Bhutiraja
Krama · c. 10th century CE
Bhutiraja (also known as Bhutiraja-tanaya) was Abhinavagupta's teacher in the Krama tradition, the esoteric lineage centered on the worship of Kali as the dynamic pulsation of Consciousness through cycles of creation, maintenance, and dissolution. Abhinavagupta quotes Bhutiraja directly in the Tantrasara's third Day, citing his teaching on Kali: 'Because She projects and because She knows, and because She is the projected and the known, She is called Kali.' Bhutiraja also taught that the esoteric teachings should be neither confined to one place nor kept entirely hidden -- a principle Abhinavagupta honored by including Krama teachings in his public works. The twelve Kalis teaching, central to Day Three of the Tantrasara, derives from this lineage transmission.
Key Teachings
- •Because She projects and because She knows, and because She is the projected and the known, She is called Kali.
- •The twelve Kalis represent the complete cycle of Consciousness: from projection to passion to reabsorption to the formless ground.
- •Esoteric teachings should be neither confined to a single place nor kept entirely hidden.
- •The Krama path reveals the spontaneous pulsation of Consciousness through successive phases of awareness.