``Shakti'' is another word for kundalini and ``pat'' means to descend. Shaktipat is a method by which an individual's kundalini is awakened by the direct intervention of a guru. There are several varieties of shaktipat depending on the facility of the guru and the receptiveness of the disciple.
It is probably not useful to try to resurrect the nine or more classifications of shaktipat used in the classical literature here. Practially speaking shaktipat is known by its results: the awakening of of the student's kundalini.
There are also a variety of mechanisms for conveying shaktipat. These include: by glance, by word or mantra, by touch or simply by intention.
How does shaktipat work? If kundalini awakening is so important how can someone else do it for you? How could a guru overcome my karma?
There is a rich literature exploring this point but a couple analogies may help more. In the classical literature, such as the works of tantric scholar Abhinavagupta, shaktipat is seen as able to occur when one's positive and negative karmas reach a sort of equilibrium.
Regarding the question as to how a guru is able to overcome the karma of a disciple, the Indian scholar Abhinavagupta argues that the ability to receive shaktipat is the result of something of a neutralization of positive and negative karmas. He also investigates the common phenomena that some individuals experience shaktipat more deeply than others. One might naturally further ask: ``If shaktipat is a manifestation of grace then why would anyone person experience shaktipat more deeply than another?''
These questions deserve deeper enquiry but I personally find a couple analogies helpful. Ordinarily it takes a long time to create a fire by rubbing sticks together but if someone else already has a fire then that fire can be used to ignite another fire. Similarly to make a magnet naturally may require thousands of years but if one already has a magnet then a metal can easily be magnetized using the magnet.
Who can give shaktipat?
To continue the analogy, in theory ``anyone on fire'' can give shaktipat, i.e. anyone who's kundalini is already awakened. The more relevant question is: ``Whoshould give shaktipat?'' There are many opinions on this but at the very least the conveyer of shaktipat should be aware of the movements of shakti in his own body and in the body of the disciple. Giving shaktipat is a science and it is helpful, if not essential, to be instructed in that science. The classical works of Abhinavagupta and the living oral tradition of contemporary masters, such as Swami Shivom Tirth, both indicate that improperly practiced shaktipat initiation can be dangerous both to the disciple to the guru and to the disciple. Using the analogy again, it is easier to light a fire than to light it in such a way that it has a carefully managed burning.
Therefore, it is desirable that the guru be empowered to give shaktipat by his own guru and has been trained in an unbroken lineage back to a great master who was fully aware of the science of shaktipat. In this way some quality control is maintained.
|
