The Yoga Of Kashmir Shaivism:Consciousness Is Everything

by Shankarananda

Consciousness is the most intimate experience of life, the essence of life itself. Among the many spiritual traditions born and developed in India, one ancient philosophy - Kashmir Shaivism - has explored it completely.

Until now, Kashmir Shaivism was an esoteric field accessible only to a few scholars and other specialist. Here, for the first time, Swami Shankarananda, a self-realised spiritual master, presents the wisdom of this powerful tradition in a form that will delight and inspire all spiritual seekers. He explores the teachings in rich detail, elucidating ideas and meditative practices while drawing upon a vast canvas of many great beings, wisdom tradition and personal experience.

Genres: Religion, Spirituality, Philosophy, Nonfiction

352 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Todd Settimo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magnificent summarization of the Trika Philosophy. I have been studying the Kashmir Shaivite texts translated by Jaideva Singh for the last three years; reading a sutra and its commentary and meditating on it, and the next night reading another sutra and its commentary and meditating on it, and so on. I was on my third pass through the books when I stumbled on "Consciousness Is Everything" and found, to my delight, that what I had taken from the scriptures through my own slow process was validated.

Kashmir Shaivism, for me, is the most direct of all mystical paths. It utterly lacks tales of morality and fanciful fables so common in other paths and goes directly to the heart of the matter - answering the progenitor of all questions, Who am I? CiE brilliantly illuminates this path and makes it highly accessible. If you have any interest in Kashmir Shaivism, this is a must read.

[Niamh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderfully accessible delivery of the teachings and wisdom of Kashmir Shaivism. The author is down to earth and explains things very clearly and knowingly, quoting Nisargadatta, Ramana Maharshi and Douglas Harding among others outside of the tradition itself. The teachings conveyed are rich, detailed and very inspiring and illuminating and there are suggestions for meditations along the way. I really enjoyed this and was particularly interested in Shaivism's comparison with the Vedanta tradition, the social differences in the followers as well as the differences in the embrace (or not) of the worldly and bodily forms of Shakti :) A great read.

[Laxmi Duggirala · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing read 🙏Need to read again .

[Arun Kumar R · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book for anyone interested in the Shaivism school of thoughts. Shiva and Shakthi two sides of the same coin.

[Phil Calandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Consciousness is Everything: The Yoga of Kashmir Shaivism" is a general introduction to Shaivism. The author compares and contrasts Shaivism to other disciplines and, at times, seems to be overly critical of Advaita Vedanta. This book is rather difficult to understand. I would not recommend it.

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Much more approachable than other books on Kashmir Shaivism.. I've read a fair bit about yoga systems before, but other books are still hard going.. This book is fun, conversational, enthusing, and makes the subject accessible. I'll go back to eg Secret Sutras once I've finished this :)