Spanda (The Pulse)
The Vibration of Reality
The Heartbeat of God
In Advaita Vedanta, the Ultimate (Brahman) is static, silent, and motionless.
In Kashmiri Shaivism, the Ultimate is Spanda (Vibration).
It is not a dead screen; it is a living, pulsating ocean of awareness.
Everything that exists—atoms, thoughts, stars—is a specific frequency of this one vibration.
The Dynamic Absolute
Why does this difference matter?
If God is static (Vedanta), then the world (movement) is an illusion (Maya) to be rejected.
If God is vibration (Shaivism), then the world is the Dance of God (Nataraja) to be embraced.
The Tantric does not try to stop the mind; they try to tune into the rhythm of the universal mind.
The Practice: Feeling the Pulse
- Sit silently.
- Locate the "I". Not the thought "I am," but the feeling of aliveness itself.
This tremor is Spanda. It is the same vibration that sustains the sun.
When you align with it, you are not meditating; you are resonating.
"He who has the sensation of this Spanda is liberated even while alive." — Spanda Karikas