This book explores one of the most explicit and sophisticated theoretical formulations of tantric yoga. It explains Abhinavagupta's teaching about the nature of ultimate reality, about the methods for experiencing this ultimate reality, and about the nature of the state of realization, a condition of embodied enlightenment. The author uncovers the conceptual matrix surrounding the practices of the Kaula lineage of Kashmir Shaivism.

The primary textual basis for the book is provided by Abhinavagupta's Paratrisika-laghuvrtti, a short meditation manual that centers on the symbolism of the Heart-mantra, SAUH.

"Muller-Ortega's approach is good, clear, intelligent, and perceptive. The translation of the Paratrisika-laghuvrtti given in the appendix, being the first English translation of this short but important text, is a very useful contribution to the study of Kashmir Shaivism, and so are the long and numerous quotations in the text of other works, as yet untranslated into English, of Abhinavagupta." -- Andre Padoux, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris

Paul Eduardo Muller-Ortega is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Michigan State University.