Vasugupta
Spanda · c. 860-925 CE
Vasugupta is regarded as the fountainhead of the nondual Shaiva traditions of Kashmir. According to tradition, the Shiva Sutras were revealed to him inscribed on a rock on Shankarapala mountain (modern-day Harwan, near Srinagar). These terse aphorisms became the seed-text of the entire tradition. Vasugupta or his disciple Kallata also composed the Spanda-karikas ('Verses on the Vibration'), which articulate the insight that the fundamental nature of reality is a subtle vibration or pulsation (spanda) of Consciousness. The Tantrasara inherits this understanding: when Abhinavagupta speaks of the Heart (hridaya), the Essence (sara), and Pulsation (spanda) as names for the supreme Power, he is drawing directly from Vasugupta's legacy.
Key Teachings
- •Reality is Shiva, whose nature is Consciousness -- this is the first and most fundamental aphorism.
- •The pulsation (spanda) of Consciousness is the creative power that gives rise to all experience.
- •Knowledge of one's true nature as Shiva is bondage's only antidote.
- •The Shiva Sutras lay out three modes of realization: through Shiva (will), through Shakti (knowledge), and through the individual (action).