Psyche & Co. presents · Divine Human Mystery School · Part 4 of 7
On the waters of Dal Lake, remembering the divinity you already are.
The fourth gathering of the Divine Human Mystery School comes to Srinagar, in the valley of Kashmir, to sit with one of the boldest ideas any tradition has offered: that we are not trying to become divine, but to recognise that we already are. Andrew Harvey guides a week of teaching, contemplation and quiet time on the water, drawing on Kashmir Shaivism and on the fierce, tender poetry of the fourteenth-century mystic Lalla.
For people who spend their working lives holding other people's pain, this is not an abstract proposition. The idea of recognition offers a way to stand inside difficulty without losing touch with something unbroken at the core. In a time of exhaustion and fracture, it may be the most practical thing we can remember.
The place
Between about the tenth and thirteenth centuries, Kashmir was home to the Trika school of Shaivism. Its philosophers, Somananda, his student Utpaladeva, and later the great Abhinavagupta, taught pratyabhijñā, or recognition: everything is a manifestation of a single consciousness, Shiva, and human beings are that consciousness, having simply forgotten. Freedom comes not through acquiring something new but through re-cognising what has always been true.
In the fourteenth century this teaching found a voice in Lalla, also called Lal Ded or Lalleshwari. Born near Srinagar and married young, she left home in her twenties to follow a Shaiva teacher, then wandered alone on foot, living on alms and composing short mystical verses called vakhs, among the earliest works of Kashmiri literature. She is still loved by both Hindus and Muslims. Srinagar itself sits around Dal Lake, where the Mughal emperor Jahangir laid out Shalimar Bagh in 1619 and Asif Khan, brother of the empress Nur Jahan, built the twelve terraces of Nishat Bagh in 1633.
The teachings
- Recognition (pratyabhijñā): the Kashmir Shaiva teaching that liberation is not becoming something new but remembering your own divine nature.
- Lalla as guide: a woman who walked out of a constrained life and into radical freedom, and whose verses still speak across religious lines.
- The Divine Human as a lived reality, not an ideal: how recognition changes the way we work, relate and suffer.
- Garden as teaching: the Mughal paradise garden, with its water channels and terraces, as an image of an ordered, open heart.
- Sacred Activism from the inside out: why the recognition of divinity in oneself becomes the recognition of divinity in everyone.
A sketch of the days
- ArrivalGathering in Srinagar, an opening circle and Andrew's introduction to the week's theme of recognition.
- Days 2–3Morning teachings on Kashmir Shaivism and the idea of pratyabhijñā, with afternoons for silence and time on Dal Lake.
- Days 4–5Lalla's life and verse; contemplative practice, journalling and a visit to the Mughal gardens of Shalimar and Nishat.
- Day 6Integration: what recognition asks of us in our work and relationships, with time for small-group reflection.
- DepartureA closing circle and blessing before leaving the valley, with a look ahead to Part 5 in the Himalaya. A sketch of the days; the final programme will be confirmed.
This is an outline to give you a feel for the days. The final programme, teachers and timings will be confirmed with the dates.
What you'll take home
- A clear, grounded understanding of the Kashmir Shaiva teaching of recognition.
- An introduction to Lalla's life and poetry, and a way of reading mystics that you can carry home.
- Simple contemplative practices for returning to an inner steadiness amid demanding work.
- A renewed sense of your own worth that does not depend on productivity or approval.
- Companionship with others walking the Mystery School path.
Who it's for
This gathering is for psychotherapists, psychologists and other helping professionals who want to root their work in something deeper than technique, and for thoughtful laypeople drawn to the mystics. No background in Kashmir Shaivism or Sanskrit is needed. It stands on its own, and also continues the arc of the seven-part Divine Human Mystery School for those travelling the full series.
Be the first to hear
Dates, prices and bookings for Divine Human Mystery School, Part 4: Srinagar are being confirmed. Leave your email and we'll tell you the moment places open.
Thank you ✦ we'll be in touch as soon as dates are confirmed.
Photographs via Wikimedia Commons: Suhail Skindar Sofi (CC BY-SA 4.0); Pradeepkjoshi (CC BY-SA 4.0); McKay Savage (CC BY 2.0).