Seminars
Graduate Seminars in the USA
The non-dual philosophy of Kashmir Shaivism has become increasingly recognized as one of the important
schools of Indian philosophical thought. However, there are only a few graduate programs in the West
where its texts are studied in depth. Therefore Muktabodha has held two seminars for graduate and
Ph.D. level students on key texts of this philosophy, led by senior US scholars in the field.
Working directly with the original Sanskrit texts, the seminars focused on passages from
Utpaladeva's Isvarapratyabhijna Karika and
Abhinavagupta's Tantrasara. In these small,
highly focused seminars, participants have been able to work closely with leading scholars,
studying significant texts and topics that were not generally offered at their home universities.
One participant described the seminars as "one of the most rewarding learning experiences of my graduate school career," highlighting the value of "rigorous study of a most challenging philosophical text, with the best professors in the field, in the company of highly motivated fellow graduate students."
Entering the Heart of Scripture: a week's immersion in the Ishvara-Pratyabhijna-Karika
by Marcy Braverman.
Undergraduate Seminars in India
Ironically, the situation in India is every bit as critical,
since the living, oral tradition that supports the texts of
Kashmir Shaivism is rapidly dying out. Recognizing this, our
founder Gurumayi Chidvilasananda, encouraged Muktabodha to make
a commitment to help preserve and reinvigorate this invaluable
piece of intellectual and spiritual heritage.
From the time the early texts of Kashmir Shaivism were composed some 1,000 years ago, students engaged in their study were to be taught using a classical method that blends agama (study of a scriptural text), yukti (application of logic), and anubhuti (reflections on their own inner experience). This method models Muktabodha's aim to bring about a paradigm shift in the contemporary study and preservation of Indian religious philosophy, a shift that brings together analytic scholarship and the experiential knowledge of the spiritual practitioner. This same traditional method was used by leading scholars of Kashmir Shaivism when they taught at a series of scriptural study retreats in Gurudev Siddha Peeth, Ganeshpuri.
One participant wrote that although the scholars' teaching method was challenging, it quickly became apparent that in addition to following the flow of specific ideas, the process the scholars used of repetition, restatement, and continuous pointing to a larger Truth embedded in and framing the whole text "caused a kind of internal rewiring that took the teaching deep into my being."
Seminar at Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi
Muktabodha's first seminar in an academic setting was co-sponsored
by the prestigious Kashi Hindu Vishvavidyalaya (Benares Hindu University)
and held on their beautiful campus in Varanasi, the ancient city of scholars.
The seminar was taught by the leading scholars from Varanasi, Kolkatta and Ujjain,
and focused on Muktabodha's publication Isvara Pratyabhijna Karika
("Verses on the Recognition of the Lord"). The 3 days had a
vital feeling of breaking new ground, though
it was actually renewing old ground by bringing
together academics and students keen to imbibe the teachings
and experience the states of consciousness the texts describe.
In his opening remarks, the President
of Muktabodha, Dr. William K. Mahony, noted the symbolic significance
of holding this seminar in the sacred city of Varanasi on the
banks of the Ganges River. He reminded participants that Varanasi
is also known as Kashi, the City of Light, and that according
to sacred mythology there are actually three sacred Ganges rivers
that come together as a samgha, a junction, in this special place:
the celestial Ganges, the terrestrial Ganges, and the subterranean
Ganges. He then said that the seminar similarly brings together
three mutually-illuminating rays of light. The many participants
from different parts of the world are like the terrestrial Ganges.
The knowledge that descends from the heights of Shaiva wisdom
and expressed in the Isvara-Pratyabhijna-Karika is like the celestial
Ganges. And the participants' own experience refined through their
dedication to the spiritual life is like the underground Ganges,
for it wells up from the depths of their own inner wisdom.
Photographs from top clockwise:
*Dr. Kamalesh Jha, Head of the Department of Agama & Dharmashastra at Banaras Hindu University, from the lineage of the Kashmir Shaiva pandita, Rameshwar Jha.
*Dr. Devabrata Sensharma, formerly Head of the Philosophy Department at Kurukshetra University, now at the Ramakrishna Math in Kolkata, author of many works on Kashmir Shaivism, and disciple of the great exponent of Kashmir Shaivism, Dr. Gopinath Kaviraj. (Dr. Sensharma shown above with Dr. William K. Mahony)
*Dr. Kamlesh Dutta Tripathi, Dean of Kalidas Academy at Vikram Vishvavidyalaya in Ujjain, formerly Head of Department of Agama & Dharmashastra at Banaras Hindu University, and author on Pratyabhijna philosophy.
*Pt. Hemendra Nath Chakravarty, formerly the senior pandita of the IGNCA Research Centre and an internationally recognized authority on Pratyabhijna philosophy.