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The Yoga of Netra Tantra

Third Eye and Overcoming Death by: Bettina Sharada Bäumer , Shivam Srivastava (Editor)
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The Netra Tantra “Tantra of the (Third) Eye (of Siva)”, also called Mrtyujit (Conqueror of Death), is one of the fundamental scriptures of non-dualist Kashmir Saivism or Trika. It is the only Tantra having the Third Eye of Siva as title and theme, and it contains three important chapters on Yoga, relating to three ways of overcoming death.
This book, besides giving an introduction to the Tantra, contains an interpretation of the three chapters; Chapter 1 deals with the Eye of Siva, Chapter 7 with subtle Yoga, and Chapter 8 with supreme Yoga. The same texts are presented in Devanagari, transliteration and translation, including the eleventh-century commentary of Ksemaraja, illustrious disciple of Abhinavagupta. The Appendix contains illustrations of the theme of trinetra from different sources, mainly connected with Kashmir, as well as a comparative study on “The spiritual eye in the Christian mystical traditions”.
This book is an important contribution to the studies on non-dualist Saivism or Trika, and especially to its Yoga.

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ISBN: 9788124609668
Year Of Publication: 2019
Edition: 1st Edition
Pages : xx, 252
Bibliographic Details : Glossary; Bibliography; Index
Language : English
Binding : Hardcover
Publisher: D.K. Printworld Pvt. Ltd.
Size: 23
Weight: 750

Overview

The Netra Tantra “Tantra of the (Third) Eye (of Siva)”, also called Mrtyujit (Conqueror of Death), is one of the fundamental scriptures of non-dualist Kashmir Saivism or Trika. It is the only Tantra having the Third Eye of Siva as title and theme, and it contains three important chapters on Yoga, relating to three ways of overcoming death.
This book, besides giving an introduction to the Tantra, contains an interpretation of the three chapters; Chapter 1 deals with the Eye of Siva, Chapter 7 with subtle Yoga, and Chapter 8 with supreme Yoga. The same texts are presented in Devanagari, transliteration and translation, including the eleventh-century commentary of Ksemaraja, illustrious disciple of Abhinavagupta. The Appendix contains illustrations of the theme of trinetra from different sources, mainly connected with Kashmir, as well as a comparative study on “The spiritual eye in the Christian mystical traditions”.
This book is an important contribution to the studies on non-dualist Saivism or Trika, and especially to its Yoga.

Contents

Preface
Acknowledgements
List of Illustrations
Facsimile by Swami Lakshman Joo
Maṅgalaślokas by Kṣemarāja

Part I: Introduction and Interpretation

1. Introduction

Titles
Revelation and Transmission of the Tantra
Kṣemarāja, the Commentator
Research on the Netra Tantra
The Context: Śaiva Yoga
Table 1.1: Yogāṅgas – Comparative Table
Terminology and Description of the Subtle Body
The Mantra and Its Importance in Yoga
The Appendices
Iconography of the Trinetra
Contents of Netra Tantra

2. The Eye of Śiva: Chapter I

The Trika Dynamism (1.1-2)
The Divine Dialogue (1.5-12)
The (Third) Eye of Śiva (1.13-22ab)
The Eye as the Supreme Power (1.22cd-34ab)
The Conqueror of Death, the Liberator from Suffering (1.34cd-37)
The Power of the Eye (1.38-48ab)

3. The Netramantra and its Practice: Chapters II, III, VI

Compassion as Motive for Revelation of
the Netramantra: Chapter II
The Ritual Context of the Mantra: Chapter III
The Corporeal Yoga, sthūla-dhyāna: Chapter VI
A Summary of the Three Upāyas

4. The Subtle Yoga, sūkṣma-dhyāna: Chapter VII

Structures of the Subtle Body (7.1-5)
Creating a Divine Body through Kula-prakriyā (7.6-16)
A Brief Outline of the Process of Kula-prakriyā
Ascent and Descent of the Energy through
Tantra-prakriyā (7.16cd-29)
The Spear of Awareness (7.30-32ab)
Discovery of Khecarī-mudrā: 7:32cd-39
Manifestation of the Supreme Energy (7.40-44)
Flooding the Body with Nectar (7.45-53)

5. The Supreme Yoga, para-dhyāna: Chapter VIII

The Supreme Goal (8.1-9)
Reinterpretation of Aṣṭāṅga-yoga (8.10-20)
Transcendence of the Yogī (8.21-28)
The Necessity of Śakti (8.29-36)
The Highest State of the Yogī (8.37-40)
The “Means” to Attain the Śāmbhava State (8.41-47)
Vanquishing Time/Death (8.48-53)
Universality of the Means (8.54-57)
The King of Mantras (8.58-68)
Universalism of the Netra: Chapter IX

6. The Role of Yoginīs in Yoga: Chapter XX

7. The Mantra Unveiled: Chapters XXI-XXII

Trika Theory of Mantra (Chapter XXI)
The Amr̥teśamantra (Chapter XXII)
Summary

8. Conclusion

Part II: Text and Translation

1. Chapters I, VII and VIII: Sanskrit Text

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lIreks¿f/dkj%
v””Veks¿f/dkj%

2. Chapters I, VII and VIII: Transliteration

Chapter I
Chapter VII
Chapter VIII

3. Chapters I, VII and VIII: Translation

Chapter I
Chapter VII
Chapter VIII

Appendix 1: The Spiritual Eye in the Christian Mystical
Traditions: A Cross-cultural Reflection
Appendix 2: Iconography
Bibliography
Index-cum-Glossary

Meet the Author
avatar-author
1940
Bettina Sharada Bäumer is a scholar of non-dualist Kashmir Saivism and a disciple of Swami Lakshman Joo (1907-91). She has been teaching texts of Kashmir Saivism in intensive seminars for the last 20 years. She was National Fellow at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla, from 2015-17. At present she is Director of ‘Samvidalaya, Abhinavagupta Research Library’ in Varanasi. Her recent publications include: Abhinavagupta’s Hermeneutics of the Absolute, Anuttaraprakriya, An Interpretation of His Paratriksika Vivarana (2011); Utpaladeva, Philosopher of Recognition, co-edited with Raffaele Torella (2016); Tantrapushpanjali: Tantric Traditions and Philosophy of Kashmir, Studies in Memory of Pandit H.N. Chakravarty, co-edited with Hamsa Stainton (2018). In 2015 she was awarded Padma Shri by the Government of India.
avatar-author
Shivam Srivastava is the Director of Godparents Foundation, a non-profit providing web-based technology and fundraising services for educational organizations in India. With a background in Materials Science, Finance and Economic Policy, he has been exploring Indian as well as Western philosophical traditions, with special interest in Kashmir Śaivism.
Books of Shivam Srivastava (Editor)

  1. Opinion by Professor Gavin Flood (store manager)

    Bettina Baumer has written a marvelous book about the Netra Tantra, the first published on this interesting text. This is an important publication in the field of tantric studies/yoga because it is not simply a philological study (important as that is) but also a ‘higher order’/ conceptual study too. The book gives an overview of the text, its teachings about the third eye of Siva and its mantra, along with the various practices of meditation and ritual that the text presents. Through focusing on the subtle and supreme meditations, the author shows how the text addresses different levels of attainment and aspiration. There are excellent translations of the first, seventh and eighth chapters along with the Sanskrit text itself, there is an appendix, placing the Netra in the context of comparative mysticism and the wonderful coloured illustrations are a visual essay in themselves.

    Professor Gavin Flood, FBA
    Professor of Hindu Studies and Comparative Religion, Oxford University