In the Hindu religious traditions of Shaktism and Shaivism, Kaula, also known as Kula, ("the Kula path") and ("the Kaula tradition"), is a Tantric tradition which is characterised by distinctive rituals and symbolism connected with the worship of Shakti and Shiva that is associated with cremation-ground or charnel ground asceticism.
Kaula preserves some of the distinctive features of the Kāpālika tradition, from which it is derived. It is subdivided into four subcategories of texts based on the goddesses Kuleśvarī, Kubjikā, Kālī, and Tripurasundarī respectively. The Trika texts are closely related to the Kuleśvarī texts and can be considered as part of the Kulamārga. These subcategories emerged as cults with a wide range of practices—some with mild practices involving worship of Siva or Sadasiva as a householder deity while others involved worshiping ferocious goddesses with blood, alcohol and erotic offerings.
In later Hatha Yoga, the Kaula visualization of kundalini rising through a system of chakras is overlaid onto the earlier bindu-oriented system.
Kaula and kula
The translation of the term kula in English is considered difficult and has raised some problems for researchers. The basic meaning is "family", "group" or "self-contained unit". This is explained by Gavin Flood as referring to the retinues of minor goddesses depicted in the schools' literature.
Philosophically the term is said to represent a unifying connectedness, beneath the various objects, processes and living entities of this world, which may be identified with these goddesses as aspects of the supreme deity, in some regions the god Shiva, elsewhere a goddess. Another meaning sometimes given to the term kaula is that of a "group of people" engaged together in the practice of spiritual discipline.
Kaula practices are based on tantra, closely related to the siddha tradition and Shaktism. Kaula sects are noted for their extreme exponents who recommend the flouting of taboos and social mores as a means of liberation. Such practices were often later toned down to appeal to ordinary householders, as in Kashmiri Shaivism.
Fundamental concepts
The concepts of purity, sacrifice, freedom, the spiritual master (guru) and the heart are core concepts of the Kaula tradition.
Purity and impurity
Actions or objects are not seen impure in themselves, rather the attitude is the determinant factor. Spiritual ignorance is the only impurity and knowledge is pure. As long as one is identified with the supreme consciousness, there is nothing impure. The adept is unaffected by any external impurity and makes use of what is reprehensible to attain transcendence. Here arises the antinomian and asocial character of Kaula and the left-handed forms of tantra.
Sacrifice
Kaula sacrifice (yajna) is defined primarily as an inward act. Any action performed with the purpose of evoking the supreme reality is said to be sacrifice. However, if sacrifice were performed only interiorly, there would be a lack of externality and therefore limitation and dualism. That is why Kaula adepts also perform symbolic external sacrifices making use of a sacred place and various rituals.
There are six main types of sacrifice according to the "six supports"; external reality, the couple, the body, the central channel of the subtle breath (susumna), the mind and Shakti.
Freedom
Kaula stresses the language of self-sufficiency, liberation and freedom. Socially the Kaula may be viewed as an alternative society, complete in itself, which supports the freedom of the devotee from interior mental and egotistic limitations and from exterior social and cultural preconceptions.
At a social level deconditioning is realized by detaching from traditional restrictions with regard to what is considered pure and impure and through the adoption of the spiritual family of the guru. At the mental level freedom is attained by the awakening of Kundalini through asana, pranayama, mudra or mantras, the amplification and sublimation of the vital and mental energy and the elevation of consciousness. The culmination of this process is spiritual illumination.