Yoga of Synthesis in Kashmir Shaivam

Author(s): S S Toshkhani
Publisher: S S Toshkhani

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by exertion but by mere exercise of his freedom of will iccha), the yogi who practices shāmbahvopāya “penetrates directly into the universal egoity of pure consciousness”. Hii This state of thought-free consciousness is "shambhavāsthā" or Shiva's own state and the way to achieve it is what is called shambhavopāya or shămbhava yoga. Through it the yogi comes to realize that this "pure consciousness, free of all thought-constructs (nirvikalpa), is his basic state." This realization does not come in gradual stages but in a sudden flash of the I-consciousness of Shiva. Quoting Mālinīvijayatantra, Jaideva Singh explains:
“When there is identification with Shiva without any mentation or thoughtprocess, merely by an intensive orientation of Will power (icchā shakti) towards the inner Reality, then is there Shambhava-yoga or Shambhava samāvesha.” liii
As it is through the exercise of icchā shakti or mere willing that one enters in state of complete identification (samāvesha) with Shiva, this upāya is also known as icchopāya.
One dimension of the practice of identifying oneself with the cosmic Self, Shiva, is that one visualizes the entire world as a projection or expansion of the consciousness of one's own self. This unifying visualization of the whole universe as an expansion of one's own self in the form of a reflection or appearance (ābhāsa) in Shiva's cosmic consciousness constitutes the essential core of shămbhava yoga.
With his mind and senses introverted and empirical thought dissolved, the yogi cultivating shambhavopāya or the Divine Way experiences the light of consciousness uninterruptedly illumining his innermost being. An undifferentiated awareness of "pure ego manifest at the initial moment of perception" develops as intuition surges up from within, annulling the distinction between the subject and the object. It is a state in which the universe with all the categories of existence is absorbed in the yogi's subjectivity as he is impelled towards Shiva with a strong mystical urge overtaking him.