VBT 112 meditations

[Unseeking Seeker]

Sometime in June 2020, I compiled my (then) understanding of the Vijnana Bhairava Tantra as expounded by Swami Lakshmanjoo, in his book ‘The Supreme Awakening’ . On this thread, I’ll be sharing my limited perspective. I usually prefer to write in poetry.

Look forward to all your inputs.

[Unseeking Seeker]

Both void & manifestation
Spanda: life pulse vibration
Expanding & contracting
Concealing & revealing
Stupefying & illuminating
Separating & uniting

Shiva’s self luminescence
In playful innocence
Creating a pulse of separation
Culminating in divine union

Paths four for liberation
All found in the void of cessation

Krama: the descent & rise
Resulting in joyful surprise

Or Pratyabhijna: re-cognition
Upon ego delusion dissolution

Whilst Kaula: mukti with bhukti
Embrace & release in continuity

Doing nothing Spanda: resonation
With the omnipresent ॐ vibration

Shiva appears upon the earth
Shakti accompanying as his consort
Both one as Ardhnarishwar indivisible
Render the 112 agamas plain & simple
That for those souls seeking renuion
The path be clear without confusion

This preamble given we yet need education
About the basic mind-body construction

First the purpose
Of this circus

Descending to rise to fulfil the potential
Love in love with love as the ultimate miracle
Father wishing that the son be as He
Striving to become strong and mirrorlessly see

Being absolute and illumined how may we play
Unless immersed in limitations that make us sway

Thus Shiva the magician manifests maya illusion
Layering it with five veils to keep Himself in delusion

Himself? Yes; for God alone exists and nothing else is
All that we see & know & feel is His own elixirous fizz

The first veil being limitation in time
Bound by the linear periodic chime

The second confinement within a boundary
Limitation of space being also illusionary

Third to fifth restricted will, knowledge & power
Bondage to illusion self-blocking the bliss shower

Yet what is manifested from perfection is perfection
Thus concealed in mind-body is innate self-illumination

The earth vehicle an interface ephemeral
Within which pulsates the divine eternal

As the seed of the ultimate having propensity for expansion
The lifetron searches instinctively to reclaim bliss elation

However senses five active are all externalised
Along with lower mind in doership having everything analysed

The secret being that the aspect perfect throbbing within
Is the voice of conscience steering us away from sin

The sin being nothing other than self ignorance
In opting for transience instead of our eternal presence

All the above known from different scriptures
Being in delusion we are now our shadowy caricature

Shiva in compassion then does reveal the 112 meditations
Each of which may grant us here & now instant liberation

[Unseeking Seeker]

A dialogue between Gods manifested polarities
To exit duality and get to the one singularity
Freedom & liberation as an ever present orientation
Illumined & unbound in will, knowledge & action

All being grace
There is no race
For God consciousness
The path is pathless

Even the burning yearning
For with the divine connecting
Wherefrom came the exalted thought
That inspiration along with it brought

Yet trapped in body-mind
Unable to unshackle ego bind
112 practices are revealed
Self help plan with nothing concealed

Three paths to embark upon our entrée
Somewhat like the Gunas three
The highest path thought free meditation
Next mantra recitation and yoga in action

The highest path then the vibrant void
Unfettered & unbound in bliss overjoyed
The other abiding in the gap of cessation
Be it thought or breath or mantra recitation

All paths leading to God forging a unity
A samadhi of unbroken continuity
Each practice a form of meditation
Grace alone completing actual ascension

A quick word on what actually is God realisation
Being absolute freedom of will, knowledge & action
Recognition that void & manifestation are the same
A dance divine of concealing & revealing as a game

[Unseeking Seeker]

Self luminous and self existent
Throbbing within a bliss current
Undifferentiated state of singularity
To know Itself descends into duality

The choiceless choice an act of free will
Screen of consciousness eternally still
Projects attention into a vibration a notch lower
That that pulse of separation moves farther & closer

The play enacted in a spectrum of illusion
The projected lifetron bewildered by maya projection
Being always complete but veiled so feeling limited
Imbibes easily in stillness bliss currents of rapture elated

As such there being no way for we are already That
In a self hypnotic trance we seek methods that all fall flat
By divine grace alone we exit the hall of mirrors
Following the fragrance of love as our heart quivers

Yet in as much as we wish to employ mind & body
Instruments of limited thought and perceptions shoddy
The path is singular although offering opportunities many
Within cessation of pure intention in stillness sedentary

Cessation or emptiness humming with potent power
Formless & identityless no longer limited by mind lower
Exits too limitation of time and boundaries of space
Self existent & self luminous Itself radiates divine grace

Liberation here & now within bodily form
Self illumined in the eye of the bliss storm
The 112 paths kinetic to rest in absolute potentiality
Getting to indivisible oneness singularity

[Unseeking Seeker]

Each half breath has a point of cessation
Yet the voids differentiated by intuitive intention
The beginning of exhalation return to space
Whilst commencement of inhalation divine grace

Geometrically we may assign lungs to the Anahata
Breath flow from nose to head crowned at Sahasrara
Connector between the two being the Vishuddha
Union of separated polarities the flowing divine enigma

The flow being of nothing other than consciousness
From the domain of matter through ether into formlessness
Hiranyagarbha the one at Sahasrara becoming two
The polarities merging in a bliss explosion as bliss renews

The practice affirms manta ॐ (ohm/ham) during inhalation
With the sound ‘Sa’ or ‘So’ during exhalation
Yet focusing not on breath but relying on purity of loving intent
Within our heart to the ॐ sound current we become sentient

Such is the energetic path first of one hundred & twelve
Urging us to focus on the voids and therein within ॐ dwell
Blurring boundaries between form & formlessness
Merging in-form consciousness with Absolute Oneness

The second of the 112 paths same as the first
Differentiated by an insatiable thirst
Whereupon we abide in cessation without thought
Simply imbibing the divine soma nectar as bliss brought

[Unseeking Seeker]

I wish to clarify once again, that what I’m posting here, is my interpretation of the VBT, as expounded by Swami Lakshmanjoo in his book, referred to in post#1. The readers who are interested, may obtain a copy of this remarkable work directly from archive.org for free.

I’ve looked at the 112 meditations, as it resonates with me. As such, it is a personal view. We each must determine the validity for ourselves. In fact, I’ll be looking forward to your perspective as of your understanding and experience!

Thank you!

[Unseeking Seeker]

Before we get to the practice number three
A few words to reside in clarity

The triad or trika
Para, para-para & apara
Lowest the apara - we as in-form consciousness
Aligning with (para-para) Shakti to get to (Para) Shiva Oneness

Or we may say our journey from ignorance to luminescence
Relying upon energy as vibration in octaves of innocence

The path being pathless there being no coming or going
Yet awakening from amnesia by simply re-recognising
So no doing to be done erect without support
The Sushumna ignites vaporising the maya fort

Or we may say bypassing the Ida & Pingala
We cajole the Kundalini to ascend via Sushumna

Thus theoretically this practice is known
Yet execution feasible only when fear has flown
So what does the practice actually entail
How may we rudderless sail

Resting thoughts imaginal
As also theories conjectural
Our focus on Sushumna when breath ceases
Possibly is a childlike prayer that Shakti pleases

The practice also speaks of Samadhi like meditation
Which if enabled grips Sushumna in bliss elation
Which it always was & is
Though we were oblivious to its fizz

As such this practice is for those who are so qualified
Having partly awakened with lower mind vaporised

Epilogue

The practice narrated
As stated
Yet it may be affirmed
Confirmed
That indeed the Sushumna is the rod of initiation
Luminous with radiant bliss throbbing in elation
Preceded by fusion of polarities in the Anahata
Whereupon bliss in permanence abides in the Sushumna

[Unseeking Seeker]

Essentially, the 112 meditations listed in a dialogue between Shiva & Parvati are offered to humanity that whichever any one meditation suits, it can carry the pilgrim to enlightenment. The catch? That the neophyte be pure of heart!

(There’s always a catch!)

[Unseeking Seeker]

A simple physical breath recitation
For we cannot yet call it meditation

Gently inhaling we pause at the heart
Likewise pause at crown when breath departs
Breathing thus with pause of cessation
Thoughts may come & go as of ego suggestion

We gradually lengthen the practice duration
Flow of breath regardless of thought agitation
Simply positioning attention during the voids
Alternating at heart & crown therein buoyed

What happens thus is assigning priority
Getting to the divine in stuporous simplicity
By merely performing an exercise in lengthening time
Until the divine relents and we we hear the chime

Within

Footnote

Such is the exposition
But there is no imposition
Possibly it may not resonate
Unless thought rested we meditate

We may then thus tweak what is written
Like a spirited horse not do as bidden
Adding to this doing our own colouration
Of love seeking love via breath meditation

Why not?

[Unseeking Seeker]

Tantra being the path of energy
To facilitate divine connectivity
Triad from gross to subtle to emptiness
Are three basic tools for getting to oneness

Eventually no path higher or lower
Although some are faster and others slower
Essentially divine reality omnipresent
It depends upon how we choose to be sentient

Taking theoretical knowledge of chakras as a given
We may embark upon the offered suggestion
So plunging into technique number five
Vibrancy in stillness that makes us jive

Employing imagination along with our breath
Breath silent descends via Sushumna in stealth
Where at root in supreme glory resides the Para Shakti
Empathetic to our trepidation smiles in loving geniality

The practice involves cessation of breath as prana
Surrendering in wonderment to behold the divine enigma
Content as a child in the lap of the divine mother
We know not where it takes us for the bliss shower

There then being upon our part no striving
For at the Muladhara itself we feel the pulse vivifing
We rest all vicarious knowing of chakras & nadis
Each cell within our form holding the divine in entirety

Para Shakti illumines the Sushumna with her radiance
Each chakra in its own right Shiva in full brilliance
We thus rest as Shakti decides imbibing the divine elixir
For who are we to suggest any imagined vector

As far as subtlety goes the Sushumna too has layers
Revealing invisible conduits depending upon our prayer
Unfathomable is the ultimate divine mystery
Yet each coordinate perfect for divine connectivity