Vijnana Bhairava Dharana 5

Welcome! This meditation comes from the Vijñāna Bhairava Tantra, an ancient and highly respected Tantra from around the 8th century. The Vijñāna Bhairava comes from the Indian Tantric tradition of Kashmir Shaivism and offers 112 ways to experience the energy of meditation, the Kuṇḍalinī Śakti.

In this simple meditation, we will practice a dhāraṇā (centering technique) from the Vijñāna Bhairava. We engage with a dhāraṇā to experience the energy of meditation. Here we will practice dhāraṇā 5, which focuses on being aware of the Śakti as scintillating light, raising from the mūlādhāra at the base of the spine, to ūrdhva dvādaśānta, a space above the head that is twelve finger-widths from the middle of the eyebrows. This ūrdhva dvādaśānta above the top of the head is the space of absorption into Cit or Awareness, a space Kashmir Shaivism calls Bhairava.