Study of Yoga Texts – Spanda kārikās

After eight years of meticulous study and interpretation of classical yogic texts such as the Upanishad-s, the Bhagavad Gita, the Sankhya Karika, the Shiva Sutra and the Yoga Sutra, the Athens Center for Indian and Indo-Greek Studies has started in collaboration with the Shakti Yoga Studio a new course with Dr Dimitrios Vassiliadis on the Trika philosophy with the study of the Spandakārikā-s of Vasugupta and the  Spandanirṇaya of Kṣemarāja.

The course is intended primarily for yoga teachers and scholars but can be attended by anyone who has basic knowledge of the Indian philosophy and wishes to deepen his/her knowledge on the various traditions of yoga.

The lectures will be held every Thursday from 11:00 to 12:30 at  Shakti Yoga Studio (17-19, L. Fotiadou str., Mets, Athens).

The course for the academic period 2018-19 starts on Thursday, 1 November 2018.

For further information and registration, please send an  e-mail to info@shakti.gr or to indogreekstudies@gmail.com

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After revealing the Śiva Sūtra-s,  Vasugupta (9th century CE) and his students wanted to write an illustrative commentary on them, and thus prepared the Spandakārikā-s. The text consists of a number of philosophical verses (kārikā-s) focused on the nature of the primary pulse (spanda) the divine consciousness (Śiva).

Spanda is the power (Śakti) of Śiva through which he is aware (vimarśa) of himself. This is a pulse of consciousness that takes place within the same consciousness. With the power of the spanda, Śiva may express, preserve and withdraw all creation without doing any movement himself.

The Spanda kārikā-s were commented by Kallaṭa, a student of Vasugupta  (Vṛtti),  Bhaṭṭotpala (Spandapradīpikā),   Rāmakaṇṭha (Vivṛti), and Kṣemarāja (Spandanirṇaya) and became the fundamental text of the Spanda School of Kashmir Saivism while they  exercised a great influence on the subsequent formation of the Nāda Yoga schools.