The Recognition Sutras: A Complete Translation and Explanation of the 1,000-year-old Spiritual Masterpiece the Pratyabhijna-hrdaya

One thousand years ago in the valley of Kashmir, a great Tantric master named Ksemaraja wrote his masterpiece: the Pratyabhijna-hrdaya, which means “The Essence of the Recognition Philosophy”—recognition, that is, of oneself as a direct expression of the universal divine Consciousness. Recognition also that this Consciousness is, in truth, all that exists, and that its five fundamental powers of awareness, enjoyment, willing, knowing, and acting are the sacred endowments of every sentient being. The Pratyabhijna-hrdaya was a concise primer, written to introduce spiritual seekers to the Recognition philosophy in less formally philosophical, more approachable language. What Ksemaraja created turned out to be one of the world’s great spiritual masterpieces, breathtaking in its brevity but stunning in its power. It came to be considered equivalent to scripture itself by later generations, because of its undeniable inspiration. One of the most powerful and revelatory spiritual masterpieces of world history, the Pratyabhijna-hrdaya is one of the primary sources for the study and practice of nondual Tantrik Yoga, and it has never been accurately translated or fully explained until now. Christopher Wallis, author of Tantra Illuminated: The Philosophy, History, and Practice of a Timeless Tradition, expounds the subtleties of this spiritual and philosophical classic.