The Reality Sutras (Sambhavi Sarasvati)
Not a Text for the Cognoscenti
[My 3-star review (June 23, 2019) of “The Reality Sutras: Seeking the Heart of Trika Saivism†by Sambhavi Sarasvati.]
I’m a huge fan of Trika Saivism (a.k.a. Kashmir Saivism), and this is reflected in the positive reviews I usually give books in this genre. But this text by Sambhavi Sarasvati did not impress me, so I’m not moved to give it more than three stars.
My problems with this text started right from the first paragraph in the book: “The nature of reality, your own nature, is an open secret announcing itself everywhere and always available to be directly known and more fully embodied.â€
This paragraph is unclear, because Sarasvati does not write clearly. “Nature†should be capitalized or rendered as “true nature.†Moreover, “reality†signifies phenomenal reality, not “Reality,†meaning Ultimate Reality.
The book’s second chapter is titled “Everything is God.†To this, I say: If your shit is God, why do you flush it down the toilet? If cancer is God, why do you try to get rid of it? If Sarasvati were more astute, she’d know that God, or Siva, has become everything while not becoming anything. Created forms are not God, but stepped-down manifestations of God, who never enters creation.
Sarasvati does a poor job explaining Shakti. She writes: “Shiva is the personification of awareness. Shakti is the personification of creative potency or power.â€
Actually Shakti is the personification of uncreated Divine Power, and when she manifests as creative power, she becomes Maya-Shakti—but Sarasvati never makes this important distinction. It is only Shakti as uncreated Clear-Light Energy that can en-Light-en yogis; Shakti as creative power can only engender becoming, not spiritual Be-ing.
To illustrate how murky Sarasvati’s writing is, consider the following excerpt from the book: “The real nature of matter is a flow of responsive experience within a continuous subjectivity.â€If you think that is a clear description of the nature of matter, then you’ll probably appreciate this book more than I did.
Elsewhere, she writes: “The ananda of the Lord is not some kind of gross experience of a tingly, happy body. It is fathomless aesthetic appreciation.â€
Ananda is not an aesthetic appreciation; it is the spontaneous bliss born of Be-ing. While neophytes may not take notice of such poor descriptions of aspects of Reality, the spiritual cognoscenti will, and mark the book down for it.
While those new to Trika Saivism are likely to appreciate this text, I much prefer others on the subject, especially Deba Brata SenSharma’s “The Philosophy of Sadhana: With Special Reference to the Trika Philosophy of Kashmir.†And if you are already well versed in Trika Saivism, you will likely find little or nothing of value in this text, which only, unimpressively, skims the surface of the philosophy and practices of the tradition.
[My 3-star review (June 23, 2019) of “The Reality Sutras: Seeking the Heart of Trika Saivism†by Sambhavi Sarasvati.]
I’m a huge fan of Trika Saivism (a.k.a. Kashmir Saivism), and this is reflected in the positive reviews I usually give books in this genre. But this text by Sambhavi Sarasvati did not impress me, so I’m not moved to give it more than three stars.
My problems with this text started right from the first paragraph in the book: “The nature of reality, your own nature, is an open secret announcing itself everywhere and always available to be directly known and more fully embodied.â€
This paragraph is unclear, because Sarasvati does not write clearly. “Nature†should be capitalized or rendered as “true nature.†Moreover, “reality†signifies phenomenal reality, not “Reality,†meaning Ultimate Reality.
The book’s second chapter is titled “Everything is God.†To this, I say: If your shit is God, why do you flush it down the toilet? If cancer is God, why do you try to get rid of it? If Sarasvati were more astute, she’d know that God, or Siva, has become everything while not becoming anything. Created forms are not God, but stepped-down manifestations of God, who never enters creation.
Sarasvati does a poor job explaining Shakti. She writes: “Shiva is the personification of awareness. Shakti is the personification of creative potency or power.â€
Actually Shakti is the personification of uncreated Divine Power, and when she manifests as creative power, she becomes Maya-Shakti—but Sarasvati never makes this important distinction. It is only Shakti as uncreated Clear-Light Energy that can en-Light-en yogis; Shakti as creative power can only engender becoming, not spiritual Be-ing.
To illustrate how murky Sarasvati’s writing is, consider the following excerpt from the book: “The real nature of matter is a flow of responsive experience within a continuous subjectivity.â€If you think that is a clear description of the nature of matter, then you’ll probably appreciate this book more than I did.
Elsewhere, she writes: “The ananda of the Lord is not some kind of gross experience of a tingly, happy body. It is fathomless aesthetic appreciation.â€
Ananda is not an aesthetic appreciation; it is the spontaneous bliss born of Be-ing. While neophytes may not take notice of such poor descriptions of aspects of Reality, the spiritual cognoscenti will, and mark the book down for it.
While those new to Trika Saivism are likely to appreciate this text, I much prefer others on the subject, especially Deba Brata SenSharma’s “The Philosophy of Sadhana: With Special Reference to the Trika Philosophy of Kashmir.†And if you are already well versed in Trika Saivism, you will likely find little or nothing of value in this text, which only, unimpressively, skims the surface of the philosophy and practices of the tradition.
