Post on 13-Mar-2023
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This is the journal of the Mark Dyczkowski in Context Facebook group.
The group is inspired by the work of Mark Dyczkoswki, one of the world's greatest scholars of religion and the tradition of Trika Shaivism in which his scholarship and teaching is centred. The journal presents posts and discussions from the group. The informal, dialogical form, complemented by essays, represented by a group such as this suggests the idea of the development of knowledge as a collaborative, open ended project, rather than in terms of the finality and often individualistic form represented by academic essays in the humanities. Plato, for example, is described as the greatest Western philosopher, and yet all his works are dialogical, set in informal contexts. As a group member observes, "nearly all the tantras are a dialogue between the Lord and the Lady [Shiva and Skati demonstrating] there is no lesser value in reading meaningful words that are in the form of dialogue than those that are monologues", an understanding reinforced by fellow member Raphael Wälterlin's summation on the epistemological significance of dialogical form in Tantra: "From consciousness, to consciousness, through consciousness. Sriidevii uvaaca. The true meaning of dialogue". Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju Editor
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Contents 1. Announcement of Immersions to be conducted by Mark Dyczkowski 4 Sarah Louise Gates and Raphael Wälterlin 2. Essay 5 Mark Dyczkowski and the Poetic Logic of Hinduism Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju 3. Dialogue Indian Tantra and Service to Others 6 Raphael Wälterlin and Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju 4. Dialogue The Three Goddesses of Trika as a Tantric Paradigm 7-‐8 Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju and Raphael Wälterlin 5. Dialogue The Mantra Sauh 9-‐10 Sacha Vaca and Arjun Serneels
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1. Announcement of Immersions to be Conducted by Mark Dyczkowski Sarah Louise Gates:
19 February at 11:55 In late September 2015, Dr Mark Dyczkowski will be conducting a 7 day immersion in Fremantle, Western Australia. It is an awe inspiring chance to host him here. It will be an all inclusive residential. Raphael Wälterlin : There will be an immersion at Mark Dyczkowski's home in Italy around the end of June, beginning of July, exact timeframe yet to be announced.
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2. Mark Dyczkowski and the Poetic Logic of Hinduism Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju Mark Dyczkowski's work is sublime, profound, thorough, voluminous, wide ranging, exquisitely expressed and accessible to readers of any religious persuasion or none in its wondrous grasp of the poetic logic of ideas in the Shaivite and Shakta Hindu traditions that are his life's work. I became enchanted with his work on reading his exposition of the devotional opening to Bhaskara's commentary on the Siva Sutras of Vasugupta from Mark Dyczkowski's The Aphorisms of Siva: The Siva Sutra with Bhaskara's commentary, the Varttika. Albany: SUNY Press, 1992. 190-‐1: "May (all) prostrate before the Lord, the bestower of boons Who is the beloved of the daughter of the Snowy Mountains that bears as a crestjewel the budding moon and sustains, destroys and creates ( all things)" Dyczkowski responds: "The movement of the moon is thought to continuously regenerate the universe. The moon is the visible form of the divine source of the life giving ambrosia (soma, amrta) which, as it gradually wanes, empties out of it to feed the entire universe of objectivity,including the gods and manes, as well as the sun and the other cosmic bodies along with man's body, senses and mind. During the bright fortnight, as the moon waxes, it gradually reabsorbs into itself from its hidden source what it had lost in the dark fortnight. In this way, the moon, which consists of fifteen digits, (kala) increases and decreases continuously. This cyclic process of nourishment and self-‐regeneration is grounded in an unchanging, underlying reality that persists as the permanent element that guarantees the continuity and regularity of this process. This element is conceived to be the sixteenth digit of the moon, known as amakala. Although invisible, it is the source of all the other digits and hence the one which ultimately nourishes the whole universe ( visvatarpini), and so is identified with the divine energy of the emission (visarga) of consciousness that incessantly renews all things.".
What continually enchants me here is Dyczkowski's drawing out of the imaginative threads interpreting visible celestial phenomena in metaphysical and cosmogonic terms. The play of images and ideas in consonance emerges clearly and delightfully.
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3. Indian Tantra and Service to Others
Raphael Wälterlin : 22 February at 19:34 In my limited studies of Indian tantrism, I have not come across many sources mentioning working for the benefit of others. The more struck I was by the following profoundly beautiful verses from Abhinavagupta in his Tantralokah chapter II (as translated by Mark in his MBT, Vol. 1, p. 444): "Abandon all application! What are you applying yourself to? Try to understand this for yourself: Application to that which is full and perfect makes no sense, nor can that which is not full and perfect ever attain to authentic existence. Those who sanctified thus by the supremely real consciousness firmly affirmed (within them), and who are established on the path of the Absolute, are independent of all means. The people of this world, intent as they are on their own affairs, do not exert themselves to act for the benefit of others; while he in whom all the impurity of phenomenal existence has been destroyed and who is identified with Bhairava by virtue of which he is full and perfect has clearly only this (left) to do, namely, to attend to the well-‐being of the world. Such is the extent of his graciousness that those whose consciousness is pure by following that same course of development and who behold such a one also become of his same nature." -‐ TAA 2/12, 34, 39-‐40 Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju : A great vision, correlative with the Buddhist vision of the Boddhisatva, immortally summed up by Santiideva in the Boddhicaryavatra-‐ "As long as space abides, as long as the world abides, so long shall I abide, destroying the sufferings of the world". Raphael Wälterlin : Wonderful. I think the Hindu tantras, in their highest and most profound sense as expounded in the mystic-‐monistic streams of Kashmiri Saivism, repeatedly indicate compassion, but in my perception rather implicitly; that's why I was kinda surprised to read these lines.
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4. The Three Goddesses of Trika as a Tantric Paradigm Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju : 21 February at 17:30 The Three Goddesses of Trika The Śakti trinity Trika is also reflected in the Śakti trinity:
"parā-‐śakti -‐ the supreme energy, existing in transcendence parāpara śakti -‐ the supreme-‐unsupreme Śakti, existing both in transcendence and immanence aparā śakti -‐ the unsupreme energy, existing in immanence" From Wikipedia "Trika"
The three Goddesses of Trika From the Sri Tantraloka : Translation & Explanation Facebook page
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Raphael Wälterlin : The Sakti-‐trinity, which is of course basic and central to all Hindu-‐Tantric traditions, is a typical Trika feature when presented and labelled in terms of Para/Apara. If I am not mistaken, the scriptural origin of such labelling goes back to the MVT which is a central Trika tantram. Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju : Thanks, Raphael Wälterlin. What's the full meaning of MVT? I'm struck by your stating the 'Sakti-‐trinity is central to all Hindu-‐Tantric traditions as I am yet to encounter it in Sri Vidya. Raphael Wälterlin : I am not too familiar with the Srividya tradition, but I think yes. "The dii explains the triplicity of the sricakra mentioned in these three stanzas [22-‐24 ofYoginihrdaya] as linked to the three forms of energy-‐goddesses, each being present in a group of three chakras [...]" Andre Padoux in his translation of the Yoginihrdaya, p. 34. Further down, the triad is explicitly identified as the classic triad of iccha, jnana and kriya. Also Mark in the First Volume of his MBT-‐translation gives evidence that the Srividya tradition has been influenced by the Trika School (via the Kubjika tradition), especially concerning the triangle/yoni which is triadic as well... MVT = Malinivijayottaratantram, which Abhinavagupta refers to as the most central trika tantra in Tantralokah Chapter 1. I think not only the Trika goddesses, but also the three upayas and various other concepts present in Kashmiri Shaivism are grounded in that text. Lalana expounds on the image above of the three Goddesses of Trika at her blog post "Para, Apara and Parapara".
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5. The Mantra Sauh Sacha Vaca : 23 February at 09:48 Is markji pronouncing sauh at ~53:32-‐37? and what's that before that -‐ phrem/hskphrem, sounds like kafraim though? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ftGeQkvlwI Arjun Serneels : Khphrem Aim, hrim, shrim, khphrem, sauh, these are the 5 pranavas in Manthanabhairavatantram, often prefixed to talejus mantras. Sacha Vaca : I thought the sauh from the 5 pranavas is the same sauh from Paratrisika and therefore the pronunciation of this unpronounceable mantra would be the same, no? Arjun Serneels : Why would sauh be unpronounceable? Iit is very much used in certain pujas, in Shrividya it features prominently, tripurabhairavi mantra is a variant of it, gurupadukamantra is based on it and it is the mulamantra for kularnavatantra, and in all these cases the mantra is being expressed vocally. Sacha Vaca : From Silburn's Kundalini p.55 -‐ "SAUH is the heart mantra, the supreme l ness, and it should not be considered as a formula meant for recitation. but as an energy" to be activated in order to obtain the comprehension full of potency trough which one goes back to the source— -‐the universal heart and its rhythm." Also [ that point is referenced] in so many other places, that would take me forever to dig up. So the heart bija is just contemplated in an elevated manner, so to speak. Then there is a mantra whose textual representation is the same, namely "sauh" that is very much recited. To what degree [should ] these two could be considered as similar /dissimilar and why?
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Also see the note on page 203 regarding "a technical sense" of uccara Paratrisika (Jaideva Singh translation). Arjun Serneels : The same thing, the same energy practiced in different upayas does not make it into something different. The meaning of sauh you are quoting from Silburn is sauh in shaktopaya, its recitation is happening in anavopaya. Both are recognised as valid paths to the absolute, to direct recognition of one's own essential nature. Also, in its recitation there is an entire yoga which takes place because the resonance of the recited mantra travels up to dvadashanta via nada, bindu, nirodhika, nadanta etc, as ardhamatra. This kind of nadayoga may not even include vocal utterance of the mantra but a concentration, at times even pranayama, on the energy movement during manasik japa.