Meditation Mysticism in the Śiva Sūtras
with Paul Muller-Ortega
Explore this Extraordinary Kashmiri Essence Text with a Renowned Scholar and Meditation Teacher
Paul Muller-Ortega, Founder Teacher of Blue Throat Yoga first encountered the liberative teachings of the Shiva Sutras in 1976. This text is an early root text of the liberative teachings of the medieval Śaiva Non-dual tradition of Kashmir, and has served as a central focus of Paul's deep contemplation (bhāvanā) and dedicated scholarly investigation for decades.
This new course will be offered in multiple Series. Series One will begin on Saturday March 7, 2026,and meet live on Zoom approximately every three weeks, ending on June 20. All sessions are recorded for later viewing, and all student materials, including Paul's original translations of the text and its commentary, are housed on our curriculum platform, accessible by logging in through the Blue Throat Yoga website.
Registration Coming Soon!
In our study, we will consider what the Śiva Sūtras specifically teach us about the nature of Absolute Consciousness, the centrality of the Śakti and her grace, the deeper understandings of mantra, and the complex array of the upāya-s or methods of liberation.
How will such teachings create a context of understanding and insight that will support, empower, and illuminate your substantial and efficacious engagement with the practices of deep meditation?
- Paul Muller-Ortega
Throughout the course, live and recorded seminars guide students through a systematic study of the text and commentary. The Sūtras will be explored and given a larger context for deeper and more refined understanding. Fundamentally, the liberative essence of the text is revealed through repeated exposure and contemplation of its unfolding meaning in the context of a living sādhanā. Paul Muller-Ortega's long practice and expertise will serve to gradually unlock the richness of meaning contained in the text.
All students are invited to engage in daily practice, reading, contemplation and journaling. Students will receive materials and publications from Paul Muller-Ortega, Founder Teacher of Blue Throat Yoga. Each student is invited into a course of self-study, or create their own study group of peers to work through the material together.
Though elaborated over a thousand years ago, the esoteric, mystical aphorisms of the Śiva Sūtras continue to offer a fresh, utterly compelling, and very specific vision of the nature of ultimate spiritual liberation.
Forming the root text of the non-dual Śaiva teachings of medieval Kashmir, the Śiva Sūtras potently convey the extraordinary mystical essence of the esoteric teachings taught by the great realizers and Ācāryas of this lineage of sublime Siddha masters.
At the very core of their teachings, their insistent communication urges us to take seriously the proposition that the achievement of ultimate spiritual liberation is actually possible even in the very midst of our modern householder life! And that it is not just possible, but indeed, highly necessary and centrally important!
And, moreover, that in such an enterprise, a modern yogin’s engagement in an authentic and liberative sādhana necessarily involves the practices of deep meditation as an absolutely indispensable core component.
- Paul Muller-Ortega
We invite you into this exquisite and transformative investigation into the Great Heart of Consciousness!
ELEMENTS OF MEDITATION MYSTICISM IN THE ŚIVA SŪTRAS
Key Topics of Study
-The Śiva Sūtras, an Essence Text of medieval Kashmir, that articulates an extraordinary perspective on Consciousness and Awakening
- Śiva Sūtras Vimarśinī, the elaborative commentary by Rājānaka Kṣemarāja, the primary disciple of Abhinavagupta
- Central Teachings & Myths in the Śaiva Tantric Traditions
-Extraordinary Liberative Knowledge of Tantra in Experiential & Theoretical modes
-The distinction between Householder and Renunciate modes of spiritual practice
THREE PILLARS OF TRANSFORMATIVE PRACTICE
Blue Throat Yoga offers three powerful pillars in its fundamental teachings: Study, Meditation Practice, and Retreats. Students participating in the course will receive Enrolled Student pricing on retreat attendance (for those who are also practitioners of Neelakantha Meditation) as well as for select programs with Paul throughout the year.
Meditation Mysticism in the Śiva Sūtras students are strongly invited to participate in all three components as it is possible to do so. Students may separately receive personal instruction into the daily practice of Neelakantha Meditation at a regional Meditation Course. Studying, Practicing Neelakantha Meditation, and practicing deeply on Retreat are the three powerful pillars that facilitate the deepest unfolding of your own awakening Consciousness.
The most profound experience is gained when the three pillars are combined, however, we now offer each component separately to make these teachings as accessible as possible to the householder practitioner.
