Hello again.
Welcome.
Welcome to our further exploration of the Vijnana Bhairava Tantra.
Today we're going to look at Dharana 10.
What I'm going to do is sing the dharana for you so that you can feel it vibrationally.
It's not just a matter of wrapping your mind around the teaching.
It's also about taking it in vibrationally.
Taking in the vibration of the teaching so that it unfolds within us.
So take a comfortable posture.
I'm going to sing the dharana for you now and then we're going to come back.
Simply,
Successively,
Be mindful whether on the void,
Whether on a wall,
Whether on some excellent person.
Focus on that.
Focus on that.
This leads to absorption in the supreme and to Bhairava.
So in Kashmir Shaivism,
Focus is very important.
But it may not be the focus that you're used to if you're used to the focus that we talk about in yoga,
In Patanjali yoga,
In Patanjali's yoga sutras,
Where dharana is focusing down onto one point.
So that then we can enter into dhyana,
Which is meditation,
Which then can lead us into samadhi,
Which is absorption.
Dharana here in yoga focused down to one point.
Dharana in tantric yoga is a little different.
It's about focusing awareness,
Not necessarily just on one point.
And you can focus your awareness on void.
Remember in dharana nine,
How we were talking about finding the voidness in things,
Finding the emptiness in things,
And sometimes,
Let's face it,
When we study scriptures,
We like to make it complicated.
Voidness,
Okay,
Sounds really good.
But nothingness also works.
And nothingness is probably much easier to grasp as a concept than voidness.
So anyway,
Back to the dharana,
Dharana 10.
Focus on the voidness.
Focus on emptiness successively.
Just focus on it.
And then put your awareness,
Your focus on an empty wall.
Just look to an empty wall.
And then from that place,
Put your awareness onto someone you admire.
Whether it be an excellent teacher,
Whether it be an excellent student,
Whether it be an adorable baby,
Whether it be your best friend,
Whether it be your partner,
Place your awareness on that being.
And feel the absorption that happens there.
Feel the absorption that happens there.
You can do this in one of two ways.
You can have your eyes closed and go through this process and use your imagination and focus on these different things in your mind,
In the subtle realm of your mind,
The place where you dream,
You daydream and you think.
Or,
And this is a wonderful thing about tantric practice and Kashmir Shaivism,
You can have your eyes open wherever you are.
And you can do this practice right here,
Right now in the material world.
So,
Let's try it again.
First of all,
Bring your awareness to nothingness,
To nothingness.
And now bring your awareness,
Turn your focus to an empty wall.
And now turn your focus to some excellent person.
Okay,
Have a little rest.
We're going to do this a few more times.
In tantra,
In Kashmir Shaivism,
Meditation takes many forms.
It doesn't mean just sitting down,
Cross-legged,
In a dark room with your eyes closed.
That's inner absorption and it is very useful and necessary.
And there is also outer absorption,
Where the senses are engaged when we're working with the external world in such a way that it takes us into consciousness,
Into awareness,
So that we don't get dragged out by the senses,
So that we can stay aware.
This is how the tantric yogi works,
Practices.
He or she stays aware,
No matter what's going on.
Okay,
Again,
Eyes closed or eyes open,
Whichever you want.
Focus first on void,
On nothingness.
Focus on nothingness.
And now look to an empty expanse of wall.
And now focus on an excellent being,
On an excellent person.
An excellent teacher,
An excellent student,
An excellent friend.
Someone exemplary,
Someone who you have great admiration for.
And let that take you to supreme stillness.
Come to that place,
Supreme stillness.
And now rest.
When you're doing dharanas,
It's very important to sometimes rest.
It's compassionate,
For a start.
These practices,
These inner practices,
You're a little bit like an elite athlete.
You're working with your consciousness in such a way that is so demanding that it is important to have a little bit of rest.
On the outside,
It doesn't look like we're doing much.
On the inside,
We are working very hard.
So it's important that you give yourself a little bit of rest.
Okay,
Great.
One last time.
So reading,
Focus on voidness,
Focus on nothingness.
And now focus on empty expanse of wall.
Look to an empty expanse of wall,
Focus on that.
And now focus on some excellent being,
Excellent student,
Excellent teacher,
Excellent friend,
Excellent partner,
Excellent cat,
Excellent dog,
Something you love,
Love,
Love,
Something you love.
Focus on that.
And let that take you to the ecstasy of consciousness,
To the ecstasy of Bhairava.
Go there.
Meditation is not somewhere else.
Meditation is where you are.
And these Dharanas from the Vijnana Bhairava help you to recognize and understand that state,
That state of everyday meditation,
Because there's no place where meditation is not.
Thank you.
See you again soon.
