AMPRADĀYA, MEANING “BESTOWER,” “PRESENTER” OR “THEOLOGICAL TRADITION,” PROVIDES STRENGTH AND STRUCTURE TO HINDUISM. IT CAN BE UNDERSTOOD IN TWO WAYS. FIRST, IT REFERS TO THE ORAL TRANSMISSION OF TRADITIONAL TEACHINGS, SUCH as a satguru of an established lineage verbally passing on eternal truths to his śishya, like a mother imparting knowledge to her daughter, or a father to his son. During such intimate moments, when deep personal knowledge is transferred, a combination of meaning, experience and realization is conveyed from teacher to pupil through the action of sampradāya. Second, sampradāya refers to a living stream of tradition or theology within Hinduism, and to its founding preceptors. While sampradāya names a living teaching tradition, paramparā denotes a succession of satgurus. Through one or more paramparās, a sampradāya is carried forward generation after generation. A sampradāya could be likened to a stream which flows into various tributaries, called paramparās.§
Nātha means “lord” or “master,” a knower of the Self who has mastered the intricacies of his inner bodies and states of mind. Through the millennia, Nāthas have been conveyors of esoteric knowledge and wielders of siddhis, powers of the soul. Nātha siddhas delve deep into the mind, invoking Śiva’s grace, controlling the kuṇḍalinī śakti. They worship with full heart and mind the Lord of lords, Śiva, and in yogic contemplation experience identity in His Being.§
The Nātha Sampradāya is the mystical fountainhead of Śaivism. The divine messages of the Eternal Truths and how to succeed on the path to enlightenment are locked within the Nātha tradition. All that we know as Śaivism today—Āgamic temple worship, fire sacrifice called homa, sannyāsa, sādhana, tapas, yoga, tantra and the theology of monistic theism—has been carried forward by the Himālayan orders of the Nātha Sampradāya. §
This oldest of Śaivite sampradāyas existing today consists of two major streams: the Nandinātha Sampradāya and the Ādinātha Sampradāya. The Ādinātha Sampradāya’s earliest known exemplars were Maharishi Adinatha, Matsyendranatha and Gorakshanatha (ca 950), expounder and foremost guru of Siddha Siddhānta Śaivism and founder of the well-known order of Kānphata Yogīs.§
The Nandinātha Sampradāya’s earliest known exemplars were Maharishi Nandinatha (ca 200 BCE) and his disciples Patanjali (author of the Yoga Sūtras) and Sundaranatha (known as Tirumular in South India, whose Tirumantiram comprehensively expounds the path of Śaiva Dharma). In recent times this ancient lineage of masters and the Nandinātha Sampradāya continues through the Kailāsa Paramparā—the first recent known siddha being the “Rishi from the Himalayas,” so named because he descended from those holy mountains. In South India, he initiated Kadaitswami (ca 1810-1875), who in turn initiated Chellappaswami (1840-1915). Chellappan passed the mantle of authority to sage Yogaswami (1872-1964), who in 1949 initiated me, and I have appointed as my first successor Bodhinatha Veylanswami. §
In the twenty-first century, the Ādinātha and Nandinātha Sampradāyas are both vibrant and vital. They share a common ground of theology, principles, sādhanas and many scriptures—including the Vedas, Āgamas and Patanjali’s Yoga Sūtras, though, historical, societal and geographical forces over the past 1,000 years have shaped differences between them. It is important to highlight these differences here because much of what is written or discussed today by scholars about the Nāthas refers to the northern Gorakshanātha school and lifestyle, rather than the Tirumular school, which is followed in South India and Sri Lanka. The major differences are:§
- The foremost exposition of the Nandinātha Sampradāya is Tirumular’s Tirumantiram (ca 200 bce), while that of the Ādinātha Sampradāya is Gorakshanātha’s Siddha Siddhānta Paddhati (ca 950 CE).
- Most texts of the Nandinātha Sampradāya are in the Tamil language, while those of the Ādināthas are in Sanskrit.
- The Nandinātha Sampradāya is most influential in the South of India, while the Ādinātha Sampradāya is most prominent in the North of India.
- The philosophy of the Nandinātha Sampradāya is known as Śaiva Siddhānta, while that of the Ādinātha Sampradāya is known as Siddha Siddhānta.
The Nandinātha Sampradāya’s Belief Patterns
The trilogy of Dancing, Living and Merging with Śiva embodies the teachings of the ancient Nandinātha Sampradāya. These teachings can be summarized as follows.§
1. On the Nature of God: The Nandinātha Sampradāya is a mystical lineage that places great stress on direct and personal experience of God, on seeing God everywhere and in everyone, on knowing God within oneself. This is achieved through nonintellectual spiritual disciplines called sādhana—a term which in its fullest sense embodies kuṇḍalinī yoga, profound esoteric practices, intense introspective meditation, and worship. —through purificatory effort, mind-transforming austerities, egoless service and, most importantly, through the bountiful grace of the living satguru. Following such a path, called sādhana mārga, Nāthas have come to know God, in ancient days and modern. §
Enlightened sages of the Nātha Sampradāya teach that God is Śiva, the transcendent/immanent Supreme Being. Śiva is transcendent as unmanifest Paraśiva, the ineffable That which lies beyond time, form and space. Śiva is immanent as Satchidānanda, the substratum or primal substance and pure consciousness flowing through all form. And Śiva is also immanent as Maheśvara, the Primal Soul who performs the five divine actions of creation, preservation, destruction, veiling and revealing. Though Śiva is a singular and sacred mystery, Nāthas understand Him through these three perfections.§
The one central teaching of the Nāthas is this: Śiva is All, and all is Śiva. This potent monism nonetheless acknowledges God’s creation of world and souls, not as a dark or dreamlike existence, but as a real, purposeful, necessary and joyous one. However, God alone is Absolute, Eternal and Unchanging Reality. The creation—or more precisely, emanation—is relative, temporal and subject to change.§
For the Nāthas, Vishṇu, Brahmā and Rudra are not separate Gods existing and acting apart from Lord Śiva. They are Śiva. Vishṇu names His sustaining, perpetuating power. Brahmā is His creative power. And Rudra denotes His destructive or absorbing power. Likewise, Śakti is not just a divine consort, as often represented, but is His manifest power. Śiva and Śakti are the one unmanifest/manifest Reality.§
In addition, Nāthas worship the Mahādevas Gaṇeśa and Kārttikeya (known as Murugan in the South) and revere all the 330 million Gods of Śaivism as separate but inseparable from Śiva, believing that they, like all souls, are created by Śiva and yet are wholly pervaded by Him. Thus, for the Nāthas there are many Gods and there is but one Supreme God, Śiva, whose holy names include Brahmā, Vishṇu, Rudra, Śakti and more.§
Regarding the notion of avatāra—that God takes birth upon the Earth as a savior—Nāthas hold that God Śiva does not incarnate to save mankind. He is mankind as well as the perfect and purposeful universe in which mankind matures spiritually. Having created all, consciously knowing all, lovingly guiding all, fully encompassing all, there is no “other” for Śiva, no need, therefore, to rectify a process already made perfect by Him.§
2. On the Nature of the Soul: Each soul is born of God Śiva’s Being, is of God, and is eventually absorbed, by Śiva’s grace, back into Him. The soul’s journey through existence is its maturing from a germ or seed state to its fully unfolded innate Divinity. Each soul is, in its innermost essence, Paraśiva and Satchidānanda, eternal and uncreated. However, the individual soul body is created as an extension of God Śiva Himself in the image and likeness of His own Primal Soul form, differing only in its maturity. Over vast periods of time and through countless experiences, the soul body matures through experiencing self-created karmas. Finally, the soul seeks and realizes its identity as Śiva. Through grace, “Jīva becomes Śiva.”§
A three-fold bondage or veiling grace, called pāśa, both aids and hinders the soul’s knowing of its oneness with God Śiva. Pāśa is comprised of āṇava, karma and māyā. Āṇava is the individuating veil of duality, source of ignorance which separates the soul from Śiva. Māyā is the principle of matter. Karma is the cause-and-effect principle governing māyā. Experienced subjectively by the soul, it is the result of its own deeds, both “good” and “bad.” In the Nātha view, the soul is not tarnished or marred by these three bonds, only shrouded or veiled so that it may evolve. §
The soul’s spiritual progress is along a successive path of charyā, kriyā, yoga and jñāna. This process is as natural and as beautiful as the growth and blossoming of a lotus. By following this path, the soul’s identity with Śiva can be and will be fully realized when the seeming triple bondage of āṇava, karma and māyā is removed through Śiva’s Grace.§
Moksha—also called kaivālya, perfect inner freedom—is the soul’s release from saṁsāra, the cycle of birth and death, attained after dynamic and personal yogic realization of Paraśiva and resolution of all karmas. Having known the Absolute, there is no fuller realization, no greater knowing, no higher “experience.” Even after Self Realization and liberation, the soul body continues to evolve in this and other worlds until it merges with the Primal Soul as a drop of water merges with its source, the ocean.§
At its inception, the soul comes forth from Lord Śiva as an embryo and progresses through three stages (avasthā) of existence: kevala avasthā, sakala avasthā and śuddha avasthā. During kevala avasthā, the soul is likened to a seed hidden in the ground or a spark of the Divine hidden in a cloud of unknowing called āṇava, the primal fetter of individuality, the first aspect of Lord Śiva’s concealing grace, tirodhāna śakti. Sakala avasthā, the next stage in the soul’s journey, is the period of bodily existence, the cyclic evolution through transmigration from body to body, under the additional powers of māyā and karma, the second and third aspects of the Lord’s concealing grace. §
The journey through sakala avasthā is also in three stages. The first is called irul pāda, “stage of darkness,” where the soul’s impetus is toward pāśa-jñāna, knowledge and experience of the world. The next period is marul pāda, “stage of confusion,” where the soul begins to take account of its situation and finds itself caught between the world and God, not knowing which way to turn. This is called paśu-jñāna, the soul seeking to know its true nature. The last period is arul pāda, “stage of grace,” when the soul yearns for the grace of God. Now it has begun its true religious evolution with the constant aid of the Lord.§
How does arul, grace, set in? During the time of paśu-jñāna, the soul comes to find that if he performs good and virtuous deeds, life always seems to take a positive turn. Whereas in negative, unvirtuous acts he slowly becomes lost in a foreboding abyss of confusion. Thus, in faith, he turns toward the good and holy. A balance emerges in his life, called iruvinai oppu. The pleasures and pains in life no longer raise him to the sky, then crash him to the ground. He has found a peaceful center from where life can be lived in refined composure. Not that he has all of a sudden found perfect and final peace, but he has experienced a balanced state and now seeks to attain perfectly to it. Trials still come and go as his karmic patterns ebb and flow. §
Whether conscious of it or not, he is bringing the three malas—āṇava, karma and māyā—under control. Māyā is less and less an enchanting temptress. Karma no longer controls his state of mind, tormenting him through battering experiences. And āṇava, his self-centered nature, is easing its hold, allowing him to feel a more universal compassion in life. This grows into a state called malaparipakam, the ripening of the malas. §
This will allow, at the right moment in his life, arul to set in. This is known as the descent of grace, śaktinipāta. The internal descent is recognized as a tremendous yearning for Śiva. More and more, he wants to devote himself to all that is spiritual and holy. The outer descent of grace is the appearance of a satguru. There is no question as to who he is, for he sheds the same clear, spiritual vibration as that unknown something the soul feels emanating from his deepest self. It is when the soul has reached malaparipakam that the Lord’s tirodhāna function, His concealing grace, has accomplished its work and gives way to anugraha, revealing grace, and the descent of grace, śaktinipāta, occurs.§
The religious path progresses through four stages: charyā, kriyā, yoga and jñāna. In charyā the main emphasis is complete refinement of virtuous qualities. Certain simple religious practices are enjoined, but we can go no farther till becoming a living exemplar of virtue. In kriyā, temple worship and the awakening of true bhakti occur. In yoga, mystic union with the Lord is sought through disciplined yogic sādhanas under the guru’s guidance. The jñāna stage begins the śuddha avasthā and is the fruit of the previous three stages.§
All of this—the three avasthās; the four mārgas both as progressive and perpetually upheld stages; the importance of guru, Liṅgam, saṅgam and valipadu; the three-fold descent of Siva’s grace; and the oneness of God and soul—distinguishes the Tamil religion from all other Indian traditions. Most important is that Śiva is the motivator in this tradition. It is His will that allows the devoted to progress from one avasthā to another, one mārga into the next, until He, of His own volition, absorbs each soul back into Himself. For each step the soul takes toward Śiva, Śiva takes nine toward the devotee. Thus, merging with Śiva completes the cycle so clearly articulated in Tamil Śaivism.§
In the śuddha avasthā the yogī has attained samādhi and lives with an inner realization that sets him apart from all other men. But the jñāna stage is not a relaxing or ending of spiritual endeavor. It is the beginning of even deeper self-transformation. The jñānī must now seek what is called sāyujya samādhi, perpetual immersion in Satchidānanda. Prior to this, he is not yet matured in his realization. He may go into samādhi, but comes out into his “same old self,” though, of course, not losing his anchor, which he has set firmly in the Absolute. Now he must infuse his entire being with the spiritual force and power that he has recognized and attained to through samādhi. Slowly the dichotomy between the transcendent Absolute and the external world of form becomes less and less apparent, until he becomes as Śiva Himself—a divine being living in a constant state of sāyujya samādhi, transcendent-immanent realization of the Self flowing through all form. He is transformed from what he was into a recognizably different being. This is the joyous sādhana of śuddha avasthā, by which the yogī becomes the jñānī, a venerable jīvanmukta, able to set new patterns of evolution, uplift consciousness and radiate life-changing blessings.§
3. On the Nature of the World: The Nandinātha Sampradāya understands and perceives the world as a manifest expression of God Śiva Himself. He is Creator and creation. While God is eternal and uncreated, the world is relatively real and subject to constant change. That does not mean that the world is illusion, ignorant seeming or nonexistence. It is important to note that māyā for the Nātha is not understood as the Smārtas’ classic misapprehension of a rope as a snake. Rather, it is Śiva manifest. Seen thusly, the nature of the world is duality. It contains each thing and its opposite, joy and sorrow, love and hate. Therefore, in the Nātha view, there is no intrinsic evil. The entire range of human expression—whether intellectual achievement, social and cultural interaction, creative and psychological states of mind, instinctive desires or lofty yogic cognitions—is but pure experience, powerful living lessons by which the soul learns, matures and progresses nearer to God. Experience is governed by karma and the divine laws of dharma, softened through God’s grace.§
This Nātha view of māyā also differs from the pluralistic Meykandar conception which holds that āṇava, karma and māyā (as well as the soul itself) are separate from God, uncreated and eternally coexistent with Him. Under the pluralistic view, God is not both Creator and creation. Instead, He creates by “fashioning” the world from already existing māyā, or matter,. He does not create or destroy māyā itself.§
In simple summary, it can be said that māyā is the classroom, karma is the teacher and āṇava is the student’s ignorance. Māyā may be understood as that which is in the process of creation, preservation and destruction. Śiva emanates māyā and He is the māyā He emanates.§
4. Paths of Attainment: The Nandinātha path leads naturally and inevitably through charyā, kriyā, yoga and jñāna. Charyā is service and living everyday life according to traditional religious principles of conduct in order to purify oneself. Kriyā is the regular practice of temple worship, both internal and external, through which understanding, closeness and love for God Śiva deepen. As expounded in Patanjali’s eight-limbed (ashṭāṅga) yoga, the yoga mārga is internalized worship which leads to union with God. It is the regular practice of meditation under the guidance and grace of a satguru through which the realizations of Satchidānanda and Paraśiva are attained. Jñāna is divine wisdom emanating from the maturely enlightened soul. It is immersion of the mind in the blessed realization of God while living out earthly karmas. For these highest spiritual attainments, sādhana, brahmacharya, kuṇḍalinī yoga and renunciation of the world are required.§
These four mārgas are not distinct approaches to Lord Śiva, but progressive stages of a one path. Each builds upon, but does not exclude, the other. Jñāna is not an intellectual amassing of knowledge, beliefs and attitudes, but a state attained only after God Realization. The Nandinātha Sampradāya believes in the necessity of the illumined satguru, who alone brings the śishya to face and conquer the lower mind. He is the master who knows the Self and can therefore guide the disciple to the higher Self. The guru is a source of grace that sustains the śishya’s personal sādhana as the spiritual forces unfold from within. For Nāthas, the repetition of the sacred Pañchākshara Mantra, Namaḥ Śivāya, is the key to the awakening of Śivaness within each and every devotee on the path to Lord Śiva’s holy feet.§
5. Scripture and Religious Perspective: The primary scriptural authority of the Nandinātha Sampradāya’s Kailāsa Paramparā derives from the Vedas and Āgamas, the Tirumantiram, Tirukural, Natchintanai of Jnanaguru Yogaswami, the Tirumurai and, last but not least, my published teachings, including Loving Gaṇeśa, Dancing with Śiva, Living with Śiva, Merging with Śiva, Lemurian Scrolls, How to Become a Hindu, Śaiva Dharma Śāstras and the Maṭhavāsi Śāstras.§
The Nātha Sampradāya teaches that Śaivism is the oldest religion in the world, the eternal faith or Sanātana Dharma, the precursor of the many-faceted religion now termed “Hinduism.” Within Hinduism today, there are four main denominations: Śaivism, Vaishṇavism, Śāktism and Smārtism. But since long ago Sanātana Dharma has been none other than Śaivism. Though the beliefs of Śaivism and of other religions are diverse and different, the devout Śaivite respects and encourages all who worship God and tries never to criticize or interfere with anyone’s faith or practice. He follows that single most fundamental practice: seeing Śiva everywhere and in everyone.§