Tandra — in NDS (Nondual Shaiva Tantra), as I Teach It
In the tradition I practice and teach—Nondual Shaiva Tantra of Kashmir, often referred to simply as NDS—tandra is not a vague state of drowsiness or near-sleep. It is a living threshold, a liminal state where ordinary mental activity softens just enough for a deeper truth to reveal itself. The body becomes light, the external world recedes, and yet awareness does not fade. Instead, it turns inward and becomes quietly luminous.
One of the first distinctions I had to learn was the difference between tandra and ordinary sleep. In sleep, awareness collapses. In tandra, awareness remains—relaxed, unforced, and present without effort. Thought loosens its grip, but consciousness is still vividly alive. Within this state, the habitual contraction of identity temporarily relaxes, and awareness begins to sense itself directly. What the NDS masters call Spanda—the subtle, living vibratory pulse of Consciousness—is no longer an idea or philosophy, but something felt, immediate, and unmistakable.
In the tradition articulated by Abhinavagupta and clarified in the modern era by Swami Lakshmanjoo, tandra is never treated as an end in itself. It is a gateway. When awareness is stabilized here—without slipping into unconscious sleep or tightening back into discursive thought—recognition (pratyabhijñā) naturally dawns. Awareness recognizes itself as primary, unbound, and already whole. This recognition is Turīya: the ever-present fourth state that transcends waking, dreaming, and deep sleep.
The threshold-based practices described in the Vijnana Bhairava Tantra, the recognition teachings of the Pratyabhijna Hrdayam, and other Shaivism texts are, at their core, invitations to this lived discovery. They are not techniques for escape, nor methods for attaining a special experience, but means of dissolving the mistaken identification with limitation.
The movement toward—and eventual stabilization in—Turīya is not incidental to this work. It is the absolute end result of The Astral Monk: awakening to one’s true nature as Consciousness itself, and learning to live from that recognition while fully engaged in this world.