The Recognition Sutras: Illuminating a 1,000-Year-Old Spiritual Masterpiece

by Christopher D. Wallis

One thousand years ago, in the valley of Kashmir, a great Tantric master named Kshemaraja wrote his masterpiece: the Pratyabhijnahrdayam, which means “The Essence of the Recognition Philosophy”. This text was a concise primer, written to introduce spiritual seekers to the Recognition philosophy in less formally philosophical, more approachable language. What Kshemaraja created turned out to be one of the world’s great spiritual masterpieces, breathtaking in its brevity but stunning in its power. It came to be considered equivalent to scripture itself by later generations, because of its undeniable inspiration. This book expounds the subtleties of this spiritual and philosophical classic. One of the most powerful and revelatory spiritual masterpieces of world history, the Pratyabhijnahrdayam is one of the primary sources for the study and practice of nondual Tantrik Yoga, and it has never been accurately translated or fully explained until now.

Genres: Philosophy, Spirituality, Nonfiction, Religion, Hinduism, Audiobook, Mysticism

544 pages, Hardcover

Published May 1, 2017

About the author

Christopher Wallis, also known as Hareesh, is a Sanskritist and scholar-practitioner of Classical Tantra with thirty years of experience. He was initiated by a traditional Indian guru at the age of sixteen, and received education at yoga āshrams, both in India and the West.

Subsequently, he engaged in fourteen years of formal education in Sanskrit, South Asian Studies, and classical Indian religions.

Hareesh teaches classical Tantric philosophy and Tantric practices, meditation, Sanskrit, and mantra-science to an engaged online community of practitioners. He is the Founder of tantrailluminated.org, an online learning portal where all his courses and teachings are available. He also offers workshops, retreats and classes in person in Portugal and around the world.

He combines his own practice of more than 25 years with a rigorous inquiry into the original Sanskrit sources to accurately translate and bring to modern practitioners this ancient nondual wisdom. The practices aim to facilitate both spiritual awakening and enhanced well-being for people in all walks of life. His community of students frequently praise his deep love for the tradition and the clarity of thought and expression.

Reviews

[Renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing work and effective for me as it renders an ancient text into modern understanding and clarifies the conscious awareness concept and all that it entails (and more). To be reviewed many times over because it contains layers and layers of information and understanding to be teased out and practiced... we are all works in progress.

[Morgan Blackledge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spectacular.

An absolute treasure.

Christopher D. Wallis is an amazing scholar, practitioner, and translator of these otherwise unavailable texts.

I savored every page.

And I plan to re read this text in its entirety before the end of 2024. Something I almost never do.

GREAT READ!!!!!

NOTE: I spent the FEB 2025 rereading this.

As with his other book (Tantra Illuminated).

I SO DESPERATELY wanted to write in more detail about the contents and my experience reading it.

And I still do.

In fact.

I have been holding out on posting the reread for a month or so hoping I would find the time to make this happen. But (for some reason that is kind of mysterious) I simply cant (or wont) bring myself to sit down to this monster undertaking.

Maybe that means there will be another reread coming.

Anyway.

This is a FU KING great book.

I LOVE C. B. Wallis for (a) doing all the hard scholarly and practical work it took to write this thing, (b) actually sitting down and writing this thing, and (d) just from being the seriously serious, massively uncompromising, non-dual shiva-tantra dork/demigod that he so clearly was born to be and is.

FANTASTIC!

5/5 ⭐️

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

See through your mind's bullshit.

I was fortunate to receive a pre-publication copy of The Recognition Sutras. While this is an exegesis of a 1,000 year old text, Christopher not only makes it relevant and entertaining for a modern audience, he turns Kshemaraja's nondual philosophy into a clear, step-by-step manual for aligning your thoughts with reality, a reality supported by current neuroscience and physics. I will read this again and again.

[Victor N · Rating 4 out of 5]

The neuroscience: B or C
It isn’t wrong, exactly but it is outdated and at times very misleading.

The Physics: F-
I can’t stress this enough. The author’s understanding of Quantum Theory is appalling.

So how can I give this book such high marks? It is not a hard-science text and doesn’t actually rely on these two fields to make its claims. Instead it uses the original texts to make these claims and simply misuses the science to backup the original texts. This is of course bad but I can mostly overlook it because everything else is so good.

The Linguistics, philology and exegesis are excellent and I would highly recommend this book to anyone who has a curiosity in Religion, whether it is for secular or spiritual purposes.

[Dean Paradiso · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book (and audio) is really a masterpiece, which took years to complete by the author and covers a large amount of material from a lesser known nondual school and text. The author has done a massive service to humanity in bringing this work to light. The audio was excellent, and the author reads a passage in a different sound to the following explanation. He also explains some Sanskrit terms and concepts during the exposition. It's delivered in modern language and one doesn't need to be a scholar to get something out of this work, which also ties together the classical Indian Tantric schools and the KS nondual schools. Overall, highly recommended for anyone interested in this lesser known spiritual and nondual tradition.

[Dean Paradiso · Rating 5 out of 5]

This audio (and the book version) covers an amazing journey through a lesser known nondual tradition- Kashmir Shavism, and in particular, covers a lesser known text by Kshemaraja. The author really 'knows his stuff', and is a rare find due to both his practical expertise and scholarly knowledge of Sankrit and this tradition. The audio is excellent, and is presented in an easy to understand and easy to listen to format. I can't fault anything with this work, and recommend it to anyone interested in this nondual tradition.

[Silvio · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Recognition of Truth:

I am loving Awareness
in free play,
stillness in motion,
the Heart,
pulsing in Love,
contracting and expanding,
expressing, exploring,
experiencing
my infinite potential,
shaping myself
as this moment,
forever flowing forth...

...

Wow.

Truly the most important book I have ever read. I view this as my personal "Bible".

What a perfect way to end the wonderfully gracious year of 2020 (I literally finished it 20 minutes before the dawn of 2021).

All I can say (and the attitude I will bring into the new year) is:

Om ("YES!")

[Charles Abrahams · Rating 5 out of 5]

For anyone who is interested in none-dual śaiva Tantra that had its roots in India in the later part of the first millennium CE this book is an absolute gem, I cannot recommend it to highly. It gives a deep insight into both its philosophy and practices.

Personally as a practitioner of meditation the insights I have gained from reading this book are invaluable. Further in this respect the book has clarified many obscure points of practice that many other contemporary texts fail to do.

Christopher Wallis has done an exceptional job both of translating many Sanskrit texts that have not been previously available in modern times as well as reinterpreted some that have been poorly translated. Importantly from the perspective of a none specialist he explains these sutras and the background to them in a very accessible way.

[Andy Anaya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chris is a meticulous and comprehensive author and a credit to his lineage(s). As a yogi growing up about as far away from the Himalayas as you can get, I have learned important morsels from Wallis' books relevant to my own solitary, ignorant, guru-less journey. To the extent that Tantra/Kaula/Krama/Trika/Spanda/Pratyabhijñā/similar (did I miss any cool ones?) represent a scientific approach to matters of soul, mind and liberation (as opposed to a faith-based one), Wallis' notes about what to expect along the way are invaluable. This particular text has certainly been worth the dive in this regard.

I am curious as to whether or not the philosophy or contemporary householder lineage practice along these ""Radical"" lines enables/empowers moderate Liberals (in the East or West) to impede the aggressive reform required to get the free world back on track. Otherwise, by all means, repeat to yourselves, "This is just all Shiva dancing," while you are being led through the line to the guillotine by Actual Radicals.

[Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Before you read this book, I would suggest reading his previous book "Tantra Illuminated" first. Even though it is not entirely necessary, it can be very helpful to understand certain words and concepts in detail, as the author himself makes many references to his previous book for in-depth understanding.

But nonetheless, I was very surprised and amazed to see how refined and deep the non-dual tantra really is and was a thousand years ago. I think Christopher did an extraordinary job compiling and organizing the ancient text, together with the translation and explanation. If you are interested in non-dual tantra, you can't miss this one. Definitely one of my favorites.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

I feel like I am some kind of lucky fool to have the good fortune to read this text! This and Christopher Wallis’s other book, “Tantra Illuminated,” are masterpieces and a phenomenal, accessible gateway to Tantrik Shaivism.

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is astounding that such advanced levels of consciousness were being practiced so long ago, and very satisfying to see nondual schools from distinct traditions (in this case tantra) converging on the same truths. I am grateful such a beautiful work has been made accessible to English speakers.

[Ravel Sanjur · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exquisite, beautiful and deep.
Kashmiri Saiva Tantra at its finest.
C. Wallis does a magnificent job translating the Tantrik scriptures and showing their relevance today, 1000 years later.

[Aahana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good translation and commentary on Kshemaraja classic. A book one can read and come back to again and again.

[Lisa Who? · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have always been drawn to everything spirituality. I have read a lot and consciously aloof when it comes to religion; and yes I constantly reading.
Not many book, not more than a handful books that I can say - this book has changed my life. This book has changed my life. I feel I finally have found something that I relate deeply and that I can live by.
Now I’m on my second listening to the audio book, and will repeat listening. Not the easiest to understand book, but get to know it better and better!
🙏

[Skye · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very deep dive into Kashmiri Shaivism. Wallis is one of the best minds--and practitioners--on this path. This text studies the Prajnabhijna Hrdayam, a two-page sutra of twenty verses that delineates the path from pure consciousness to the depths of caught embodiment and back again to pure consciousness. A beautiful, beautiful 1,000 year old text.

[Lryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was an instrumental accompaniment to my Awakening ... along with other key mentors. I lived breathed ate slept with it through a dark winter of solitude ...

Christopher Wallis is dedicated to accuracy / purity of translation.

[Steven Domingue · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book about Tantrism is illuminating and scholarly and accessible. I shorted my rating one star because I believe the Kindle Edition should have made the valuable footnotes and glossary more convenient by making the footnote numbers and technical terms hyperlinks to the end materials.

[Vishnu Ramasubramanian · Rating 5 out of 5]

A magnificent work. Great job!

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely to read for spiritual folk.

[Brendan O'Brien · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chapter 18 got that true true

[Marcus · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW!!!

[Michael Tong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Going up and down at the same time

[Damien Verrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

The single most impactful book I've ever read. Life changing.

[Malum · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is a little bit of woo to cut through here (chakras, magical mantras, etc.) but overall this is a great book for people of any spiritual tradition with lots of inspirational passages and food for thought.

[Tod Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Inspiring and marvelous!