Editing Abhinavagupta (section)

==Masters==
Abhinavagupta is famous for his voracious thirst for knowledge. To study he took many teachers (as many as fifteen),<ref name="Introduction" />{{rp|33}} both mystical philosophers and scholars. He approached [[Vaishnavism|Vaiṣṇavas]], [[Buddhism|Buddhists]], [[Shaiva Siddhanta|Śiddhānta Śaivists]], and the [[Trika]] scholars.

Among the most prominent of his teachers, he enumerates four, two of whom were Vāmanātha, who instructed him in dualistic Śaivism,<ref name="Introduction" />{{rp|54}} and Bhūtirāja in the dualist/nondualist school. Besides being the teacher of the famous Abhinavagupta, Bhūtirāja was also the father of two eminent scholars.<ref name="Introduction" />{{rp|34}}

Lakṣmaṇagupta, a direct disciple of [[Utpaladeva]], in the lineage of Trayambaka, was highly respected by Abhinavagupta and taught him all the schools of monistic thought: Krama, [[Trika]], and Pratyabhijña (except [[Kaula (Hinduism)|Kula]]).<ref name="Introduction" />{{rp|54}} Śambhunātha taught him the fourth school (Ardha-trayambaka). This school is in fact Kaula, and it was emanated from Trayambaka's daughter.

For Abhinavagupta, Śambhunātha was the most admired guru. Describing the greatness of his master, he compared Śambhunātha to the Sun, in his power to dispel ignorance from the heart, and, in another place, with "the Moon shining over the ocean of Trika knowledge."<ref name="The Kula Ritual" />{{rp|7}} Abhinavagupta received Kaula initiation through Śambhunātha's wife (acting as a dūtī or [[Conduit (spiritualism)|conduit]]). The energy of this initiation is transmitted and sublimated into the heart and finally into consciousness. Such a method is difficult but very rapid and is reserved for those who shed their mental limitations and are pure. It was Śambhunātha who requested he write [[Tantraloka|Tantrāloka]]. As guru, he had a profound influence in the structure of [[Tantraloka|Tantrāloka]]<ref>The Triadic Heart of Śiva, Kaula Tantricism of Abhinavagupta in the Non-Dual Shaivism of Kashmir; Paul Eduardo Muller-Ortega, page 1</ref> and in the life of its creator, Abhinavagupta.<ref name="Introduction" />{{rp|44–54}}

As many as twelve more of his principal teachers are enumerated by name but without details.<ref name="Introduction" />{{rp|35,54}} It is believed that Abhinavagupta had more secondary teachers. Moreover, during his life he had accumulated a large number of texts from which he quoted in his magnum opus, in his desire to create a syncretic, all-inclusive system, where the contrasts of different scriptures could be resolved by integration into a superior perspective.