In the balanced triangle of forces, in the pre-creation stage, when the unmanifested primordial Cognition has not yet come under the influence of the unmanifested primordial forces, that is, when the principles are purely in the subjective case and in the opposite direction there is nothing objective, that Cognitive Faculty in the unmanifested balanced triangle is called Guńamaya. Parashiva is a philosophical equivalent term. When the three forces in a state of manifestation give rise to an objective case in the opposite direction, that antithesis in the form of the objective case is called Aparashiva. Parashiva is Guńamaya, but Aparashiva, although Guńamaya in the practical sphere, is actually not Guńamaya in the theoretical sphere, because the alternation between manifestation and non-manifestation of the forces goes on constantly, simultaneously with the emanation, externalization, reflection and refraction from the points of Shambhúliuṋga and Svayambhúliuṋga.

The Siddhántácára, Vámácára and Kulácára of Shaeva Tantra [Shiva Tantra, Shaivite Tantra] are recognized by both the Hindu and Buddhist schools of Tantra. The Buddhist Vajrayána, Mantrayána, Tantrayána and Kálacakrayána sub-schools of Tantra recognize all of these ácáras and follow them in actual practice. The purest part of Shaeva Tantra, which is beyond both Dakśińácára and Vámácára⁽¹⁾ and was formerly to be learned in śámrájya diiksá [a kind of Tantric initiation] from a kaola guru [Tantric guru], is now included in Rájádhirája Yoga. Some of the subtler processes of Ananda Marga sádhaná bear a close relation to Rájádhirája. Maharśi Aśt́ávakra, while staying at Vakreshvar tiirtha [place of pilgrimage], introduced Rájádhirája and gave the first initiation in that school to the young Prince Alarka. In Hindu Tantra, Buddhist Tantra, and Rájádhirája Yoga, this concept of Parashiva in the unmanifested balanced triangle of forces has been recognized implicitly or explicitly. Naerátma Devii of Kálacakrayána and Shúnyátma Devii of Kauṋkála-málinii Tantra are simply alternative names of Parashiva.⁽²⁾

In later years the school of Shaeva Tantra altogether lost its high-grade spiritual cult, and there remained only the more inconsequential of Vámácára Tantric practices such as dancing with a dead body and performing a type of sádhaná with a skeleton. In a later period, lasting about 150 years, when the school of Terapanthá Jainism was to be found throughout all of northern India, Vámácára-oriented Shaeva Tantra had become practically extinct from all of India, particularly from Bengal. The school of Aghorpanthá, which is still to be found covertly practised in Bengal, is also a distorted form of Vámácárii Shaeva Tantra. The original features of Shaeva Tantra, in the absence of a competent Tantric master and deserving Tantric disciples, have today become confused. Now it is like a labyrinth. Saora Tantra, Gáńapatya Tantra, and Shaeva Tantra do not have adequate scriptural literature, as Shákta Tantra and Vaeśńava Tantra have;⁽³⁾ Saora Tantra and Gáńapatya Tantra have almost no literature of their own. Once I ran across a few manuscripts of Shaeva Tantra written on palm leaves in red ink. The owners of the manuscripts could neither read them nor understand their meanings if they heard them, nor were they willing to transfer ownership of them to anyone else. But this much can be said, that their basic theme is Parashiva-oriented. It can also be said (through pure philosophical analysis and analysis of the cult which they prescribe) that their basic theme is the Parashiva Guńamaya of Shaeva Tantra.

Footnotes

(1) Editors’ note: Dakśińácára Tantra attempts to overcome Máyá by appeasement; Vámácára Tantra attempts to overcome Máyá by fight, but without any clear goal. See the chapter “Overcoming Máyá” in Volume Two.

(2) Editor’s note: In Buddhism the Cognitive Principle is symbolized by female and the Operative Principle by male.

(3) Editors’ note: For these five schools of Tantra, see pp. 240-243.