TANTRALOKA PARTII

In 2023, during Mahashivaratri, a subtle hand guided me to the home of Mark Dyczkowski, an exceptional scholar and teacher of Kashmir Shaivism. There, I met a man who has devoted his life to Kashmir Shaivism and the music of India, the India we feel and live within our hearts. As Mariya and I attempted to film a mandala, Mark spontaneously began to speak about the great sage Abhinavagupta and his magnum opus, Tantraloka—a work he has devoted 45 years of his life to translating and interpreting. We looked at the manuscript of his initial translations and commentaries, the beginning of a journey he embarked on as a student at Oxford. What Markji shared with us spontaneously revealed more than what is written in his Tantraloka: The Light on and of the Tantras. It was living knowledge, something he transmits to his students, known in India as Paramparā. If anything can describe Mark Dyczkowski, it is not a word but a sound of a sitar string. That is his life—music and vibration. This is what I pass on to you! This video was made possible thanks to one of Mark Dyczkowski’s closest and long-time students, Mariya Karagyozova. We are also grateful to Ivan Andreev for his meticulous work on the sound quality.