Prakasa

Prakāśa is a concept of Kashmir Shaivism translated by various authors as "light", "splendour", "light of consciousness" (identified with Śiva) (Swami Lakshman Joo), "luminous and undifferentiated consciousness" (Paul E. Murphy) or "primordial light beyond all manifestations" (Paul Muller-Ortega). Fellow Tantric practitioners Tibetan Buddhists practice Clear Light yoga based on a similar concept.

Prakāśa is considered supreme, ultimate, unsurpassable, but as such it cannot be described as pure transcendence, because even though it is above all, it is still present in the manifestation, in every aspect of it. Thus prakāśa is said to be both transcendent and immanent.

The prakāśa-vimarśa couple

Uncreated light (prakāśa) is the essence of Śiva. Its function is to illuminate, to make manifest. However, Kashmir Shaivism declares that the nature of prakāśa is "self apprehension", or, to reflect upon itself. "If the supreme light were devoid of this free and spontaneous self-referential capacity, it would be powerless and inert".Prakāśa and vimarśa form a couple at the supreme level, identified respectively with Śiva and Śakti.