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Originally Posted by handy guy
I'm no expert on the subject...I'd add that it is also very important to recognize what many Hindu/Vedas based schools and sects have in common along with what they have in common culture and history wise!
Two main books where I got some information, Dancing with Siva and Merging with Siva by Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami.
For instance on page 521 of Dancing with Siva a brief summary is given about some the differences between the six schools of Saivism, differences which in some cases could be called contradictory from each other within said main sect. A very short example: from an almost 1,000 page book states that Saiva Siddhanta teaches a complete "merger" of soul in Siva whereas in Pasupata Saivism "the liberated soul retains individuality".
One can then go a few pages further to 529-531 and read of some of the differences between the four major Hindu sects, more so with Vaishnavism which has several different core beliefs along with practices compared to Saivism.
For more reading see pages 1017-1063 in Merging with Siva where discussions/arguments are compared between Monism and Pluralism in just Saiva Siddhanta.
Shall we also get into Vedanta non-dualism, qualified non-dualism, and dualism...perhaps another day?
Anyway, Many paths, one Source Om Shanti
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Thank you.
It has been about 30 years since I read those "contemporary catechisms" you have mentioned there and in order to understand all of that in more depth, I went from reading that series by Subramuniyaswami to a French Indologist and Saivite Scholar by the name of Alain Danielou.
https://www.bookdepository.com/Shiva...xoCksQQAvD_BwE
By the way, Saiva Siddhanta is a totally Dualistic school (based on the Sāṃkhya philosophy) and not a Non-Dual one...there is no "merging in Siva" according to it:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaiva_Siddhanta
Pashupata Saivism is another "Bhakti" movement which focuses more on rituals and obsevances and it is also interesting to note that King Basava (a Tamil Saivite reformer) lived at exactly the same time and same place as Ramanuja...the one who formulated Vishishtadvaita also known as Acintya Bedhabheda Tattva...also known as qualified monism/non dualism within the Vaishnava tradition...it is compelling to note the similarities of the Tamil Alvars and Nayanars of the 11th and 12th Centuries CE and the exchange of philosophical ideologies doing the rounds at that time...but I digress.
There are two main branches of Saivism which split around the same time..the Atimarga and the Mantramarga...now, where is that diagram again?
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...ofShaivism.jpg
One branch worshiped the Puranic form of Shiva...that is, a Lord Shiva (Shankara) with all those associated attributes we see on tacky calendar art ...the other worshiped an impersonal form of the Divine called "Shiva" either as a concept, or in the form of a Lingam ...some schools like Virashaivism (Lingayatism) mixed both of them together!
Who is right and who is wrong? That all depends on individual perception, experience, preference and understanding really...I mean, one moment I can be immersed in the duality of the Saiva Siddhanta school and the next, I am expounding the doctrine of Kshemaraja of the Kaula school or Abhinavagupta of the Trika school of Kashmir..or just going back to the Saiva Agamas...it is all relative.
I personally don't see any problem seeing "God" as an omnipotent entity who can manifest as Saguna Brahman (for His beloved devotees) whilst also being unmanifest as pure potentiality as Nirguna Brahman simultaneously..all it takes is a very slight shift in perspective.
I will, however, reread those books...
Until then..
Here is an essay on the Shvetasvatara Upanishad..which is the first Veda to ever mention Lord Shiva by name...He was known as Rudra before that..
https://allsaivism.com/articles/svetavatara.aspx
Om Namah Shivaya
Om Swasti Astu