Upāya-s: The four means or methods
Non-dual Shaivism of Kashmir is a philosophical system coming from Northern India. As a matter of fact, it comes from God, but it is also true that the great teachers were born and taught Trika (a short name for Non-dual Shaivism of Kashmir) in Kashmir.
This system teaches four means or methods (upāya-s) for you to approach your essential nature. The word "upāya" is derived from the verbal root "upe = upa + i" (to come near, to approach). So, "upāya" is a means or method by which you approach God.
Their names are as follows:
1. ANUPĀYA (AN + UPĀYA) : Lit. "without any means or method".
2. ŚĀMBHAVOPĀYA (ŚĀMBHAVA + UPĀYA): The means or method of Śambhu (Śiva or God)
3. ŚĀKTOPĀYA (ŚĀKTA + UPĀYA): The means or method of Śakti (the dynamic power of Śiva or God).
4. ĀṆAVOPĀYA (ĀṆAVA + UPĀYA): The means or method pertaining to the aṇu (the limited being).
Each of these upāya-s (means or methods) utilizes a particular aspect of yours. Let us analyze them one by one:
Anupāya (lit. "without means or method")
This is not really a means or method but rather "the culmination of Śāmbhavopāya" (the next means or method). Anupāya is the direct perception that I AM ŚIVA, I AM THE SUPREME BEING. When you have this perception, You don't have to resort to any practice or method. Therefore, this is not really an Upāya, as I said before.
When you realize that YOU ARE THE LORD, that is Anupāya. However, it is referred to as "a kind of means or method" because on very rare occasions appears a very special disciple who just needs to receive from his Guru the revelation that he really is the Lord to become immediately conscious of his divine identity.
But there is no means being practiced really, because the disciple instantly realizes that he is Śiva. That is why Anupāya is mentioned as if it were a means but at the same time it is really not a means. Hence its name: "without a means". Nonetheless, as this kind of disciples getting Liberation at once are very rare, this upāya is sometimes omitted and only the three remaining ones are mentioned.
Śāmbhavopāya (lit. "the means or method pertaining to Śambhu or Śiva")
The great master Abhinavagupta says:
मा किञ्चित्त्याज मा गृहाण।
विरम स्वस्थो यथावस्थितः॥
Mā kiñcittyāja mā gṛhāṇa|
Virama svastho yathāvasthitaḥ||
Do not (mā) abandon (tyāja) anything (kiñcid), do not (mā) accept (gṛhāṇa) anything (kiñcid); stop (virama), thus (yathā) abiding (avasthitaḥ) in your own Self (svasthaḥ).
As Abhinavagupta said previously, in this Upāya you neither abandon nor accept anything. The mind continues to think of this and that, but you do not attempt to control it and simultaneously you do not accept those thoughts either. You only abide like a Witness to all of them. In Śāmbhavopāya there is no support. You remain a formless and timeless Witness to everything. This is the state of your essential Self: a formless and timeless Witness.
There are no thoughts in this upāya, i.e. the great disciple, by means of the above-mentioned attitude, obliterates all thoughts in his mind. Afterwards, he just awaits the Grace of the Great Lord, which will bestow Liberation on him. Here the Guru is more important than the disciple, because the latter just waits for the Grace of the former. The only effort made by the disciple is to attain thoughtlessness.
When Grace touches him, he crosses the last barrier and attains Liberation, which means 'identity with one's own Self'. Another names for "Self" are: "true essential nature", "spirit", "I", "God", "Supreme Being", "Absolute", etc.
Śāktopāya (lit. "the means or method pertaining to Śakti")
Śakti is the Power of Śiva. Through Śakti, Śiva (You) can be conscious of His existence. Śakti is the "AM" in the phrase, "I AM".
This very Śakti also appears to be everything around You (the Witness or Śiva). And She is also the mind, which makes you move about. Therefore, when you practice Śāktopāya, you are using Śakti's viewpoint to search your own essential nature. The main tool to be used is the Mantra. Mantra here means 'Aham' (I AM) and not sacred formulae like Om̐ namaḥ śivāya, etc.
By concentration on "I AM" or the Central Reality, you will be able to realize your essential nature as Śiva. By constant concentration on the Central Reality or I AM, the pure thought ("Śuddhavikalpa") emerges.
A pure thought (Śuddhavikalpa) has two functions: positive and negative. The positive function can be divided into three parts: Mantraśakti (Power of Mantra), Sattarka (true reasoning or true logic) and Śuddhavidyā (Pure Knowledge).
In short, you concentrate on the Mantra or Central Reality (I AM) to be found in the middle of two movements. With the emergence of the Śuddhavikalpa (pure thought), you develop Sattarka or a continuous series of thoughts/ideas similar to the Śuddhavikalpa, which leads to the emergence of Śuddhavidyā (Pure Knowledge, and not the tattva 5). Śuddhavidyā is divine in nature and will lead you directly to the state of Śāmbhavopāya characterized by absence of vikalpa-s (thoughts/ideas).
The negative function of a Śuddhavikalpa is as follows: a Śuddhavikalpa removes the sense of duality. You now feel different from others and from the entire universe, and also, you feel different from God. All this ignorance is removed by the Glory of a pure thought when it is properly utilized.
Āṇavopāya (lit. "the means or method pertaining to the aṇu -the limited being-")
In this Upāya (means or method of approach), you will be using the intellect, vital energy (prāṇa), physical body/senses and external objects to become conscious of your essential nature. This is so because the aṇu (conditioned being or self) considers himself to be his intellect, vital energy, physical body, etc. And he also feels attachment toward external objects and people.
So, Āṇavopāya may be divided into five portions: Uccāra, Karaṇa, Dhyāna, Varṇa and Sthānakalpanā.
Uccāra is concerned with fixing the attention on the various aspects of the vital energy (prāṇa).
Karaṇa uses the physical body/senses.
Dhyāna is (in this case) contemplation.
Varṇa is concerned with listening to the subtle anāhata (unstruck, uncaused) sound.
Sthānakalpanā is concerned with fixing the mind on certain places.
With this simple table I summarize the teachings:
This has been a short and very condensed introduction. To learn more about these methods, please visit the following links:
Going deeper into Śāmbhavopāya – The Path of Will
Going deeper into Śāktopāya – The Path of Knowledge
Going deeper into Āṇavopāya – The Path of Action
See you in the next post!