Siva Sutras (Jaideva Singh)
The Foundational Text of Kashmir Shaivism
[My 4-star Amazon review (NDA) of “Siva Sutras: The Yoga of Supreme Identity†by Jaideva Singh.]
Jaideva Singh (1893-1986) was a great scholar and perhaps the foremost academic expert on Kashmir Shaivism. But he wasn’t an outstanding writer, and that makes this canonical text less than a felicitous read for me. Hence, even though I love Kashmir Shaivism (easily my favorite Eastern philosophy) and appreciate the numerous nuggets that Dr. Singh provides in his Introduction, expositions and notes, I don’t especially enjoy reading this text. That was the case when I first read it twenty years, and that is still the case now.
Dr. Singh also authored “Pratyabhijnahrdayam (another canonical Kashmir Shaivism text),†which in 1990, was recast as “The Doctrine of Recognition†under the editorial supervision of Dr. Paul Muller-Ortega, himself an expert in Kashmir Shaivism. I much prefer the “Doctrine of Recognition†(unfortunately out of print) to Singh’s “Siva Sutras, because Dr. Muller-Ortega, in contrast to Dr. Singh, is an excellent writer. But unfortunately, Dr. Muller-Ortega didn’t edit and recast Singh’s “Siva Sutras,†because if he had, the book would be considerably better than it is.
Here’s a brief example of Singh’s poor writing:
“This sutra gives in a nutshell Sambhavopaya – the Sambhava Yoga. This immersion in divine consciousness occurs to one who is a very advanced aspirant. It is a sudden flash of divine consciousness by an orientation of the will towards the inner creative consciousness which is always present within oneself. It requires no discipline of meditation, japa, etc.â€
I am an advanced spiritual aspirant who practices the Sambhavopaya (or Divine Means), or Sambhava Yoga, to the degree of resting in Heart-felt Divine Consciousness, or Being, and Singh’s description of this state, or samadhi, is lousy. Further, Singh contradicts himself when he says it requires “no discipline of meditation†yet necessitates an “orientation of will.†Re-orienting one’s will (so it coincides with the Divine Will (Iccha Shakti), which manifests as Grace (Anugraha Shakti), is a “discipline of meditation†that demands effort and practice until the yogi can permanently, effortlessly rest in Sajaj Samadhi.
There are a couple other versions of the “Siva Sutras†that I haven’t read – one by Swami Laksmanjoo and John Hughes, and one by Mark Vasgupta, which (I just found out) was edited by Muller-Ortega. Surprisingly, no reviewer has compared the versions. Eventually I will do so.
The best part of this book is the fifty-seven-page Introduction, in which Singh elaborates the foundational tenets of the Kashmir Shaivism system, viz., the thirty-six tattvas (constituent principles of Reality/reality), the three malas (binding contractions that obscure Reality (or Self)-realization), and the four (or three, according to some) upayas (or spiritual means), which liberate one from the malas and yield Self-realization.
Regarding the Sambhavopaya (or Divine Means), the highest of the four upayas for all practical purposes, Singh likens it to Krishnamurti’s “choiceless awareness,†and describes it as “alertness from moment to moment.†Again, this is a poor description of the practice.
Singh then makes an interesting and curious statement regarding Sambhovapaya, or Sambhava Yoga: “Sambhava upaya is a special feature of Saigama [Kashmir Shaivism]. There is no such yoga either in Vedanta or Patanjali yoga. The jnana yoga of Vedanta corresponds somewhat to Sakta upaya [the upaya immediately lower than Sambhava] and Patanjali yoga corresponds to a part of anava-upaya [the lowest upaya]. Sambbhava yoga is unknown in these systems.â€
Singh relegates Ramana’s Self-enquiry to the inferior Sakta upaya level. He writes, “Sakta-yoga is a process of self-enquiry. Of modern yogis, Ramana Maharshi may be said to have set the best example of Sakta yoga.â€
There is much I can say about Singh’s descriptions of the respective upayas and the spiritual practices that correspond with them, but it is beyond the scope of this review. In a nutshell, I partially agree and partially disagree with his POV.
Singh’s description of Kundalini awakening contradicts that of some others, such as Sri Aurobindo and Paul Foster Case. First, I’ll quote Singh’s version (which has descent following ascent), and then Case’s (which has ascent following descent).
Singh writes:
“The awakened Kundalini pieces the brahmagranthi. Then she pierces the muladhara cakra. Rising further, she pierces the svadhisthana and manipura cakras. Then she pierces visnugranthi and the ajnacakra and finally enters the sahasrara. The aspirant can now experience the ambrosia raining down from sahasrara.â€
Case, in “Occult Fundamentals and Spiritual Unfoldment†(see my four-star review), writes:
“One thing, however, I can tell you. The current is not turned on by any practice of concentration upon centers in the physical body. Such practice only produces congestion and other undesirable results. Neither do you ‘raise the Kundalini’ by any effort of that nonentity, ‘personal will.’ The current must rise, but it must rise in accordance with the familiar electrical law that we must ‘step down’ the current in order to apply it. The Life Power is cosmic electricity, and it has to go from a higher to a lower potential. To raise the Kundalini, you have to bring down the undifferentiated Life Power from above the plane of personality, and because that force travels in cycles, it will raise a portion of the coiled-up energy in its return.â€
After his lengthy Introduction, Singh provides translation, exposition, and notes on the Siva Sutras themselves, which are short, pithy statements about Reality and the means to yogically realize It. Again, I do not enjoy Singh’s writing in this portion of the book. It’s too stilted and acadamese for my taste, but the other reviewers of this book do not seem to share my sentiments.
[My 4-star Amazon review (NDA) of “Siva Sutras: The Yoga of Supreme Identity†by Jaideva Singh.]
Jaideva Singh (1893-1986) was a great scholar and perhaps the foremost academic expert on Kashmir Shaivism. But he wasn’t an outstanding writer, and that makes this canonical text less than a felicitous read for me. Hence, even though I love Kashmir Shaivism (easily my favorite Eastern philosophy) and appreciate the numerous nuggets that Dr. Singh provides in his Introduction, expositions and notes, I don’t especially enjoy reading this text. That was the case when I first read it twenty years, and that is still the case now.
Dr. Singh also authored “Pratyabhijnahrdayam (another canonical Kashmir Shaivism text),†which in 1990, was recast as “The Doctrine of Recognition†under the editorial supervision of Dr. Paul Muller-Ortega, himself an expert in Kashmir Shaivism. I much prefer the “Doctrine of Recognition†(unfortunately out of print) to Singh’s “Siva Sutras, because Dr. Muller-Ortega, in contrast to Dr. Singh, is an excellent writer. But unfortunately, Dr. Muller-Ortega didn’t edit and recast Singh’s “Siva Sutras,†because if he had, the book would be considerably better than it is.
Here’s a brief example of Singh’s poor writing:
“This sutra gives in a nutshell Sambhavopaya – the Sambhava Yoga. This immersion in divine consciousness occurs to one who is a very advanced aspirant. It is a sudden flash of divine consciousness by an orientation of the will towards the inner creative consciousness which is always present within oneself. It requires no discipline of meditation, japa, etc.â€
I am an advanced spiritual aspirant who practices the Sambhavopaya (or Divine Means), or Sambhava Yoga, to the degree of resting in Heart-felt Divine Consciousness, or Being, and Singh’s description of this state, or samadhi, is lousy. Further, Singh contradicts himself when he says it requires “no discipline of meditation†yet necessitates an “orientation of will.†Re-orienting one’s will (so it coincides with the Divine Will (Iccha Shakti), which manifests as Grace (Anugraha Shakti), is a “discipline of meditation†that demands effort and practice until the yogi can permanently, effortlessly rest in Sajaj Samadhi.
There are a couple other versions of the “Siva Sutras†that I haven’t read – one by Swami Laksmanjoo and John Hughes, and one by Mark Vasgupta, which (I just found out) was edited by Muller-Ortega. Surprisingly, no reviewer has compared the versions. Eventually I will do so.
The best part of this book is the fifty-seven-page Introduction, in which Singh elaborates the foundational tenets of the Kashmir Shaivism system, viz., the thirty-six tattvas (constituent principles of Reality/reality), the three malas (binding contractions that obscure Reality (or Self)-realization), and the four (or three, according to some) upayas (or spiritual means), which liberate one from the malas and yield Self-realization.
Regarding the Sambhavopaya (or Divine Means), the highest of the four upayas for all practical purposes, Singh likens it to Krishnamurti’s “choiceless awareness,†and describes it as “alertness from moment to moment.†Again, this is a poor description of the practice.
Singh then makes an interesting and curious statement regarding Sambhovapaya, or Sambhava Yoga: “Sambhava upaya is a special feature of Saigama [Kashmir Shaivism]. There is no such yoga either in Vedanta or Patanjali yoga. The jnana yoga of Vedanta corresponds somewhat to Sakta upaya [the upaya immediately lower than Sambhava] and Patanjali yoga corresponds to a part of anava-upaya [the lowest upaya]. Sambbhava yoga is unknown in these systems.â€
Singh relegates Ramana’s Self-enquiry to the inferior Sakta upaya level. He writes, “Sakta-yoga is a process of self-enquiry. Of modern yogis, Ramana Maharshi may be said to have set the best example of Sakta yoga.â€
There is much I can say about Singh’s descriptions of the respective upayas and the spiritual practices that correspond with them, but it is beyond the scope of this review. In a nutshell, I partially agree and partially disagree with his POV.
Singh’s description of Kundalini awakening contradicts that of some others, such as Sri Aurobindo and Paul Foster Case. First, I’ll quote Singh’s version (which has descent following ascent), and then Case’s (which has ascent following descent).
Singh writes:
“The awakened Kundalini pieces the brahmagranthi. Then she pierces the muladhara cakra. Rising further, she pierces the svadhisthana and manipura cakras. Then she pierces visnugranthi and the ajnacakra and finally enters the sahasrara. The aspirant can now experience the ambrosia raining down from sahasrara.â€
Case, in “Occult Fundamentals and Spiritual Unfoldment†(see my four-star review), writes:
“One thing, however, I can tell you. The current is not turned on by any practice of concentration upon centers in the physical body. Such practice only produces congestion and other undesirable results. Neither do you ‘raise the Kundalini’ by any effort of that nonentity, ‘personal will.’ The current must rise, but it must rise in accordance with the familiar electrical law that we must ‘step down’ the current in order to apply it. The Life Power is cosmic electricity, and it has to go from a higher to a lower potential. To raise the Kundalini, you have to bring down the undifferentiated Life Power from above the plane of personality, and because that force travels in cycles, it will raise a portion of the coiled-up energy in its return.â€
After his lengthy Introduction, Singh provides translation, exposition, and notes on the Siva Sutras themselves, which are short, pithy statements about Reality and the means to yogically realize It. Again, I do not enjoy Singh’s writing in this portion of the book. It’s too stilted and acadamese for my taste, but the other reviewers of this book do not seem to share my sentiments.
