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Showing posts from October 5, 2017


Iccha Upaya in Kashmir Shaiva Philosophy

Realization through one’s will power is known as Iccha Upaya in Kashmir Shaiva philosophy. It is also known as Shambhavopaya. The realization depends on the will power of the person. Self-realization is here attained through the mere exercise of the will power. All other experience and methods are considered secondary in Iccha Upaya. Meditation, contemplation, physical exercises are not part of Iccha Upaya. Absorption in Shiva consciousness happens to that person who has freed himself from the clutches of the sensory pleasures through intense awakening of his/her own. In this there is identification with Shiva without any meditation or thought process. One attains identification with Shiva through intensive orientation of will power. The universe and all animate and inanimate in it are not at all different from me. Characteristics of Iccha Upaya are the state of universal love and unity with all living forms. Related Origin of the Word Hindu

The Hopeless Search Goes On

Pure, eternal joy and peace are to be found only in union with the Atman. Our ignorance debars us from that union, but the dim, confused longing for happiness remains. So we are driven to seek it in the external world. We are forced to accept wretched substitutes and to try to persuade ourselves that they are genuine and valid. Instead of eternity, we cling to what seems relatively enduring. Instead of purity, we value what seems relatively pure. Instead of true happiness, we hold to what seems temporarily pleasant. But our satisfaction, also, is short-lived. The strongest tower falls, the most beautiful flower withers in our hands, the clearest water turns brackish and foul. Ignorance has betrayed us, as it always must. Yet, as we turn sadly away, our eyes fall upon some new object of sense attachment and desire. And so the hopeless search goes on. Source - Book titled - Patanjali Yoga Sutras, Swami Prabhavananda, Sri Ramakrishna Math, Chennai, p.75