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Wellsprings
hindu-devotionWe're still mapping where this idea was first discussed. Key passages and related ideas below.

Maintenance (Sthiti)

The holding — keeping a world, or a single moment, standing while it lasts.

Sthiti is the act of sustaining — keeping a world, or a single experience, standing for as long as it lasts. Having poured an experience forth, consciousness holds it steady so that it can be lived in, the way you keep an image before the mind or stay with a feeling. It is the middle of the divine rhythm, between bringing forth and letting go.

Key passages(4)

Śiva-stotrāvalī · Utpaladeva

High

Tantrasāra · Abhinavagupta

High

Paramārthasāra · Abhinavagupta

High

Spanda-kārikā · Bhaṭṭa Kallaṭa

Moderate