Draft:Vimarśa

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Shiva temples in Kalna

Introduction

The concept of Vimarśa comes from the "Recognition" (Pratyabhijñā) philosophy, introduced by Utpaladeva and Abhinavagupta, two eminent masters in Kashmir Śaivism from around the 9th and 10th centuries [1].

In Pratyabhijñā philosophy, Vimarśa and Prakāśa are seen as two aspects of consciousness. Prakāśa is like a light, helping us see things inside us and around us. Vimarśa makes us aware that we see. These parts are closely linked and depend on each other [2].

In contrast to the passive nature of consciousness in Advaita Vedanta, Abhinavagupta describes consciousness in Pratyabhijñā as active and free (svātantrya), able to take many forms. Vimarśa isn't just about noticing things; it's about the desire to show itself in different ways (icchā-śakti) [3].

According to the doctrine of Vibration, consciousness is perceived as an ocean and its expressions as waves. These waves come from and go back to the ocean, showing they're all part of the same thing [4]. Every wave, like every moment of consciousness, is unique but made of the same substance as the ocean. This shows us that being conscious means being actively involved in life. Vimarśa lets us decide and act on our own [5].

Vimarśa also allows us to see each feeling or experience, like joy or pain, as part of us. It shows us everything is connected, helping us see life as a whole, where everything is a reflection of ourselves. It is in all we experience [6]. Additionnaly, Vimarśa is at work when we recognize cause and effect, like knowing there's a fire because we smell smoke [7].

Speech, another aspect of consciousness, lets us turn what we see and feel into words, whether we speak them out loud or think them. When we stop trying to label everything or claim it as ours, our speech matches up with Vimarśa. This means we all have the ability to see that the reality we talk about is just a small part of our vast consciousness [8].

Importance of Vimarśa and Prakāśa on the cosmogeny of Pratyabhijñā

The cosmogeny of Trika utilizes the notion of vimarśa along with the closely following notion of prakāśa. While prakāśa refers to fundamental subjective awareness which forms the fundamental nature of all objects of cognition, vimarśa refers to the act of judgement that leads to the recognition of all objects. Prakāśa is understood to be of the nature of illumination and vimarśa that of reflexivity, and these two held to form the most essential nature of consciousness in Pratyabhijñā thought. These two ideas also engender the metaphysical idea that the Self-Experience of Lord Siva is the primary metaphysical basis of all human experiences, especially those that explain the "ontological categories such as causality, time and action"[9]. This leads to the idea that ultimately all phenomena have being generated by recognition.

This relation between awareness and recognition leads to position of Pratyabhijñā thinkers that the recognition of all objective phenomena is not other that the subjective awareness of the experiencer, i.e. an act of self-recognition. This in turn leads to the Pratyabhijñā thinkers' cosmogenic position of Śiva’s emanation through Śakti.

The Supreme Lord, who has the nature of awareness (prakāśa), makes His own Self into an object of cognition, even though it is not an object of cognition, because the cognizer is unitary. This is supposed by means of a firm inference making the supposition, which has shown the impossibility of another cause [that is the impossibility of external objects as the causes of the diverse things we experience-which was demonstrated in the prakāśa arguments]. Therefore ... by reason of [His] agency, having the character of Sakti which is recognitive judgment (vimarśa) -as He recognitively apprehends (parāmṛśati) His Self, so, because everything is contained within Him, He appears as blue, and so forth[10]

Vimarśa as basis for veridical knowledge

Vimarśa, more than simply being a descriptor of cognitive phenomena, is taken to be an enabler of veridical cognition. As such, vimarśa is necessary for an individual's ability to process the various impulses, whether subjective or from the environment, into consciousness. Timalsina states:

Vimarśa, therefore is more than reflexivity of consciousness in confirming its own mode, as it is a crucial factor of enabling perception and inference and it also gives rise to veridical knowledge. The operation that makes an instance of knowledge veridical, in Abhinavagupta’s thesis, results in reflexivity. It is due to this reflexivity that an instance of consciousness becomes a veridical means of knowledge[11]

Vimarśa as basis for bliss

Vimarśa allows cognition in a person to effect both self-awareness and also the perception of an external reality, thus leading to perception of the multiplicity of reality. The reflexivity of vimarśa forms a fundamental quality of consciouness that allows the rise of bliss in the perception of materiality, leading to "a fulfilment of consciousness expressing itself in myriad forms and actualizing all those forms within its immanence"[12].

Applications of Vimarśa in Kaula and yoginī Practices

Kerry M. Skora considers the Pratyabhijñā thinkers Abhinavagupta to hold vimarśa to be a act of recognition that is not separated from a persons body[13], so that vimarśa leads to the "gathering together the parts of one's self that have been dispersed out into the world of objectivity and that have caused one to forget the self's connection to Śiva-Bhairava"[14]. This in turn relates to the utility of bodily bliss in kaula and yoginī practices. Abhinavagupta states these practices to lead to an expansion of consciousness caused by enjoyment, and this is itself an act of reflexive awareness or vimarśa that have both the outward flow of consciousness and the inward flow of energy occurring simultaneously. Abhinavagupta states:

At the time of the intense reflexive awareness of one's own-form, [which is] an opening [of consciousness] towards each of one's own various enjoyments, one after the other the goddesses of the secondary wheels reach the center wheel of consciousness[15]

Abhinavagupta thus holds worship to include sensual acts capable of awakening one's consciousness through bliss[16].

References

  1. ^ Timalsina, Sthaneshwar. Vimarśa the Concept of Reflexivity in the Philosophy of Utpala and Abhinavagupta, 2021, p 98.
  2. ^ Timalsina, Sthaneshwar. Vimarśa the Concept of Reflexivity in the Philosophy of Utpala and Abhinavagupta, 2021, p 98.
  3. ^ Timalsina, Sthaneshwar. Vimarśa the Concept of Reflexivity in the Philosophy of Utpala and Abhinavagupta, 2021, p 99.
  4. ^ Mark Dyczkowski, The doctrine of Vibration, p 117.
  5. ^ Timalsina, Sthaneshwar. Vimarśa the Concept of Reflexivity in the Philosophy of Utpala and Abhinavagupta, 2021, p 108.
  6. ^ Timalsina, Sthaneshwar. Vimarśa the Concept of Reflexivity in the Philosophy of Utpala and Abhinavagupta, 2021, p 103.
  7. ^ Timalsina, Sthaneshwar. Vimarśa the Concept of Reflexivity in the Philosophy of Utpala and Abhinavagupta, 2021, p 103.
  8. ^ Timalsina, Sthaneshwar. Vimarśa the Concept of Reflexivity in the Philosophy of Utpala and Abhinavagupta, 2021, p 115.
  9. ^ Lawrence, David. Śiva’s Self-Recognition and the Problem of Interpretation. Philosophy East and West, vol. 48, no. 2, 1998, pp.200.
  10. ^ Lawrence, David. Śiva’s Self-Recognition and the Problem of Interpretation. Philosophy East and West, vol. 48, no. 2, 1998, pp.202
  11. ^ Timalsina, Sthaneshwar 2022, p. 104.
  12. ^ Timalsina, Sthaneshwar 2022, p. 120.
  13. ^ Skora, Kerry Martin. The Pulsating Heart and Its Divine Sense Energies: Body and Touch in Abhinavagupta’s Trika Śaivism. 2007
  14. ^ Skora, Kerry Martin. The Pulsating Heart and Its Divine Sense Energies: Body and Touch in Abhinavagupta’s Trika Śaivism. 2007. Numen, vol. 54, no. 4, 2007, pp.438
  15. ^ Skora, Kerry Martin. The Pulsating Heart and Its Divine Sense Energies: Body and Touch in Abhinavagupta’s Trika Śaivism. 2007. Numen, vol. 54, no. 4, 2007, pp.437
  16. ^ Skora, Kerry Martin. The Pulsating Heart and Its Divine Sense Energies: Body and Touch in Abhinavagupta’s Trika Śaivism. 2007. Numen, vol. 54, no. 4, 2007, pp.434
  • Skora, Kerry Martin (2007), "The Pulsating Heart and Its Divine Sense Energies: Body and Touch in Abhinavagupta's Trika Śaivism.", Numen, 54 (4), Numen, vol. 54, no. 4, 2007, pp. 420–58. JSTOR: 420–458,
    JSTOR 27643281
  • Dwivedi, R. C. (1992), "BHARTṚHARI AND KASHMIR ŚAIVISM", Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, 72/73 (1/4), Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, vol. 72/73, no. 1/4, 1991, pp. 95–107. JSTOR: 95–107,
    JSTOR 41694884
  • Watson, Alex (2020), Further Thoughts on Rāmakaṇṭha's Relationship to Earlier Positions in the Buddhist-Brāhmaṇical Ātman Debate., Brill, 2020, pp. 87–105. JSTOR, pp. 87–105,
    JSTOR 10.1163/j.ctv2gjwvrz.12
  • Lawrence, David (1998), "Śiva's Self-Recognition and the Problem of Interpretation", Philosophy East and West, 48 (2), Philosophy East and West, vol. 48, no. 2, 1998, pp. 197–231. JSTOR: 197–231,
    JSTOR 1399826
  • Larson, Gerald James (1976), "The Aesthetic (Rasāsvadā) and the Religious (Brahmāsvāda) in Abhinavagupta's Kashmir Śaivism.", Philosophy East and West, 26 (4), Philosophy East and West, vol. 26, no. 4, 1976, pp. 371–87. JSTOR: 371–387,
    JSTOR 1398282
  • Timalsina, Sthaneshwar (2022), "Vimarśa: The Concept of Reflexivity in the Philosophy of Utpala and Abhinavagupta", Vol. 80 (2020): Sanskrit in China 2019: Sanskrit on Paths, 80 (4), ACTA ORIENTALIA: 98–121,
    doi:10.5617/ao.9395
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