Yoga of Synthesis in Kashmir Shaivam

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

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Centering or madhyavikāsa: The emphasis in the practice of the shămbhavopāya is on experiencing the Centre or the thought-free void of absolute consciousness from which all differentiated thoughts and perceptions emerge. The yogi seeks to discover the Centre "in the interval which divides two moments of differentiated perception (vikalpa)", as Abhinavagupta explains. He says: "None can deny that a gap exists between perceptions as two moments of thought are invariably divided.sliv This junction-point between the two, adds Kshemarāja, "while one is engaged in one thought and another one arises is the unmesha (expansion of pure consciousness), that is revelation of the true nature of the Self which is the background of both the thoughts." Krishnamurti calls unmesha the "creative moment”, which is not thought "but a flash of Understanding”! It is this point that forms the Centre (madhya) or the space beyond thought where "the void (kha) of consciousness” resides. By developing an awareness of the Centre, the yogi moves from particular vibrations to the "universal throb of the Heart in the Centre"lvi where all categories of existence are united and "life-giving elixir of Shiva's consciousness” floods his inner nature. "By the expansion of the Centre", writes Kshemarāja in the Pratyabhijñā Hridayam, "the yogi experiences the bliss of consciousness”. Ivii The unfoldment of the Centre means to experience expansion of awareness in a way that it embraces all things within itself , realizing pure ego, or the "universal vibration of pure subjectivity", to be the same as one's own pure consciousness or essential nature. This is a state which can be identified with the state of consciousness in the categories of Ishvara (*this universe is me') and Sadāshiva (ʻI am this universe'). To abide in this state as one's own abode is to experience totality -- the void which contains everything within itself.
The concept of void or emptiness needs to be understood a little more clearly from the Trika perspective. It is a concept that Trika has borrowed from the Mādhyamikā School of Buddhism which believes in the theory of momentariness. According to this theory, the phenomenal world is in a state of constant flux, with everything invariably undergoing change due to the continuous processes of creation, maintenance and destruction. These changes take place so rapidly that it is not possible for us to observe the various stages through which they pass every moment. Only the single moment exists and is available to us. If nothing is permanent the entire phenomenal world is transient
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