Vigyan Bhairava Tantra

[Shivani Devi]

Namaste and salutations.

Today, I wish to talk about a book that I read many years ago, but I only briefly skimmed it really. It is a dialogue between Shiva and His Divine consort, Shakti in the guise of Bhairava and Bhairavi about training and focusing the mind into one-pointed mindful concentration , giving 112 different techniques to achieve a state of total dharana (focused awareness).

The Vigyan Bhairava Tantra is one of the main texts from the Trika school of Kashmir Shaivism and what I really like about it, is that it can be read and understood on many levels, according to the philosophy you follow, from Non-Dual Tantra to Dualist Samkhya and everything in between (Bedhabedha).

Lately, I have been immersing myself in the translation discourses on the Vigyan Bhairava Tantra (VBT) given on YouTube by Christopher (Hareesh) Wallis. What I like about his translation, is that he actually explains the Sanskrit etymology. Now, I am good at Sanskrit, but nowhere near as great as Hareesh is and I am quite humbled by that.

I also really enjoy the way he expresses all the concepts...He is a great scholar, scribe and storyteller, giving plenty of background information on each shloka (verse)....I mean, I am still awe struck over the shubdh Shaktis...The vibrational energy for each phoneme in the Sanskrit alphabet.

So, without further ado, I shall post the links to the first three discourses on the VBT given by Christopher Hareesh Wallis...If you like them, you can look up further ones or subscribe to his YouTube channel.

This thread is also for discussing concepts in the Vigyan Bhairava Tantra and asking any questions which may arise...enjoy.
https://youtu.be/rXtc78cM4c4
https://youtu.be/lQZg0dt8EsU
https://youtu.be/j_7Mpkk2y1Q

So, this is what I have been doing with my time..and will continue to do...listen to Hareesh Wallis, Igor Kufayev and Matt Khan, whilst taking long walks along the beach, meditating, catching up on my rusty Sanskrit and doing intense hydrotherapy... that seems to occupy most of my time now.

Aum Namah Shivaya

[Bindu*]

Thanks for this post Shivani Devi. The Shakti seems to be inspiring me towards
exploring the VBT now. I listened to some dharanas by sally kempton at breakes in my nightshift yesterday. ( I have it installed in my phone - "Doorways to the infinite"
https://www.soundstrue.com/store/doo...nite-5937.html

I did the "I am Shiva" contemplation dharana (don't remember the number of the verse), and also a few others. This is really powerful. Haven't done them for awhile...

And today I picked up my translations of the VBT (Jaideva sing) to go into it further...and did a few dharana's at the siddha yoga website.

And today going into the forum finding your new post about it...

Yeah...just saying...sharing.

Best wishes

Om

[Shivani Devi]

Originally Posted by Bindu*

Thanks for this post Shivani Devi. The Shakti seems to be inspiring me towards
exploring the VBT now. I listened to some dharanas by sally kempton at breakes in my nightshift yesterday. ( I have it installed in my phone - "Doorways to the infinite"
https://www.soundstrue.com/store/doo...nite-5937.html

I did the "I am Shiva" contemplation dharana (don't remember the number of the verse), and also a few others. This is really powerful. Haven't done them for awhile...

And today I picked up my translations of the VBT (Jaideva sing) to go into it further...and did a few dharana's at the siddha yoga website.

And today going into the forum finding your new post about it...

Yeah...just saying...sharing.

Best wishes

Om

Namaste.

Oh wow! Yesterday I was in my local coffee shop, having a caramel latte, using their free wi-fi to watch the second installment of Chris's treatise, when he went into explaining the Bindu..

I thought about you, I thought to myself "I haven't seen Bindu for about 6 months...I wonder how he is doing?" and then today, you post here... awesomeness!

I hope you are well and it sounds like you are taking time to just explore things and to go wherever life leads you.

Sally Kempton is also a favourite of mine. I first saw her on a Buddha At the Gas Pump interview a couple of years back and I have been following her ever since. I haven't seen that link you posted before though and thanks for sharing it.

My favourite practice from the VBT is to close my eyes and try to see through closed eyes, or what is behind my closed eyes, focusing on the blackness and trying to see things (and of course, I can't). I do this every evening before I go to sleep.

I have a copy of the VBT translated by Swami Satyananda Saraswati that I found in an old bookstore in outback Australia about 7 years ago...I was on holiday with my family in Broken Hill NSW...I was doing my morning japa when my Rudraksha Mala broke which put me in an awful mood..so later I went for a walk into the small township...ventured into a small antique bookstore and found the VBT which changed my mood instantly...I also learned from the Aboriginal store owner about all the different species of quandong trees and their transmigration and genetic variants from the lost continent of Kumari Kandan at the same time...and a great day was to be had by me with bliss striking me like lightning bolts from out of a blue sky.

Here are the 112 meditations broken down according to sensory involvement:

https://goo.gl/images/VPYk3T

Aum Namah Shivaya

[Bindu*]

Nice hearing that.


I listening to the first video by Christopher wallis.

I liked the explanation of Bhairava/Bhairavi...

Bhairavi as an intensification and fullness in Bhairava...

It rang very true experiencially.

[Shivani Devi]

Devi says:

"Oh Shiva, what is your reality?
What is this universe, full of wonderment?
What constitutes seed?
Who centres the wheel of time?
What is existence beyond and pervading all form and how may we experience it?
What is beyond all space, time, form and perception of form?
Please enlighten me!"

Shiva replies:

"Oh Radiant One,
The experience may dawn between two breaths,
In that space where inhalation gives rise to exhalation,
Where exhalation gives rise to inhalation - the beneficence.
The awareness, when placed between the respiratory cycle,
Leads to a stillness of timeless realisation.
Just rest at that point where the inhalation and exhalation touch and merge;
Where the exchange of energy (prana) takes place.
For where there is no breath, there is no association with causality.
At this juncture, the ego fully dissolves into itself.
This is difficult only when the mind is full of impurity."

This is the very first technique described in the Vigyan Bhairava Tantra and it is the most important one. Here, Shiva is describing the very act of mindful breathing awareness during meditation.

Breathing is something that happens quite unconsciously and we only tend to notice it when it becomes obstructed by a respiratory complaint such as a cold, or asthma. Breath is the "life force" of the body and without it, we would perish and yet, it is something we all seem to take for granted.

We also notice how the breath and emotions are tied together...when we are in a state of anxiety, hyperventilation happens which can exacerbate the anxiety into a full-blown panic attack, due to an oversupply of oxygen to the brain.

When the awareness is centred between inhalation and exhalation... between exhalation and inhalation, nothing is happening.. nothing is going on, and so there is no association with life (the inspiration) or death (the expiration) as the duality of both is transcended by being in that space which incorporates neither as a doorway to the eternal Self.

The next technique will follow.

Aum Namah Shivaya

[Shivani Devi]

This is my own translation and purports by the way. =)

I thought I'd do something constructive on here for a change, just because I can, but that pretty much wiped me for the rest of the evening, so I'll do more when I have rested and my mind is fresh to bury my head into Sanskrit again.

Aum Namah Shivaya

[Shivani Devi]

Shiva continues..

"Bring your awareness to the Brow Chakra (Third-Eye).
Become the 'observer mind' which precedes all thought.
Fix this thoughtless mind upon the pause between each breath,
Then let the energy of the breath totally fill you,
As you direct its flow out the crown of your head,
Watching it erupt in a golden shower of light.

When performing all worldly actions and activities,
Keep mindful of the breath and the stillness between.
Practice this until the effort becomes effortless;
Then in a few days, be born anew.

Thus during wakefulness, the breath shall be retained at the brow,
Kept there by unwavering focus and intent,
Then upon sleeping, drop the awareness from the brow into the Heart Chakra,
Let the heart experience the silent pause between each breath,
Then become the controller of dreams and the conqueror of death."

This technique is an elaboration of the first, and yet it is a technique within itself.

Although it is said there are 112 techniques in the Vijnana Bhairava Tantra (according to the 112 verses), in actuality, there's really only about 40 or so and some are just extensions or explanations of the technique mentioned previously.

After becoming aware of the pause/space between each breath or the point at which they merge or change from inhalation to exhalation and vice versa, Shiva instructs Devi (who represents all of us) to bring that awareness out of idle meditation and into everyday life, by replacing pointless thought with this new awareness and keeping the centre of focus at the brow or Ajna Chakra.

Now, because the mind drops into the Heart Chakra when we sleep (and at the point of death), if the one-pointed focus of the stillness of Being is brought down into the Heart WITH the mind, instead of just letting the mind wander aimlessly, one gets to control the content of dreams and even has full consciousness awareness and control over the process of death and the direction of consciousnesses after it.

The same experience can also be achieved when one has mastered the practice of Yoga Nidra or conscious sleep.

More to follow..

Aum Namah Shivaya