f Sankara, though its
terminology is its own.

Before the advent of Islam, Kashmir was a secluded but cultured land.
Its pleasant climate and beautiful scenery, said to have been praised
by Gotama himself,[556] attracted and stimulated thinkers and it had
some importance in the history of Buddhism and of the Pancaratra as
well as for Sivaism. It is connected with the Buddhist sect called
Sarvastivadins and in this case the circumstances seem clear. The sect
did not originate in Kashmir but its adherents settled there after
attending the Council of Kanishka and made it into a holy land.
Subsequently, first Vishnuism and then Sivaism[557] entered the
mountain valleys and flourished there. Kashmirian thinkers may have
left an individual impress on either system but they dealt with
questions which had already been treated of by others and their
contributions, though interesting, do not seem to have touched the
foundations of belief or to have inspired popular movements. The
essential similarity of all Sivaite schools is so great that
coincidences even in details do not prove descent or borrowing and the
special terms of Kashmirian philosophy, such as _spanda_ and
_pratyabhijna_, seem not to be used in the south.

The Siva-sutras consist of three sections, describing three methods of
attaining _svacchanda_ or independence. One (the gist of which has
been given above) displays some though not great originality: the
second is Saktist, the third follows the ordinary prescriptions of the
Yoga. All Sivaite philosophy is really based on this last and teaches
the existence of matter, souls and a deity, manifested in a series of
phases. The relations of these three ultimates are variously defined,
and they may be identified with one another, for the Sankhya-Yoga
doctrine may be combined (though not very consistently) with the
teaching of the Vedanta. In Kashmirian Sivaism Vedantist influences
seem strong and it even calls itself Advaita. It is noteworthy that
Vasugupta, who _discovered_ the Siva-sutras, also wrote a commentary
on the Bhagavad-gita.

The gist of the matter is that, since a taste for speculation is far
more prevalent in India than in Europe, there exist many systems of
popular philosophy which, being a mixture of religion and metaphysics,
involve two mental attitudes. The ordinary worshipper implores the
Lord to deliver him from the bondage of sin and matter: the
philosopher and saint wish to show that thought is