On Sep 2, 2008, at 1:07 AM, cardemaister wrote:
This is the first shloka, or whatever, of Spanda-kaarikaa (from memory): yasyonmeSanimeSaabhyaaM jagataH pralayodayau taM shakticakravibhavaprabhavaM shankaraM stumaH | Does the first line mean, that when Shankara (Shiva?) opens His Eyes (unmeSa) the Material(?) Universe is annihilated (pralaya),and when He closes His eyes (nimeSa) it is "created" again (udaya)?
Literally that is what it says but it's not yogically what it means. It's really talking about the interdependent relationship between shiva (pure consciousness) and spanda-shakti. These are two inseparable ways of seeing: absorbed in pure consciousness or the outer world as appearing as consciousness. You can see it from either POV and still be in the nondual condition. It's a paradox about what's occurring, simultaneously, all the time; we're just not usually "awake" to that.
Unmesa is also the "gap" between two thoughts.
