Abhinavagupta
c. 10th–11th century · Kashmir · Kashmir Śaivism (Trika)
Abhinavagupta was a philosopher, mystic and aesthetician of Kashmir and the greatest teacher of Kashmir Śaivism (Trika and Pratyabhijñā). He taught that all is the free play of one consciousness, Śiva, and that liberation is recognising (pratyabhijñā) one’s own Self as that consciousness.
His Tantrāloka is a vast encyclopaedia of Śaiva practice, and his Īśvara-pratyabhijñā-vimarśinī explains the philosophy of recognition. In aesthetics, his Abhinavabhāratī on Bharata’s Nāṭyaśāstra and his Locana on the Dhvanyāloka made him the classic authority on rasa, the flavour of art.
Tradition in Kashmir says that at the end of his life Abhinavagupta walked into the Bhairava cave near Srinagar with his disciples, reciting a hymn, and was never seen again.
Kashmir · Trika / Pratyabhijñā · Tantrāloka · Rasa theory