Yoga Spandakarika: The Sacred Texts at the Origins of Tantra

EASTERN RELIGION / HINDUISMThe Spandakarika, or "Song of the Sacred Tremor," is one of the most important Tantric texts in the tradition of Kashmiri Shaivism. In fact, it is said to have been transmitted directly to the sage Vasugupta from the hands of Shiva on Mount Kailas. In his commentary on these fifty-two stanzas, the sage Ksemaraja described them as the heart of the Mahamudra, the Great Cosmic Gesture. In Yoga Spandakarika Daniel Odier presents a full translation of the song accompanied by his own commentary and the commentary of more than thirty Tantric masters.The oldest masters of Spandakarika viewed everything in the universe, including matter, as consciousness and created a yoga practice in accordance with this realization. The sacred dance of Yoga Spandakarika, Tandava, is extremely subtle and difficult, requiring thousands of hours of practice to master, yet it surpasses any other physical practice, allowing the practitioner to touch the divine inner pulse. Once its third stage has been mastered, the yogi or yogini is able to manifest the dance of Shiva in space, a tradition visible in the statuary of Tantric temples in India and Tibet. Energy is no longer contracted by the perception of duality, and the mind and body become unbounded, forming a sphere that contains all that was formerly outside. In Yoga Spandakarika Daniel Odier passes on these vanishing teachings as he received them from his Tibetan master, Kalu Rinpoche, and Kashmiri yogini Lalita Devi. In addition to his translation of the Spandakarika, Odier includes a complete translation of the Vijnanabhairava Tantra, the oldest source text on yoga.DANIEL ODIER began his studies with Kalu Rinpoche in 1968 and remained a disciple of the master until his passing in 1989. In 2004 Odier received the Ch'an ordination in the Lin t'si and Caodong schools in China as well as the transmission of the Zhao Zhou Ch'an lineage in the Xu Yun (Empty Cloud) tradition. He gives workshops in Europe, Canada, and the United States and is the author of Meditation Techniques of the Buddhist and Taoist Masters, Desire: The Tantric Path to Awakening, and Tantric Quest. He lives in Paris.