The 8 Schools of Shaivism, A Non-Sectarian Approach

Recently, we've been asking the question How To Practice Tantra Safely and we proposed that the historical progression of ideas in Shaivism presents a kind of graded syllabus where the traditions that come earlier (like the Vedas and the Shaiva Siddhanta etc.) act as firm foundations for the traditions that emerge later, like the transgressive, non-dual Goddess-oriented traditions (Kaula etc.).

Abhinava Gupta presents us with a kind of hierarchy for the various schools in Tantrāloka 29.51:

1. Veda (Smārta and Śrauta)
2. Vaishnava Tantra (Pañcarātra)
3. Pashupāta systems (Lakulīśan etc.)
4. Siddhānta
5. Vāma
6. Dakshina
7. Mata
8. Kula
9. Kaula
10. Trika (kulāt parataram trika)

Of course, the fact that he distinguishes "Kula" from "Kaula" is worth noting and perhaps worth discussing in depth on another occasion. In what sense the Trika is the "highest" is also worth questioning. In a sense. the Veda and Siddhānta might be the most important since they are the most foundational and yet in another sense, the Kaula and Trika might be the "best" because they are the most refined, specialized revelations of Lord Shiva for the most advanced practitioners.

In any case, the world of Tantra, both Hindu and Buddhist is full of "doxographical hierarchies" like this where other schools are accepted as true and good but only insofar as they can lead to "my" school which necessarily I will position as the greatest.

We find this strategy also in the Tibetan Tantra masterpiece "Progressive Stages of Meditation on Emptiness" by Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche where the various Buddhist schools are presented in a hierarchy. 

This approach is called "religious inclusivism" and it is certainly better than "religious exclusivism" which says "my path alone is right and other paths are wrong!." In this video, I argue for a third approach as exemplified by Sri Ramakrishna: "all paths are equally, non-hierarchically good as many aspects of the Infinitely Varied One!" This view is called religious "pluralism" and it is to this view that our lineage belongs. 

As such, in this video, having carefully examined these various approaches to the many schools of Tantra, we make a case for a non-sectarian reading! 

We present the major 8 schools of Shaivism as follows:

• Pāshupata dualism (includes Nyāya and Vaishesika)
• The Lakulīsha Pāshupata
• Shaiva Siddhānta Dualism
• Shaiva Viśishtādvaita
• Viśeshādvaita (Vīra Shaivism)
• Nandikeśvara Shaivism
• Raseśvara Shaivism
• Shaiva monism (Advaita Shaiva Vada)

You'll find a complete playlist of introductory lectures on Tantra in both theory and practice here. 

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