important doctrines of the system. The main work of this cathegory is Spanda Karika of Vasugupta , which has many commentaries. Out of these many commentaries, two are of major importance: Spanda Sandoh a (this commentary talks only about the first verset of Spanda Karika ), and Spanda Nirnaya (which is a commentary of the complete text).

3. Pratyabhijna Sastra are those writings which have mainly a metaphysical content. Due to their extremely high spiritual and intelectual level, this part of the written tradition of Sivaism is the least accessible for the uninitiated. Nevertheless, this corpus of writings refer to the simplest and most direct modality of spiritual realization. Pratyabhijïä means 'recognition' and refers to the spontaneous recognition of the divine nature hidden in each human being ( atman ). The most important works in this cathegory are: Isvara Pratyabhijna , the fundamental work of Utpäladeva (who is a central figure of the Sivaism tradition - he combined in a harmonious way the impetuous and endless love for the Divine and the most refined rational knowledge and metaphysical discernment), and PratyabhijnaVimarasini , a commentary to Isvara Pratyabhijna . Isvara Pratyabhijna means in fact the direct recognition of the Heart (i.e., essence), meaning the direct recognition of God-The-Father inside ourselves. Before Utpaladeva , his master Somananda wrote Siva Drsti ('The Vision of Siva ), a devotional poem written on multiple levels of meaning. 

All these three branches of the Sivaism tradition were put together by a mind of genius - the most brilliantly outstanding personality and the one who reached the highest spiritual realization on this path: the great Initiate and Liberated Abhinavagupta . Among his important works, the most important is Tantraloka ('The Divine Light of Tantra'), a work in verses which is a majestic synthesis of genius of the whole tradition of Sivaism . Abhinavagupta succeeded almost miraculously to smooth out all the apparent differences and asperities that existed among the different branches and schools of the Kashmir Sivaism of before him. Thus he offers a unitary, coherent and complete vision of this system. 

Tantraloka was commented and expanded upon by another important exponent of the Kashmir Sivaism who lived a few centuries after Abhinavagupta . We are reffering to Jayaratha .

Tantraloka has a major importance for the whole tradition of Siva ism . Abhinavagupta realized that this work is very difficult to understand for an ordinary disciple, and therefore he composed a summary of it in prose called Tantrasara ('The Essence of Tantra').

The schools of Sivaism have an attitude that most of the time do not conform to the accepted brahmanic tradition. Sivaism is not exclusively based upon the Veda -s, therefore it cannot be said that Siva ism is a prolongation of the Veda -s. Sivaism has discovered a new path toward God that is even more profound than the one outlined in the Veda -s. The main differences between these two systems come from the introduction of the concept of Sakti , The Power or The Energy of God. This concept does not appear in the Veda -s with the same clarity. Compared to the Veda -s, Siva ism is a new spiritual path that is more direct and that can offer the highest realisation here and now, in this lifetime.

There are many important schools of Sivaism , some of buddhist origin, some that are dualistic (Siva ism is monistic), etc. The highest of these Schools are grouped in the Trika School. Trika is a quintessence of the Kashmir Sivaism . The word ' trika ' means 'trinity' in Sanskrit, and its meaning is that everything has a triple nature. At the highest level, this trinity can be resumed to: God ( Siva ), Sakti - God's creative Energy, and Anu - the Individual - the reflection of Siva - Sakti , the limited projection of the Godhead ( anu means 'atom', but not in the sense used by physics, but in the sense of an elementary individual substance which reflects the order of the world).

The whole Creation comes from the Supreme Will of God ( Siva ), through its reflection in Sakti . Then, this archetypal creation differentiates itself into endless anu -s, who will, at their turn, create in a semi-mechanical way (according to their specific dominant resonances) their own world in which they exist.

Trika is made up of several spiritual schools. The oldest (historically speaking) of these schools is called Krama . In sanskrit, ' krama ' means 'process', 'order' or 'succession'. The basic idea of this system is that the road to perfection has certain stages or steps. Each of these steps is governed by an aspect of the Divine. Therefore, God is actually present all the way, but each new step reveals a more profound face of Him. The Krama system is based upon the concept of Sakti as the Supreme Creative Energy of Siva , and even more specific, upon a certain aspect of Sakti which is related to succesion and time. This aspect of Sakti is none other than the Great Cosmic Power of Time and Eternity - Kali . The Krama School presents a new facet of Kali : in this system, Kali is not only one of the Great Cosmic Powers out of ten, but Kali is seen as being The Supreme Divine Power ( ParaSakti ). (Remember that each Cosmic Power can lead the aspirant to the supreme state).

Another very important school of Siva ism is the Kaula School. In Sanskrit, ' kaula ' means 'community', '(restricted) circle (of initiates)', 'family' or 'totality'. This is a tantric (left hand) school par excellence , and here Sakti plays a paramount role. The Kaula teachings make the skeleton of Tanträloka and Tantrasära . Among all his spiritual Masters, Abhinavagupta mentions more often and considers the most important Sambhunatha , a Kaula School Master. ( Abhinavagupta had other Masters, for example Laksmanagupta ).

The third fundamental system of Kashmir Sivaism is Spanda . This system is also centered around Sakti , here also called Spanda .

Therefore, from the Initiation point of view, the central role is not palyed by Siva but by Sakti. This is not paradoxical because in the spiritual vision of Sivaism , Siva and Sakti are not two separate realities. Siva and Sakti are two-in-one, and they seem separate only for the ignorant and limited mind that is subjected to duality. In truth, Siva is Sakti and Sakti is Siva ; when we have consciousness, there is also energy. When we have energy, there is consciousness who animates that energy. Therefore, for the aspirant to spiritual liberation, the instrument (path) is Sakti and not Siva . Siva is the transcendent aspect of the Divine, being beyond any mental representation. Anything we could imagine about Siva is not Siva , because Siva cannot be defined, cannot be thought, cannot be evoked. He is beyond anything we could imagine, desire or think. We cannot relate directly to Siva , but we can get to Him through Sakti , which represents the imanent aspect of the Divine. God is both transcendent and imanent. If God would be only transcendent, it results that Creation would be without God, in other words it would be governed by somebody else, which is absurd. God is also imanent (present in the world), in the Heart (i.e., center) of each particle, of each human being. For the ignorant, God is hidden, invisible, but a spiritually awakened being perceives God everywhere. This is why the esoteric tradition of Kashmir Sivaism is also called Mahaguhya , term that can be translated as 'The Supreme ( maha ) secret ( guhya )' but also 'The Supreme ( maha ) non-secret ( aguhya )'. These two mysterious aspects of God (Transcendence and Imanence) are called Siva and Sakti respectively. We can get to Siva through Sakti , and for this we can start exactly from where we are, from our level of consciousness. And even if Siva is reflected inside each of us as atman , we aspire toward this Siva with our mind, desires, affection, etc., therefore with something that is not Siva per se . This is the great miracle of Sakti : Sakti is present both at the human level and at the cosmic level. Sakti is the link between man and God. Sakti is the magical thread that has one end in the transcendency of Siva and the other end in the manifested worlds. If Sakti would not exist, there would be nothing to connect us with God.

Besides these three main spiritual schools ( Krama , Kaula , Spanda ) of the Trika system, there is another one, more recent, called also "the easy and very short path", which is accessible only to the very few who have the appropriate level of inner preparation. This school is called Pratyabhijna - the direct recognition of the Divine neature. Therefore, Pratyabhijna is the fourth way of the Kashmir Siva ism tradition ( do not mistake it with the Fourth Way of Gurdjieff !! ). Pratyabhijna comprises not so much techniques as it defines and induces through direct transmission certain inner attitudes that are necessary for instantaneously awakening the Divine Consciousness in us. This system shows very clearly that we are in fact not looking for anything else that what we already are (the Divine Supreme Self). In other words, we are looking for ourselves. Then why go outside us ? We must only become fully aware of ourselves and remember ( at an experiential level ) that we are always one with God. This is all that must be done. This fundamental remembrance ( Pratyabhijna ) of God is the crowning of any genuine spiritual path: once you are on the threshold of ecstatically merging into God, only there do you remember (recognize) your essential, divine nature.

In general, it can be said that the Kashmir Sivaism has two main historical periods: one before Abhinavagupta and one after Abhinavagupta . Before Abhinavagupta , the different schools of Sivaism still had many doctrinal differences between them. These differences were the result of different visions of the different spiritual principles. Owing to Abhinavagupta , the Kashmir Sivaism tradition became unitary and very strong. Unfortunately, this did not last long after his time. The continuator of Abhinavagupta 's lineage was Ksemaraja , his direct and most important disciple. After Ksemaraja , the tradition of Sivaism gradually extinguished in Kashmir. It had another boost about 300 years after Ksemaraja , in the South of India, where lived a few great initiates in this spiritual path: in the first place, the illustrious Jayaratha , who magistrally commented upon Tantraloka , then Bhattanarayana , who wrote a very profound initiatic poem called Stavacintamani ('The Sacramental Sanctuary of the Jewel of the Divine Love'). The last continuator of the Sivaism tradition in Kashmir was Swami Brahmacharin Laksman Joo , who died in 1992. Laksman Joo had a phenomenal memory, he knew by heart the whole Tantraloka with all its commentary, along with other traditional texts. Nevertheless, Laksman Joo did not have the spiritual realization and force of Abhinavagupta . About Abhinavagupta it is said that he was an incarnation of Siva . From the beginning, he was extremely strong, both in his mind and in his direct experimentation of spiritual states. Abhinavagupta was a prolific writer and even today he is unanimously accepted in India as one of India's greatest philosophers and aesthetician (he also wrote extensively about art and aesthetics). According to his theory of aesthetics, the essence of genuine art is not differrent from the essence of spiritual search. Even today, his aesthetic work remains unique and it is the highest expression of Indian aesthetics. He succeeded to unify all visions and doctrines in a unitary corpus and to give them a common spiritual fundament.

Abhinavagupta was born around 950 a.d. and he lived until the IX th century a.d. The date and place of his passing away are not known. There is a legent that says that he went together with a big number of his disciples into a cave and from that day on neither he nor his remaining disciples were ever seen again. It is believed that they translated into a parallel dimension and left the physical plane. 

The Kashmir Sivaism is the most pure, elevated and direct spiritual path. It is extremely interesting to note that this path is very close to the esoteric christianity. In Kashmir Sivaism , just as in Christianity, the main emphasis is placed on the Divine Grace and on the awakening of the Heart. There are many accounts about the fact that Jesus actually travelled, during the 'missing 18 years', through India and Tibet and that he stayed for a long time in Kashmir, according to some tibetan documents. Even though there is a gap of many centuries from the time of Jesus since the first works on the Kashmir Sivaism were put on paper, there are nevertheless striking similarities between the teachings of Jesus and the teachings of Kashmir Sivaism .

Kashmir Sivaism also has a very strong tantric influence. Moreover, it can be rightly said that the tradition of the Kashmir Sivaism is the most pure and elevated form of tantrism. In Kashmir Sivaism , just as in tantrism, the main idea is that everything is intimately related to everything else, like in a holographic model of the universe. In this way, every aspect of Creation, even the most insignifiant, is closely and directly related to any other aspect. In this vision, the whole Universe is in fact a gigantic web of virtual resonant fields that occur between each anu ('atom') of the Universe and all the other anu -s . In both tantric and modern quantum physics vision, both space and time have a holographic structure, and this means that every particle of space virtually contains, due to specific resonances, all the other particles. Thus, the part is reflected in the whole and the whole is reflected in the part. In the same way, each particle of time (each 'moment') contains in it all eternity. By deeply knowing one single moment, we can know the whole eternity, and by knowing deeply one single atom we can know the whole universe. This is possible because of resonance and it is not by chance that NATHA 's teachings are fundamented on the Law of Resonance , just like the teachings of the Kashmir Sivaism are fundamented on the concept of Spanda ("vibration" or "resonance"). It is deeply significant that nowadays resonance becomes more and more important in modern science. The contribution of Gregorian Bivolaru , the spiritual guide of the Romanian Yoga School ( MISA ) - of which NATHA is a branch - is essential and unique because he introduced for the first time the concept of resonance in yoga . This concept gives a unitary structure to the entire Yoga system and it also sheds a clarifying light upon the doctrines of Kashmir Sivaism .

The holographic reflection of the whole in every part is fundamented by the concept of Sakti - divine energy - the cosmic, vital, human and spiritual force that can manifest in an endless array of forms that are structured on the hierarchies of Creation. Even though the powers of God are infinite, the Kashmir Sivaism tradition says that basically these powers can be reduced to three main essential aspects, called: the Supreme Divine Subjective Energy ( ParaSakt i ), the Divine Energy that is both Supreme (Subjective) and non-Supreme (Objective) ( Para - ParaSakti ) and the Divine Energy that is non-Supreme (Objective) ( AparaSakti ). These three fundamental energies, that are nothing else than three distinct manifestations of the same unique Energy of God, represent in fact the essence of the three ontological levels of the Whole Creation. These three levels are: (a) the transcendent (purely subjective) level - this level is purely in the intimacy of the Divine, and it is summarized by ParaSakti ; (b) the level that is both transcendent (subjective) and imanent (objective) - this level is summarized by Para - ParaSakti ; (c) the imanent (purely objective) level, summarized by AparaSakti . AparaSakti is the essence of the whole created world, that is differentiated into subject and object.

NATHA's study of Kashmir Sivaism

NATHA offers to a limited audience an in depth study of the Kashmir Sivaism doctrine. Our School aims, through the Grace of Siva, to revive this spiritual path and make it operative again. This course contains not only information about the metaphysics of Sivaism, but also meditations and initiations related to specific spiritual practices related to this Path.