ABSTRACT
Chapter 1 begins with a brief historical overview of the development of Śaiva Tantra and Nondual Śaiva Theosophy (NŚT) in pre-modern India. NŚT drew on a vast body of religious literature (both vedic and tantric), Śaiva rituals and philosophical schools to develop a highly sophisticated system. The first part of this chapter outlines the early history of Śaiva Tantra prior to the ninth century ce. Beginning in the ninth century, Śaivism in Kashmir entered a post-scriptural and exegetical phase, which was initiated by two important texts, the Śivasūtra and Spandakārikā. Following these, a number of seminal figures such as Somānanda, Utpaladeva, Abhinavagupta and Kṣemarāja wrote important religious and philosophical tracts establishing the fundamentals of what has come to be called by many “Kashmir Śaivism.” After the eleventh century, the tradition appears to have entered a decline. By the time of Islam’s introduction to Kashmir in the fourteenth century, NŚT was no longer practiced outside of certain members of the Kashmiri Pandit community. However, beginning in the 1970s, there was a sudden surge in interest among non-Kashmiri people, and NŚT has currently become the focus of a contemporary, spiritual revival.
