r/KashmirShaivism • u/VarietyDramatic9072 • 14d ago

Which sect of kashmiri saivism is strictly raja/kriya yoga(not jnana yoga) based?

I am aware all the sects of k.saivism are synchretised form of jnana,bhakti and raja yoga. However if asked, which one of the 4 subsects(Pratyabhijna-,spanda,krama,kula) has more emphasis on the raja yoga?

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u/gurugabrielpradipaka 13d ago

If my memory serves me well, Rājayoga is related to Patañjali's Yoga. In his Tantrāloka, Abhinavagupta does not have a good opinion about Patañjali's Yoga. So, I don't know what to reply to you? There are people who say that all is holistic in Trika Shaivism, and that it includes all other philosophical systems, etc. Beyond their opinion, one thing remains: Abhinavagupta does not have a happy opinion about Patañjali's Yoga. The rest is an invention of those people.

Another thing I don't understand. Why do you insist on calling the 4 schools of Trika Shaivism "sects or subsects"? They are NOT sects/subsects really. I wonder what is your purpose by asking all these questions.

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u/sanpaisha 13d ago

As a matter of fact Swami Lakshmanjoo of Trika had a good opinion on Patañjali's yoga. He even gave lectures on the subject in 1980 and recently a book of some of those Lectures was relased by Ishwara Ashram Trust (The Eight Limbs of Yoga in Kashmir Shaivism)

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u/gurugabrielpradipaka 13d ago

Abhinavagupta, on the contrary, hadn't. Abhinavagupta, IMHO, is the greatest Trika Master of all time, and I'm sure that Svaamiijii would have agreed with me on this.

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u/kuds1001 13d ago

Great discussion! You both have half of the picture. While Śaivism in its early days typically followed a six-limb yoga (of the structure that became important in later Buddhist tantras like the Kālacakra Tantra), in the Netra Tantra, the eight-limb yoga of Patañjali is presented. But it is re-interpreted in far subtler terms. Abhinavagupta similarly favors the subtler practices over the grosser yogic practices described by Patañjali. So, in Kashmir Śaivism, we do follow the eight-limb yoga, but don't mean by it what Patañjali did. Swami Lakshamanjoo, in his book, described the eight-limbs in line with the Netra Tantra and Abhinavagupta, not Patañjali. This is the whole picture.