Yoga of Synthesis in Kashmir Shaivam

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

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This switching of the mind from the inner to the outer and then back leads to a state in which both eventually merge into one another with all polarities and differentiation dissolving.
Yogic contemplation or samadhi takes the Shaiva yogi beyond the three normal states of consciousness, waking, dream and deep sleep, into the fourth state called turiīyā. It is a higher state of consciousness marked by a constant flow of pure bliss. This bliss takes the yogi to the threshold of the wonder of self-discovery. The Shiva Sūtra says: "vismayo yoga bhūmikā" (Shiva Sutra, 1.12) - or, “Wonder is the threshold of yoga.”
Turīyā transcends the three lower states and yet encompasses them all. This is explained by the analogy of an oil-soaked rag which is permeated by oil but has at the same time the properties of cloth too. Having attained this state of awareness, he has to try to maintain it through yogic practice so that he can eventually ensure his entrance into the state Beyond the Fourth - the liberating state of turīyātīta, the universal consciousness which reflects the true nature of the Self. It is the supra-mundane state where all the states merge and everything is one with Shiva. As soon as the yogi enters this state he is liberated and becomes a jīvanamukta or liberated while alive, which is the highest goal of non-dual Shaiva yoga.
It must be noted that the yoga of Kashmir Shaivism does not stop with the attainment of liberation in which the yogi enjoys the nectar of bliss and wonder at the unfolding of the Self but goes beyond it to attain the state of Shiva or Bhairava himself - a state of svātantrya or absolute freedom. With his delusion of duality completely destroyed, he perceives nothing but undifferentiated consciousness, everywhere and always, enjoying the rapture of supreme subjectivity. For the Kashmir Shaivite yogi, thus, moksha does not have the negative connotation of freedom from something but means recognition of one's essential Shiva nature which was always there but clouded by amnesia. Immersed in the blissfulness of samāvesha, he synthesizes doing and knowing, creates a "biune unity of subject and object" with the help of sattarka, attains sāmarasya or equanimity between
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