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  1. Quoted from Swami Lakshmanjoo website (link below) "Moksha in Kashmir Shaivism and Indian Philosophy The view that ignorance is the cause of bondage, and perfect knowledge is the cause of freedom (moksha), is commonly accepted by all Indian philosophers. Yet, in reality, these philosophers have not completely understood knowledge and ignorance. The Vaishnavites, for example, believe that liberation (moksha) from repeated births and deaths occurs when you are united with para-prakriti (that energy of Being that governs and contains all the activities and conceptions of this universe). And this union with para-prakriti will take place only when you observe in your understanding that the apparent differentiation of this universe is unreal. Then all attachments, pleasures, and pains will come to an end and you will be established in your own real nature. It is this establishment which from their point of view is called moksha. The Advaita Vedantins, on the other hand, have concluded that, in the real sense, moksha is only bliss (ananda) and nothing else. They say that when you are residing in the field of ignorance (samsara), you become the victim of the five-fold veils (kleshas); i.e. avidya (ignorance), asmita (ego), raga (attachment), dvesha (hatred) and abhinivesha (attachment to your own conception). These coverings, which are the cause of your remaining in samsara, should be removed by the practice of tattva-jnana. In this practice, you must mentally negate all that is not your own real nature by thinking, neti, neti, “I am not this, I am not this.” So here you practice thinking, “I am not the physical body, I am not the subtle body, I am not the mind, I am not the life essence (prana).” You must negate all outside elements. And when you reside completely in your own nature, which is that which remains after you negate all outside elements, that knowledge, from their point of view, is called moksha. The tradition of Buddhist philosophers, who are known as the Vijnanavadins, accept, that you are liberated only when your mind is completely detached from all attachments to objectivity, pleasure, pain, and sorrow. They argue that the mind must remain only as mind, pure and perfect mind, because for them the mind is actually pure, filled with light, and detached from all worldly things. It is when the mind becomes attached to worldly things, such as thoughts, pleasures, and pains, that you are carried to samsara. And when these attachments are cancelled and the mind becomes pure, then you are liberated. The philosophers from the Vaibhashika tradition hold that, liberation is attained by deleting the chain of thought’s, just as the flame of a lamp is extinguished. When a lamp is burning, we experience the existence of the flame. When, however, the flame is extinguished, it does not go anywhere. It does not go into the earth or into the ether. When the flame is extinguished, it simply disappears. And the extinguishing of the flame takes place when the oil of the lamp is exhausted. In the same way, when a yogi has crossed over all the pleasures and pains of the world, those pleasures and pains do not go anywhere, they simply disappear. This yogi, who has extinguished the flame of the chain of thoughts by exhausting the wax of the five-fold kleshas, enters into the supreme and perfect peace which is, from their point of view, liberation. “From the Shaivite point of view, these philosophical traditions remain either in apavedya-pralayakala or in savedya-pralayakala. They do not go beyond these states.” Apavedya-pralayakala is that state of pralayakala where there is no objectivity. Savedya-pralayakala is that state of pralayakala where there is some impression of objectivity. As an example, take the state of deep sleep. When you wake up from deep sleep and then think, “I was sleeping and I didn’t know anything,” that is the state of apavedya-pralayakala. And when you wake up from the state of deep sleep and think, “I was sleeping peacefully without dreaming,” that is the state of savedya-pralayakala, because you experienced that it was a sweet sleep and so “sweetness” is the object for you in this state. Shaiva philosophy does not recognize the theories of these philosophies concerning liberation (moksha) because, in fact, the yogins of these traditions do not move above the pralayakala state and are not, therefore, situated in real moksha. Our Shaivism explains that jnana (knowledge) is knowing one’s own nature, which is all Being (sat), all consciousness (cit), and all bliss (ananda). Ajnana (ignorance) is ignoring this nature, and this is the cause of the samsara which carries one in the cycle of repeated births and deaths. “Kashmir Shaivism explains that ignorance (ajnana) is of two kinds: paurusha ajnana and bauddha ajnana.” Paurusha ajnana is that kind of ignorance wherein one is unaware of realizing one’s own nature in samadhi. This kind of ignorance is removed by the grace of masters and by meditating upon one’s own Self. And when this ignorance is removed, you find yourself in the real knowledge of Shaivism, which is all being, all consciousness, all bliss. This kind of knowledge is called paurusha jnana. When you possess paurusha jnana, you realize your nature of Self perfectly...." http://www.lakshmanjoo.org/teachings/secretsupreme/kashmir-shaivism-the-secret-supreme-chapter-14/