The Five Powers

According to the Tantrasara, Consciousness is not a blank or passive witness but is endowed with five dynamic Powers (shaktis). The Power of Awareness (cit-shakti) is the basic fact that it is the Light of Creation. The Power of Bliss (ananda-shakti) is its independent freedom. The Power of Will (iccha-shakti) is its relishing of that freedom. The Power of Knowing (jnana-shakti) is its capacity to reflect on itself. The Power of Acting (kriya-shakti) is the fact that it can assume any form. Abhinavagupta explains that Consciousness and Bliss are the intrinsic being of God, while the other three -- Will, Knowledge, and Action -- are his active Powers. These five are not separate forces but facets of a single undivided reality. The three modes of realization taught in the Tantrasara (Divine, Empowered, Embodied) correspond to the actualization of Will, Knowledge, and Action respectively.