Yet Moses was INDEED a Prince, AND a Judge, and KNEW it

"Yet Moses was INDEED a Prince, 

AND a Judge, and KNEW it 

and thought the Hebrews 

would have understood it;  

but they stood in their own light, 

and thrust him away. 

See what base constructions malice puts 

upon the best words and actions. 

Moses, for reproving him, 

is presently charged 

with a design to kill him."

-- John Wesley

2:11 When Moses was grown he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens - He looked on their burdens as one that not only pitied them, but was resolved to venture with them, and for them.

2:12 He slew the Egyptian - Probably it was one of the Egyptian task - masters, whom he found abusing his Hebrew slave. By special warrant from heaven (which makes not a precedent in ordinary cases) Moses slew the Egyptian, and rescued his oppressed brother. 

The Jew's tradition is, that he did not slay him with any weapon, but as Peter slew Ananias and Sapphira, with the word of his mouth.

2:14 He said, Who made thee a prince? - He challengeth his authority; Who made thee a prince? - A Man needs no great Authority for giving a friendly reproof; it is an Act of Kindness; yet this man needs will interpret it an Act of Dominion, and represents his reprover as imperious and assuming. 

Thus, when people are sick of good discourse, or a seasonable admonition, they will call it preaching, as if a man could not speak a word for God, and against sin, but he took too much upon him. Yet Moses was indeed a prince, and a judge, and knew it, and thought the Hebrews would have understood it; but they stood in their own light, and thrust him away. 

#Acts 7:25|,27. Intendest thou to kill me? - See what base constructions malice puts upon the best words and actions. 

Moses, for reproving him, is presently charged with a design to kill him.

2:15 Moses fled from Pharaoh - God ordered this for wise ends. 

Things were not yet ripe for Israel's deliverance. 

The measure of Egypt's iniquity was not yet full; the Hebrews were not sufficiently humbled, nor were they yet increased to such a multitude as God designed : Moses is to be farther fitted for the service, and therefore is directed to withdraw for the present, till the time to favour Israel, even the set time, come. 

God guided Moses to Midian, because the Midianites were of the seed of Abraham, and retained the worship of The True God; so that he might have not only a safe, but a comfortable settlement among them; and through this country he was afterwards to lead Israel, which, that he might do the better, he now had opportunity of acquainting himself with it. 

Hither he came, and sat down by a well; tired and thoughtful, waiting to see which way Providence would direct him. 

It was a great change with him, since he was but the other day at ease in Pharaoh's court.

(The Doctor has completed assembly of K9 Mark II, his personal mobile gun platform and computer. He blows a dog whistle and it lifts its head.)

K9: 

Master?

Tom : 

It works, K9, It works. 

Listen, I've got a little surprise for you.

K9: 

Master?

Tom : 

You and I are going away 

on holiday.

K9: 

Affirmative.

Tom : 

A nice, long holiday.

K9: 

Affirmative.

Tom : 

Would you like that, K9?

K9: 

Affirmative!

affirmative!

affirmative!

Tom : 

Shush! Halergan Three's lovely, K9. 

You'll really like it. 

Beaches, palm trees, sunshine all day. 

Hot and —

(The Tardis goes completely dark. Then the main doors start to open and golden light floods in to organ accompaniment.)

GUARDIAN [OC]: 

Doctor.

Tom : 

Yes?

GUARDIAN [OC]:

Your presence is required.

Tom : 

Look, listen, I, I,

 I don't wish to appear rude, 

but who are you?

GUARDIAN [OC]: 

Do you really need to ask, Doctor?

Tom : 

Well, only A Guardian could —

(A rumble of thunder echoes.)

Tom : 

Oh, I see. 

Well, in that case, sir…

GUARDIAN [OC]: 

You will come to no harm.

Tom : 

Just as you say.

[Guardian's abode]

(Wind chimes sound in the flat area with a white rocks as a backdrop and a few small plants around. A wicker peacock chair stands under a sunshade next to a small table carrying a decanter and glasses. A man in a white suit with a red carnation in the lapel fades into view, seated on the chair.)

The White Guardian : 

Doctor, you have been chosen 

for a vitally important task.

Tom : 

That's very flattering, sir.

The White Guardian : 

It concerns The Key to Time. 

You know of The Key to Time?

Tom : 

Well, I've heard a few stories. 

Old legends, myths, that sort of thing.

The White Guardian : 

It is no myth.

Tom : 

Sorry, sir.

The White Guardian : 

The Key to Time 

is a perfect cube, 

which maintains 

the equilibrium 

of time itself.

(A holographic image of a spinning cube appears for illustration, then fades away.)

The White Guardian : 

It consists of six segments, 

and these segments are scattered 

and hidden throughout the cosmos. 

When they are assembled into the cube, they create a power which is too dangerous for any being to possess.

Tom : 

Well hidden then, I hope, sir.

The White Guardian : 

There are times, Doctor, when the forces within the universe 

upset the balance to such an extent 

that it becomes necessary 

to stop everything.

Tom : 

Stop everything?

The White Guardian : 

For a brief moment only.

Tom : 

Ah.

The White Guardian : 

Until The Balance is restored --

Such a moment is rapidly approaching. 

These segments must be traced and returned to me 

before it is too late, before The Universe is plunged 

into Eternal Chaos.

Tom : 

Eternal Chaos?

The White Guardian : 

Eternal as you understand the term.

Tom : 

Look, I'm sure there must be plenty of 

other Time Lords who'd be delighted to --

The White Guardian : 

I have Chosen You.

Tom : 

Yes, I was afraid you'd say something like that... 

Ah! You want me to volunteer, isn't that it?

The White Guardian : 

Precisely.

Tom : 

And if I don't?

The White Guardian : 

Nothing.

Tom : 

Nothing? You mean nothing will happen to me?

The White Guardian : 

Nothing at all. Ever.

Tom : Ah. What do they look like, these segments? How will I know them?

The White Guardian : They're all disguised.

Tom : Yes, I thought they might be.

The White Guardian : 

They contain the elemental force 

of the universe. 

They can be in any shape, form or size.

Tom : 

Then how will I recognise them?

The White Guardian : 

You will be given a locator.

Tom : 

Thank you.

The White Guardian : 

And an assistant.

Tom : 

An assistant….? 

Please, sir, on an assignment like this, 

I'd much rather work alone. 

In my experience, assistants mean trouble. 

I have to protect them 

and show them and teach them 

and couldn't I just — 

couldn't I just manage with K9?

The White Guardian : 

K9 is a mere machine.

Tom : 

He is a very sensitive machine…! Sorry, sir.

The White Guardian : You will find your assistant waiting for you in the Tardis.

Tom : 

Very well, sir. If you insist.

The White Guardian : One final thing, Doctor.

Tom : Yes?

The White Guardian : 

I am the White Guardian. 

In order to maintain the universal balance, there is also a Black Guardian, 

and he also requires the Key to Time, 

but for a different purpose. 

An evil purpose. 

He must not get it. 

Doctor, at all costs, 

you must prevent that.

Tom : 

How am I to prevent that?

The White Guardian : Beware the Black Guardian.

Tom : Beware The Black Guardian.

The White Guardian : 

Beware. Beware.

(The Guardian picks up his glass of green wine and fades away.)

[Tardis]

Tom : 

I'm so sorry, K-9, 

The Holiday's off.

ROMANA [OC]: 

Doctor?

Tom : 

(sotto) 

That's the new assistant.

(Tall, brunette, statuesque, aloof, wearing a floorlength white dress fastened only at the waist, and her hair held up by a tiara. Everyone welcome Mary Tamm)

ROMANA: 

My Name is Romanadvoratnelundar.

Tom : 

I'm so sorry about that. Is there anything we can do?

ROMANA: The President of the Supreme Council sent me.

(That should be the Doctor, but he's forgotten all about the last story.)

ROMANA: 

I was told to give you this --

(Romana hands over a rod.)

Tom : 

What's this?

ROMANA: According to my instructions, 

it's the core to The Key of Time.

Tom : 

Ah.

ROMANA: 

Very exciting, isn't it?

Tom :

 Yes, I suppose it must be for someone as young and inexperienced as you are.

ROMANA: I may be inexperienced, but I did graduate from the Academy with a triple first.

Tom : I suppose you think we should be impressed by that, too?

ROMANA: 

Well, it's better than scraping through with fifty one percent at the second attempt.

Tom : That information is confidential! That President. I should have thrown him to the Sontarans when I had the chance.

THE PURE UNIVERSE

 

THE PURE UNIVERSE 

(śuddhādhvan) 

The so-called Pure Universe comprising the top five tattvas is Not A Place; it is the divine Reality that pervades the whole of the manifest universe. 

The top five tattvas are essentially a description of God/dess. 

 

Though divided into five levels, they are all aspects of The Divine and are referred to as phases of God’s awareness. 


The differences between them are differences of perspective and emphasis. 

To reach any of the five tattvas of the Pure Universe is to attain complete liberation and awakening. 

 

TATTVA #5: PURE MANTRA-WISDOM
(Śuddha-vidyā)

 

The level of Pure Wisdom is also the level of mantra (besides meaning “wisdom,” vidyā is also the feminine word for “mantra”). 

The wisdom spoken of here is not any type of intellectual knowledge but rather the various phases of Śiva-Śakti’s self-awareness expressed in the form of the seventy million mantras— all the mantras that have ever existed or will ever exist. 

For the Tantrik tradition, mantras are actually conscious beings, analogous to angels in the Western religions. 

Someone who attains liberation on the level of tattva #5 becomes a mantra-being. 

We know that this doctrine, that mantras are conscious, was taken seriously because the texts tell us that if A Guru grants initiation into The Tantra to someone who subsequently falls from The Path, then that guru must perform a special ritual to apologise to The Mantras for putting them to work needlessly. 

It is absolutely crucial to understand that in this tradition A Mantra, its Deity, and its Goal are all one and the same.

Thus, for example, Lakṣmī’s mantra OṂ ŚRĪṂ MAHĀLAKṢMYAI NAMAḤ is the Goddess Lakṣmī in sound form; it is her sonic body.

Nor is her mantra something separate from the goal for which it is repeated, i.e., to cultivate abundance, for it is the very vibration of abundance (and, as well, the other qualities of Śrī: elegance, charm, grace, beauty, prosperity, and auspiciousness). 

So, all the various “deities” of Indian spirituality exist on the level of the Śuddha-vidyā tattva as phases of Śiva-Śakti’s awareness, the many facets, if you will, of the One jewel. 

Further, there are countless mantra-beings on the Śuddha-vidyā level that do not correspond to known Indian deities; perhaps we can suppose that the deities of all spiritual traditions exist on this level, insofar as they can be understood as having sonic forms. 

One who reaches liberation on this level sees the entire universe as a diverse array of energies, but with a single essence. 

She sees no static matter, experiencing everything as interacting patterns of vibration. 

The wonder of that which she sees takes precedence over her I-sense, though there is unity between them: “I am this!” (idam evāham). 

The divine Power that corresponds to this level is kriyā-śakti, the Power of Action. 

This is so because the primary characteristic of mantras is that they are agents of transformative change, i.e., of action. 

TATTVA #4: THE LORD (Īśvara) 

This is the level of the personal God, God as a being with specific qualities, that is, the Deity that can be named in various languages (whether the name be Kriṣhṇa, Allāh, Avalokiteśvara, YHWH, etc.) 

This is the level of reality that most monotheistic religions presume to be the highest. Īśvara is a generic, nonsectarian term for God (also found in Patañjali’s Yoga-sūtra). 

This level is associated with jñāna-śakti, The Power of Knowing, for Īśvara holds within His being the knowledge of the subtle pattern that will be used in the creation of the universe. He empowers His regents on tattva #5 (who are really aspects of Himself) to stimulate the primordial homogenous world-source (Māyā, tattva #6) with this pattern, “churning” her so that she begins to produce the differentiation of the lower tattvas, starting with the contractions called the kañcukas (#7 and below, see “the five shells”). 

At the level of Īśvara there is a balanced equality and identity between God and His incipient creation. The Sanskrit phrase said to express the experience of reality at this level is aham idam idam aham, or “I am This; This am I.”


There is a fascinating and purely “coincidental” parallel here with the self-declaration of the God of the Hebrew Bible, who when asked for His Name (at Exodus 3:14), replied simply, ehyeh Asher ehyeh, “I am That I am.” 

In Śaiva Tantra, it is not only God who exists at this level; so do any beings who have reached that same awareness. 

Thus the difference between Īśvara and other beings abiding at tattva #4 is one of office, not of nature. 

 

TATTVA #3: THE EVER-BENEVOLENT ONE (Sadāśiva) 

The word “God” is no longer applicable here, for this level transcends any form of a Deity with identifiable names or attributes. 

This is the level on which only the slightest subtle differentiation has just begun to emerge between the absolute Deity and the idea of the universe, the universe that S/he will create out of Him/Herself. 

Thus, it is the level of icchā-śakti, the divine Will Power, the creative urge or primal impulse toward Self-expression. 

The Sanskrit phrase said to express the experience of reality at this level is aham idam, “I am this,” or “This incipient totality is my own Self,” where there is identity between the Divine and the embryonic universe held within it. 

The sense of “I” has clear priority, wholly enveloping the “this”; so all beings who attain unity-consciousness with emphasis on the “I” pole abide at this level. 

The Sadāśiva-tattva is the first movement into differentiation, for at the level of tattvas #1 and 2, there is absolute nonduality. Abhinava Gupta tells us that the Divine at this level is called Sadāśiva, “eternally Śiva,” to remind us that even as a universe begins to come into being through the power of the Will, the Absolute loses none of its divinity, it is “still Śiva,” which of course also means “still blessed.”

Historically, Sadāśiva is also the name of the high deity of one form of Śaiva Tantra, a form that was later surpassed by the worship of the conjoined and co-equal pair of Śiva-Śakti. 

He is also pictured as the form of Śiva that sprouts the five faces that speak the five streams of sacred scripture. 

Thus Sadāśiva is sometimes considered the first ray of divine compassion. 

TATTVA #2: POWER / THE GODDESS (Śakti)

In the traditional tattva hierarchy, Śakti is #2, but in the nondual schools, care is taken to emphasize that Śiva and Śakti switch places, for they are two sides of the same coin. 

That is, neither Śiva nor Śakti has priority—it is a matter of which aspect is dominant in any given experience. 

The word śakti literally means “power, potency, energy, capacity, capability.” 

In NŚT, all powers are worshipped as goddesses, or rather as forms of the Goddess (Mahādevī). 

Śakti can no more be separated from Śiva than heat can be separated from fire. 

All forms of energy are Śakti, and since matter is energy (as the Tāntrikas well knew), the whole manifest universe is seen as the body of the Goddess, and the movements of all forms of energy are Her dance. 

The various aspects of Śakti are covered in detail above. 

The term śakti is often used to specifically denote spiritual energy, or God’s transformative power. 

In the scriptures, this meaning is often conveyed with the special term rudra-śakti, which refers to the primal, awe-inspiring divine Power that flows through us in spiritual experience. 

An infusion of this divine Power is called rudra-śakti-samāveśa, where samāveśa refers to the spiritual experience comprising an expansion of consciousness, a dissolution of the boundaries between self and other, a sharing of self-hood with God and/or with the whole universe, and often an blissful influx of energy. 

 

TATTVA #1: THE BENEVOLENT ONE (Śiva)

In the context of NŚT, Śiva is not the name of a god. 

 

Rather, the word is understood to signify the peaceful, quiescent ground of all Reality, the infinite silence of transcendent Divinity, or, in the poet’s phrase, the “still point at the center of the turning world.” 

 

While Śakti is extroversive, immanent, manifest, omniform, and dynamic, Śiva is introversive, transcendent, unmanifest, formless, and still. Śiva is the absolute void of pure Consciousness. 

(To be more accurate, Consciousness is never absolutely still, so on the level of the Śiva-tattva, there is what Abhinava calls kiṃcit-calana, an extraordinarily subtle movement, an imperceptible and exquisitely sweet undulation.) 

 

The word śiva is traditionally interpreted as “that in which all things lie (śī).” 

 

Thus Śiva is the ground of being, that which gives reality its coherence. 

His nature is beyond any qualities and is, therefore, difficult to express in words, but in Essence of the Tantras, Śiva is described as the coherence and unification of all the various śaktis. 

 

Thus, He is called śaktimān, the one who holds the Powers, or rather “holds space” for their unfolding. 

 

However, since Śiva is literally nothing without the Powers of Consciousness, Bliss, Will, and so on, it is usually Śakti who is worshipped as the highest principle in NŚT. 

 

Śiva is that which grounds and coheres the various powers; He is the Lord of the Family (kuleśvara), the center axis of the spinning wheel of Powers. 

 

As the coherent force, Śiva hardly has an insignificant function, but as he is not an embodiment of potency himself, he is less likely to attract worship in a spiritual system that is focused primarily on the empowerment of its adherents. 

 

The previous paragraph defined Śiva primarily as spaciousness, the hosting space for the energy that is Śakti. 

 

 

This space/energy polarity is the one given in a Trika text called Vijñāna-bhairava, among other sources. 

We should note that in other contexts, the roles are defined differently. 

 

For example, the influential Recognition school (a subset of the Trika) defines Śiva-Śakti as the two complementary aspects of one divine Consciousness: Śiva is the Light of Manifestation (prakāśa), also known as the Light of Consciousness (cit-prakāśa), and Śakti is blissful Self-reflective awareness (vimarśa). 

 

This pairing is sometimes concisely abbreviated as cid-ānanda (Awareness-Bliss). 

In this way of understanding Śiva-Śakti, He is the illuminative power of Consciousness that manifests and shines as all things, and She is the power by which that same Consciousness folds back on itself and becomes self-aware and thus can enjoy itself. 

 

While new students of the Tantra often want a simple, cut-and-dried definition of the polarity of Śiva-Śakti, the tradition does not offer one. 

Indeed, as this paragraph has shown, we get different definitions within the very same school. 

These need not be seen as contradictory, however, for the ultimate reality of Śiva-Śakti transcends all thought; the diverse explanations are just varying orientations or angles of approach to that one 

Reality, serving different students in different contexts. 

In another schema, that of the radical Krama school, Śiva disappears entirely, for there the two aspects of the One are represented as different facets of one Goddess: the indescribable Void of absolute potential, the formless ground of all reality (Śiva’s usual role) is represented as the dark and emaciated, terrifyingly attractive Goddess Kālī, who devours all things and makes them one with Herself; and the infinite Light that encompasses all things and beings with loving compassion and insight is represented as white and full-bodied Goddess Parā, overflowing with boundless nectar. 

But, Abhinava Gupta stresses, these apparent opposites (black and white, empty and full) are simply the two forms of the one great Goddess. 

The Krama school simply wishes to avoid the inevitably dualistic implications of the image of Śiva-Śakti as two beings joined together. 

How to reconcile these different presentations? 

The answer is simple: they need no reconciliation, for they are each perfectly fitted to the system in which they occur; and the absolute Reality beyond words can be represented by any of these schemas or by none. 

It is important to note that the term Śiva or “God” never loses its importance in this tradition. 

Some might construe the more refined philosophies of NŚT as atheistic because they wholly repudiate the notion of God as a separate person, “a guy in the sky,” or indeed as anything separate from your essence-nature as dynamic free Awareness. 

Yet it is significant that these very traditions continue to use the term “God” and its synonyms (such as maheśvara, “the Great Lord,” and parameśvara, “the Supreme Divinity”). 

It seems to me that they do not want to dispense with the love and devotion that is inspired in so many by this personalizing of the Absolute. 

They want a path of intimate relationship. 

At the same time, remember that the tradition gives us a beautiful nondual definition of the word “God,” one worth repeating: 

...in actuality it is the unbounded Light of Consciousness, reposing in its innate Bliss, fully connected to its Powers of Willing, Knowing, and Acting, that we call God. (Essence of the Tantras) 

It is in the context of this definition that we may understand such scriptural statements as “Nothing exists that is not God.”

 

But here we are anticipating the next segment: for “beyond” even tattva #1 is that which unfolds all the tattvas, from 1 to 36, within itself as the expression of its blissful self-awareness.

Thinking, Teaching and Reading — No More, No Less.

" I should mention that the mode of our discussion here is not straight philosophy but what is called philosophical theology because it includes the Divine as an axiom, or at least a variable, in the mix. 

Furthermore, some of these questions—which are all central to Western philosophy—are not addressed in a systematic manner in the Tantrik literature but through a variety of sometimes cryptic statements that I have wrestled with over the years. 

So, I am particularly grateful to one of my teachers, Ādyashānti, for clarifications of several of these issues, explanations that deeply connected to both my contemplated experience and my scriptural study. 

EPISTEMOLOGY 

One of the central concerns of philosophy is to investigate how we know what we know, if there is such a thing as certain knowledge, and, if so, how it is attained. This is a topic of concern to the Tantra as well, and it is explored in depth by the scholar-sages Utpala Deva and Abhinava Gupta. 

The difficult and abstruse nature of these discussions invite us to focus on a simpler formulation offered by the second author in his Essence of the Tantras. 

There Abhinava tells us that the process of creative contemplation or holistic meditative inquiry (bhāvanā-krama) that leads to experiential knowing of reality is based on these three supports: 

❖ sound and careful reflection on your experience (bat-tarka) 

❖ the guidance of a great teacher (sad-guru) who is skilled in meditative enquiry and has attained its fruit

❖ the wisdom of the scriptures (sad-āgama) 

When these three come together in agreement, Abhinava suggests, we know we have arrived at Truth. 

One or two of them is insufficient for certainty.  

In fact, allowing ourselves to abide in uncertainty about anything not supported by all three keeps us open and in a process of learning that closes down if we prematurely decide that we know. 

Usually in Indian philosophy, the first two valid means of knowledge that are argued for are direct perception and valid inference; here they are combined into sat-tarka, which means the process of drawing sound conclusions based on one’s experience. 

In logic (both Western and Indian), a conclusion is “sound” when the premises are true and the structure of thought leading to the conclusion is valid. To give a slightly modified version of the standard Indian example of a logical argument: 

Premise 1: Where there is smoke, there is fire (axiom based on the aggregate of one’s experiences). 

Premise 2: There is smoke on the mountain over there (direct observation). 

Conclusion: Therefore, there is fire on the mountain. 

The argument is called valid structurally because if the premises are true, the conclusion must also be true. 

But it is only sound (= correct) if the premises are in fact true. 

And this particular argument is an example of inference because there is no way to be one hundred per cent sure that there is always fire whenever and wherever there is smoke. 

The standard argument in the Indian system of logic is not deduction, which seeks to establish irrefutable certainty, but inference. Unlike in Western philosophy, in the Indian system you never decide that you know for sure, and so you never completely close yourself to unguessed possibilities. Thus the sense of wonder and openness that is the foundation of all philosophy is maintained. The problem of direct experience as a means of knowledge is that people often draw conclusions based on their experience that are logically invalid. They don’t realize they are doing so because their assumptions and the process by which they draw their conclusions usually go unexamined. Even more basically, they are often unable to separate their experience from their interpretation. People can get ruffled when their interpretation of their experience is questioned, saying, “But that’s my experience!” In fact, anything you can say in words about your experience is an interpretation, not the experience itself. On the path of inquiry into truth, we never devalue or dispense with reflection on our personal experience (note that Abhinava mentions it first), yet since we cannot be one hundred per cent certain about the conclusions we draw or how universally applicable they are, we soften our iron grip on our apparently safe and comfortable sense of certainty and seek to corroborate it with trusted authorities: the teacher and sacred scripture. To some Westerners, having the spiritual teacher and scripture as the other two legs of the tripod seems redundant. But this system of checks and balances is well worked out. 

Scripture exists as a representative document of a whole community; because even if a given scripture was written by just one person, it is transmitted (copied and recopied) for centuries if and only if some of its contents are effective for a wider group of people. 

As a document of collective wisdom perpetuated by community, scripture protects you from an aberrant teacher who preaches his own idiosyncratic experience as if it were universal, thereby potentially leading you astray. 

Of course, for this setup to work, you must read a scripture with your own judgment, not solely on the basis of the teacher’s interpretation of it. 

On the other hand, though scriptures are presumed to have been written by an awakened master, a healthy skepticism is maintained by requiring their wisdom to be corroborated by the other two sources of knowledge. 

Further, the requirement of the living teacher means that you are protected from an off-the-wall interpretation of scripture you arrived at in your own head. 

Such an interpretation might make sense to you, might even feel good, but is seen by the teacher with clear long-term view to be one that will eventually take you off track. 

Such a teacher will rarely say, “You’re wrong,” but will more likely challenge you to contemplate deeper, beyond your conditioned mind. 

This system of double corroboration for valid knowledge allows us to come up with seeds of wisdom that we can count on and build a spiritual life on. But the process is not completed until these seeds come to life as living, vibrating wisdom within us. That is, in the Tantra, we seek not just to know wisdom but to fully embody it. 

The evidence that you have done so is that you no longer need the external form of the teaching (the words or concepts); it has simply blossomed into living experience, unsupported by any reminders. 

When this happens, then no matter how beautiful the words of the teaching are, they seem to be flat or pale or inadequate in comparison with the actual experience. We discuss this final, subtle criterion for true wisdom elsewhere.”

Mantra

TATTVA #5: PURE MANTRA-WISDOM (Śuddha-vidyā) 

The level of Pure Wisdom is also the level of mantra (besides meaning “wisdom,” vidyā is also the feminine word for “mantra”). 

The wisdom spoken of here is not any type of intellectual knowledge but rather the various phases of Śiva-Śakti’s self-awareness expressed in the form of the seventy million mantras—all the mantras that have ever existed or will ever exist. 

For the Tantrik tradition, mantras are actually conscious beings, analogous to angels in the Western religions. 

Someone who attains liberation on the level of tattva #5 becomes a mantra-being. 

We know that this doctrine, that mantras are conscious, was taken seriously because the texts tell us that if a guru grants initiation into the Tantra to someone who subsequently falls from the path, then that guru must perform a special ritual to apologize to the mantras for putting them to work needlessly. 

It is absolutely crucial to understand that in this tradition a mantra, its deity, and its goal are all one and the same. 

Thus, for example, Lakṣmī’s mantra OṂ ŚRĪṂ MAHĀLAKṢMYAI NAMAḤ is the Goddess Lakṣmī in sound form; it is her sonic body. 

Nor is her mantra something separate from the goal for which it is repeated, i.e., to cultivate abundance, for it is the very vibration of abundance (and, as well, the other qualities of Śrī: elegance, charm, grace, beauty, prosperity, and auspiciousness). 

So, all the various “deities” of Indian spirituality exist on the level of the Śuddha-vidyā tattva as phases of Śiva-Śakti’s awareness, the many facets, if you will, of the One jewel. 

Further, there are countless mantra-beings on the Śuddha-vidyā level that do not correspond to known Indian deities; perhaps we can suppose that the deities of all spiritual traditions exist on this level, insofar as they can be understood as having sonic forms. 

One who reaches liberation on this level sees the entire universe as a diverse array of energies, but with a single essence. 

She sees no static matter, experiencing everything as interacting patterns of vibration. 

The wonder of that which she sees takes precedence over her I-sense, though there is unity between them: “I am this!” (idam evāham).  

The divine Power that corresponds to this level is kriyā-śakti, the Power of Action.  

This is so because the primary characteristic of mantras is that they are agents of transformative change, i.e., of action.