Shaivism
शैवसम्प्रदाय śaivaThe stream of Hinduism that worships Shiva as the supreme reality, with its own Agamas, theologies from dualist Shaiva Siddhanta to non-dual Kashmir Shaivism, temples and saints.
Explained in depth in What is Shaivism?Where this term appears
- Āgama and Veda: two revelations Lineages
The Veda and the Āgama are the two revelations of Hinduism. The Veda is śruti, "heard," held to be authorless and eternal; the Āgama or Tantra is the revealed word…
- Bhuta Shuddhi: The Rite That Burns the Body to Ash Lineages
Bhuta shuddhi ('purification of the elements') is the preliminary tantric rite in which the worshipper mentally dissolves their own body, element by element, back…
- Eighty-five titles and no text: the Saura tantras and how a tradition disappears Lineages
Saura was the tradition of the Sun: a priesthood, a canon of scriptures, and royal devotees, recognised as a peer by its rivals. A Śaiva text preserved in a…
- The 28 Śaiva Āgamas Lineages
The priest is an Ādiśaiva, and the book behind his hands is an Āgama.
- The 64 Śākta Tantras Lineages
The 64 Śākta Tantras are the Goddess-centred tantric scriptures, named in a famous verse of the Saundaryalaharī. The number 64 is a traditional and symbolic…
- The Aghorīs Lineages
The Aghorīs are a small Śaiva ascetic tradition of the cremation ground, who worship Shiva in his Aghora, or 'non-terrible,' aspect. Their transgressive practices,…
- The Kularnava Tantra: The Kaula Path and the True Guru Lineages
The Kularnava Tantra ('the ocean of the Kula') is one of the most important and most quoted scriptures of the Kaula school of Tantra, a comprehensive manual of the…
- The Nāth Sampradaya Lineages
The Nāth Sampradaya is an order of Śaiva yogis, ascetic and antinomian, known above all as the tradition that carries haṭha yoga and the pursuit of an immortal,…