ON THE SIX MODES OF PRACTICE (3 upāyas x Shiva-Shakti)

#FoundationalTeachings

In an earlier post, Kurt outlined the two primary methods in Tibetan Buddhist Tantra as
follows:

a) path of liberation, which is a path of non-effort and simply resting in your own awareness.
(Note that over the centuries exponents of this path are more likely to try to distance
themselves from 'tantra' then to use that brand, even if their own traversal of the path had
tantric elements. [This is true in Shaivism as well.])
b) the path of methods, for which there are innumerable methods, but techniques which
employ the channels (nāḍī), prāṇa, and 'drops' (bindu) are seen as essential.

Now, from an NŚT point of view, we could take a) as Shāmbhava-upāya and b) as Ānava-
upāya; or we could take a) more broadly as the 'Shiva approach' and b) more broadly as the
'Shakti approach'.

But then we also have the three Upāyas, the 'skilful means' / modes of realization / methods
of liberation.

Let's analyze it this way (and this gives me the opportunity to outline every significant mode
of practice in NŚT):
1a. Shāmbhava-upāya ("the Divine Method") in Shiva mode
1b. Shāmbhava-upāya in Shakti mode
2a. Shākta-upāya ("the Empowered Method") in Shiva mode
2b. Shākta-upāya in Shakti mode
3a. Ānava-upāya ("the Individual Method") in Shiva mode
3b. Ānava-upāya in Shakti mode

These are easiest to explain in reverse order.

3b. Ānava-upāya in Shakti mode: primarily consisting of yogic practices that strengthen the
energy-body, such as: practices for activating the bindus and cakras, clearing the channels,
digesting emotions, digesting samskāras, siphoning energy from from the earth and/or sky,
the energy-circuit/ microcosmic orbit (aka prāna-vidyā), activating Kundalinī through uccāra
and other methods, certain prānāyāmas, yogic postures (āsanas and karanas), and so on.

3a. Ānava-upāya in Shiva mode: consisting in meditation practices that (if successful) 'land'
you in the Shiva-state of simple presence/being/awareness. Many examples from the VBT,
e.g. Yukti #1, #2, #6, #7, #9, #10 (verse 36), etc.

2b. Shākta-upāya in Shakti mode: consisting in antidoting one’s stories (vikalpas) and
misaligned conditioning with the spiritual teachings and ‘aligned thoughts’ (śuddha-vikalpa),
as explained in Tantra Illuminated. ~ Other practices include the Shākta-upāya versions of
pūjā, homa, japa, and yoga, as taught in Tantrasāra chapter 4. ~ Also: contemplation and
inquiry, when those processes are distinct from mere thinking (see Ādyashānti’s The Way of
LIberation).
2a. Shākta-upāya in Shiva mode: dissolving vikalpas (as taught in The Recognition Sutras
chapter 18), and mantra practice (moving from conceptual to nonconceptual, i.e. from
mantra as meaningful phrase to mantra as pure vibration).

1b. Shāmbhava-upāya in Shakti mode: primarily consisting of the practice of moment-to-

moment awareness of your energy state without labelling it. This is called unmesha-daśā-
nishevana: “catching hold of the first moment of perception” or “paying attention to the
arising of each new state” — see The Recognition Sutras chapter 18. ~ The other major
practice here is that of “phonemic awareness”, that is, experiencing the Sanskrit phonemes
as pulsations of pure energy, as taught in Tantrasāra chapter 3.

1a. Shāmbhava-upāya in Shiva mode: primarily consisting of nonconceptual meditation,

which needless to say is impossible to explain in words. The Zen-like practices of the VBT
offer this practice in cryptic language (see, e.g. #33 and 43).

Those are all the modes of practice in NŚT. Since Shiva and Shakti are inseparable, there is
no method of practice that does not feature both aspects.