Cosmic process, philosophy, and soteriology in the works of Abhinavagupta

An early eleventh-century polymath from Kashmir, Abhinavagupta developed groundbreaking work on metaphysics, epistemology, and aesthetics. However, he is perhaps best known as a mystic, writing on tantrism and Trika Saiva philosophy. This chapter contextualizes the cosmology, epistemology, and soteriology of Abhinavagupta in light of particular contemporary scholarship. Explaining the world as an expression of the freedom (svatantrya) of the absolute, Siva, who actualizes the manifold, Abhinava proposed a model of nondualism that recognizes the reality of the world, confirming it as an articulation of the absolute. Through both independent and commentarial works, he developed philosophy from tantric visualization and ritual practices, yogic and mystical experiences, and aesthetic experience, synthesizing these within the framework of Trika philosophy. This expresses the transcendence of the absolute from its creation, while remaining embodied and immanent. Materiality in this light is not expunged of the luminosity of consciousness or the exuberance of bliss. For Abhinava, embodiment and materiality were not the intrinsic nature (svabhava) of the absolute.