Source: TW
Many Hindus have a very poor appreciation of the importance of ritual/spiritual technology & what it can do. A robust & powerful ritual/metaphysical technology can transform even the most primitive (whether apparent or actual) of religions into something very profound & this can create an extremely strong attachment to the Deity & its coterie which undergird that system, including becoming subjected to that Deity’s limitations (if the Deity is truly not transcendental or “enlightened”).
It’s precisely because of this potential one has to be very careful because getting initiated into a system with such ritual technology can leave a very deep mark/stain “on” the soul (figuratively, since the soul can’t be stained & the actual locus of the mark is the innate malaśakti obscuring the soul but this gets very technical), which can be very difficult to remove without a truly competent master.
Such a mark can prevent a soul from progressing towards the higher end of spiritual traditions & obstruct them from realizing the fruit even if they get initiated into such a higher-end Sampradāya. This is why, in the Siddhānta, prior to Dīkṣā (initiation), a rite called Liṅgoddhāra has to be first performed for a convert from another system in order to remove the mark (Liṅga) from the initiate, though many teachers (particularly those who are completely outside Saṁskṛta scholarship, are exclusively vested in the Tamizh tradition & are not well-versed in the Āgama) are sadly not well-equipped to do this.(5)
Many Hindus often find it cool to clap back with retorts like “all these Abrahma religions are barbaric & worship false gods”, mirroring what the Abrahmas say. What they don’t get is that we have to confront them precisely because they are real & they have complex spiritual technologies which work but are ultimately not beneficial.
In this regard, those in a position to understand should be able to see something like the below & see in it a diminished version of a similar technology used by the Śaiva-Mantramārga (particularly the Siddhānta) &, to a much lesser extent, the Pāñcarātrikas. It also shows how the use of a proper, ritual technology (even if ultimately limited) can transform a religion even if the base framework is primitive/crude .
The below table is based on the Yahudas’ Kabbalah. What parallel concept/ritual technology in the above-mentioned Āstika Sampradāyas does it remind you of?
Screenshot in above tweet missed the last column. See this:
Further correspondences:
- Map between the worlds in above table & different prayers
- Correspondence between the 22 letters of the Hebrew Alphabet & the sefirot (these are emanations within Yahava; like his Guṇas/Kalās)
Based on these, some of you can see the parallel ritual technology used in Siddhānta-Śaivam (and rarely these days in the Pāñcarātra).
Ok, the parallel is with the concept of Ṣaḍadhvan, as briefly explained here:
One can see the parallels:
- Between the Bhuvanādhvā & the worlds of Atzilut, etc (2nd/blue column of 1st image)
- Between the Kalādhvā & the five Sefirot (3rd purple column of 1st image).
Kalādhvā in Siddhānta comprises of five special powers, which are personified as certain high Deities, which appear to be paralleled by the Partzufim (light violet/4th column).
These powers represent the different stages of grace & the awakening of light of Cicchakti in the soul.
Interestingly, the Kabbalah places a huge stress on the filling of the soul with light in “vessels”.
In Pāñcarātra, the Kalādhvā is different, comprising of Vāsudeva’s six qualities, which is paralleled by the fact that the Sefirot are Yahava’s qualities. - Between the Padādhvā (81 words of the Vyomavyāpī mantra) & the individual letters of the Tetragrammaton & spelt-out names of Yahava (yellow & green, 5th & 6th columns of 1st image).
- A limited, partial correspondence between the Tattvādhvā (36 Tattvas, which contains within itself the 24 Sāṅkhyatattvas as Ātmatattvas—which includes various faculties of the soul) & the grey/1st column of the first image.
- Between Mantrādhva (consisting of 11 mantras in the Siddhānta) & the Hymns—see 2nd image which maps the hymns to the different worlds.
- Between Varṇādhva (50 akṣaras of the Saṁskṛta alphabet) & the letters of the Hebrew alphabet - See 3rd & 4th images.
Overall, the Kabbalah’s layout looks like a smaller version of the Ṣaḍadhva in Siddhānta, in terms of the metaphysical extent it covers.
However, it is still very interesting to observe these parallels since the Kabbalah is most often paralleled with Vedānta (because of the supposed Nirguṇa-brahman & Ein Sof equivalence) but there appears to be richer parallels between the Ṣaḍadhva concept of the Āgamika universe & the Kabbalah. One wonders if these ideas somehow reached Medieval Southern/Mediterranean Europe.
It is important to appreciate that parallels do not amount to equal spiritual validity of the Kabbalah vis-a-vis Āstika paths. As noted in first tweet of this thread, getting initiated into a system has consequences for the soul. It would be interesting to do a Saiddhāntika-Śaiva conceptual critique of the Kabbalah’s metaphysical & soteriological claims.
The mere fact that mantras exist for different religions would not grant them the same ontological status. Ontological hierarchy of religions is determined by the tattva-reach of their ritual praxis. Further, even if a system could potentially offer someone a tattva-reach to, say, Buddhitattva, that person would only reach it provided he does not commit vedanindana/devanindana.
does the idea that a mantra corresponds to a deity in the pure tattva apply to these other religions ? If so, it would seem like they have some “access” to higher tattvas ?
This is a good question & I’m happy that ppl are giving it some thought.
“Since other religions too have the equivalents of mantras, are their mantras too conscious deities, which reside in the Śuddhavidyātattva? Therefore, do the Yahudādayaḥ also have access to the Śuddhatattvas?” - Mantras fulfil their functions in line with the prescribed vidhi, not due to one’s knowledge of their ontological status. Although it’s not possible to prove it, one may assume that the mantras of other religions too are among the 70 million mantras appointed by Śiva to grace various beings in bondage.
Therefore, be it a Hindu worshiper of Kṣūdradevatas or a Yahuda or Kṛṣṇa-mleccha or Cīna polytheist, the mantras will yield them the fruits of their respective rites even though none of them have any knowledge of the higher Tattvas. Sure, they may read a book on Śaiva Mantramārga & intellectually get to know about these higher tattvas. But even then, they won’t have “access” because these higher tattvas are locked for those without a Śaiva Dīkṣā. We get various benefits or tax breaks due to the authorisation by those in high offices. But that’s not the same as us having access to them.