Hello again and welcome.
Welcome back to our Vijnana Bhairava practice,
Our exploration of Vijnana Bhairava Dharanas.
What is a Dharana?
In the tradition of yoga,
According to Patanjali,
Dharana means to focus.
To place our awareness on one point.
In Tantra and in Kashmir Shaivism,
This meaning is a little different.
Dharana here means to centre.
To centre ourselves in the awareness of the Supreme Self.
It's not just about focusing our mind.
We use a variety of different ways to centre ourselves.
To become centred.
We use the senses.
It might be sight.
It might be hearing.
We use the breath.
We use awareness.
We use visualisation.
We use our imagination.
By working with these practices,
Working with these modalities,
We naturally centre ourselves,
Focus ourselves on the Supreme Self.
So,
We're up to Dharana number five.
Dharana number five.
What I'm going to do to make these Dharanas really doable and useful for you is we're going to do them for 11 minutes.
11 minutes.
So,
The preamble and the Dharana itself,
11 minutes.
This will help you to incorporate them into your day in an easeful manner.
It will stop the mind from saying,
Oh,
I don't have enough time.
Oh,
No,
I really don't want to do this.
Oh,
I've got other more important things to do.
It will stop that.
Because 11 minutes is doable.
It's easeful.
And the thing with these Dharana practices is when you do them,
You don't just do them for 11 minutes.
You can cast your mind back to the Dharana during the day.
How did I feel?
What was my state?
What happened as a result of practicing this Dharana?
You can actually mentally place yourself back into the awareness you were touching when you were doing the Dharana.
This is the practice of Kashmir Shaivism.
It's designed for the world.
We don't have to be on a mountaintop.
We don't have to be in a cave.
It's a householder tradition.
It's perfect for the way we live now.
If you have a chance to be in the cave,
If you have a chance to be in an ashram,
Fantastic,
Great.
But if you don't,
It doesn't matter.
You can do the practices right here,
Right now,
Where you are and attain awareness,
Consciousness,
Chit.
Chit.
Consciousness.
Awareness.
So take a comfortable posture.
I'm going to sing the Dharana for you and then I'm going to translate and we'll go into the Dharana.
And as I said before,
11 minutes.
Meditate on the Shakti,
The energy of Tantra,
Arising from the Mooladhara Chakra at the base of the spine,
Scintillating like the rays of the sun,
Getting subtler and subtler until finally dissolving in Dvada Shanta,
The space 12 fingers above,
Between the eyebrows,
Above the top of the head.
Your eyes are closed and place your awareness at Mooladhara,
The root chakra,
Right at the base of your spine.
This is where the dormant kundalini slumbers.
She has many forms,
But one of her forms is light.
Place your awareness at the Mooladhara chakra and see the Shakti there,
Scintillating like the rays of the sun.
Scintillating like the rays of the sun.
And now this scintillating,
Coruscating light moves up the spine,
Right up from the base of the spine,
Up to above the crown of the head,
To 12 finger widths from between your eyebrows,
Up to the top of your head,
12 finger widths.
The energy is there above your head in what is known as Urdhva Dvada Shanta,
Urdhva Dvada Shanta.
See the energy there scintillating,
Coruscating like the rays of the sun.
Again,
Place your awareness on Mooladhara,
Feel the light of the Shakti there,
Scintillating like the rays of the sun.
And now the energy moves up,
Scintillating through your spinal column,
Up to above the top of your head,
12 finger widths from between your eyebrows,
Up to Urdhva Dvada Shanta.
What some traditions call Brahmarandra,
A connection to awareness above,
Beyond the physical body.
Let Bhairava be manifest there,
Awareness,
Let awareness be manifest there.
And again,
Place your awareness at Mooladhara,
The base of the spine,
The Shakti is scintillating there like the rays of the sun.
And now,
Feel that energy rise up through the central pathway,
Through your spine,
Up above your head,
12 finger widths from between your eyebrows,
Up to above your head.
Urdhva Dvada Shanta,
Feel the energy scintillating,
Coruscating there.
Let the awareness of that energy there,
At Urdhva Dvada Shanta,
Let that energy take you to the awareness of Bhairava,
Supreme Consciousness.
Chit,
Awareness,
The scintillating radiant light of Kundalini energy,
As it rises from Mooladhara,
Through the central channel,
Up to above your head,
12 finger widths from the eyebrows,
Up to the top of the head,
To Urdhva Dvada Shanta,
Will take you to Bhairava.
It will take you to Supreme Consciousness.
We have just passed the 11 minute mark,
How wonderful.
Practice with this Dharana whenever you remember,
And let it take you to Supreme Bhairava,
Through awareness of the scintillating Shakti,
As she rises from Mooladhara,
Through the central pathway,
And up to Urdhva Dvada Shanta.
How wonderful.
See you next time.
