The Shiva Sutras, the Kaul Lineage, and the Stream of Transmission with Ben Williams

Tantra Illuminated with Dr. Christopher Wallace is a journey through the depths of the human experience, as viewed through the lens of the tradition called nondual Shaiva Tantra. This multi-format podcast delves into the fascinating world of classical tantra and its intersections with philosophy, neuroscience,

psychology, human development

and the broader world of spirituality. Today's episode is a conversation And I'm once again joined by Dr. Ben Williams, an expert in Shaiva Tantra, Sanskrit literature and related subjects. You can hear the earlier conversation with him on this podcast, but it's not necessary before hearing this one. In this episode, we talk about the origin of the fascinating, mysterious text called the Shiva Sutras. And we talk about the various commentaries on that text and the whole tradition of expanding on early mysterious scriptural texts through commentaries. We also get into the little documented Cowl lineage, which flourished in the 16th century and 17th century in Kashmir. And the textual evidence from that time shows that the tradition did indeed continue unbroken as a living tradition in the valley of Kashmir. Finally, we talk about Ben's various projects and the books that he's working on, which I will be very excited when they see the light of day. Ben is affiliated with Naropa University and the Mukta Bodha Indological Research Institute, and he does work in manuscript sources and is a prodigious translator. I'm very happy to call him both a colleague and a friend. And right now, Ben is teaching a course on the Tantra illuminated platform called Visualizing the Guru in Srividya. It's a very interesting course that explains how the Guru principle is utilized in meditative practice in the Srividya tradition. So if you're hearing this before August 2nd, you can catch him live on that date. And you can also view the recordings of the course. And now,

on with the conversation.

I am here once again with Ben Williams, who was actually the first person I interviewed for the podcast, though his interview didn't air first. And as you might remember, Ben is a scholar of Sanskrit language and particularly the literature of Shaiva Tantra, also known as Tantric Shaivism, also known as Kashmir Shaivism. And he's a translator and a teacher, a professor, in fact, at Naropa University and head of the MA program in yogic studies there. So welcome back, Ben.

Thanks. Good to be with you once again. And great to be on the podcast.

Yeah. So basically, just fill us in, give us an update on all the projects you're working on, particularly the ones you're most excited about in 2020. any of the areas that you're working, who you're collaborating with, what's coming up for you, and what folks should be aware of in the world of tantric studies as you perceive it.

Okay, thanks for the invitation. There's a number of projects that I'm doing simultaneously. It's kind of a juggling act at the moment. Major projects, maybe I'll

begin with book projects first.

There's an edition and translation of the Shiva Sutra Vimarshini that I've been working on with Mrinal Kahl, who's a colleague and friend. He's at the Indian Institute of Technology in Mumbai.