Hello there and welcome.
Welcome to our further exploration of the Vijnana Bhairava Tantra.
The Vijnana Bhairava Tantra.
Vijnana,
Experience of,
Experiential knowledge of,
Bhairava,
Consciousness,
Also in Kashmir Shaivism Shiva,
Also in Kashmir Shaivism Chit.
Let's use the translation awareness here.
Awareness.
So,
Vijnana Bhairava,
The experience of awareness.
This is why I love Kashmir Shaivism.
I've been working with it for the past 30 years.
It's such an amazing way to touch awareness during daily life.
We can do it right here,
Right now.
That's the wonderful thing about it.
We don't have to go anywhere else.
We can be right where we are and experience awareness.
Why is it important to experience awareness?
Well,
Isn't the world a little bit out of control right now?
Do you even turn the news on?
I know I don't tend to at the moment.
It's all a bit disturbing.
And yet,
We need to offer our best to the world.
So,
One way we can do that is to touch our natural state of awareness.
To be in that place.
To learn how to be in that place.
Whatever's going on.
Does it mean that we're going to become pure and holy and stainless?
No.
Does it mean that we'll be able to respond to the needs of life a little bit easier?
Yes.
Does it mean that perhaps we'll be a little bit more kind?
A little bit more at ease?
A little bit kinder to ourselves?
A little bit kinder to the other people on this wonderful planet?
Yes.
So,
Vijnana Bhairava.
The experience of awareness.
The experience of awareness.
Thank you very much for joining me and helping me geek out with this stuff.
I love this stuff.
I really do.
Because it works.
It works.
It's not a strict religion of do this,
Don't do that.
Do this,
Good.
If you do that,
Bad.
It's a philosophy for living.
It's a philosophy for living.
And at the core of this philosophy of living is kindness.
Is love.
Is acceptance.
Is awareness about true nature.
Which is full of ananda.
Full of bliss.
Full of joy.
And when we experience that,
We can then share it with others and also enjoy it in our own lives.
So,
Vijnana Bhairava.
Today we're going to work with Dharana 9.
What I'm going to do is I'm going to sing it for you and then we're going to unpack and we'll do the practice together.
Now the thing is,
When you sing it,
The vibrations take you to a different state of being.
This is why the singing of it.
The vibrations take you to the state of awareness that the sutra or the dharana or the shloka wants to take you to.
It takes you to a different heightened awareness.
You start to step out of your mind.
Out of the turnings of thought.
As Patanjali might say,
Yoga is a cessation of the turnings of thought.
Now there's nothing wrong with the mind.
We need the mind.
The trouble is when the mind starts to become the boss and we become the servant.
The mind is a wonderful tool.
It's a lousy master.
And yoga and tantra,
Meditation,
Is about learning how to cooperate with your mind,
Respect your mind,
But also work skillfully with the mind so that we don't get caught up all the time in the turnings of thought.
So that we don't mistakenly believe that our thoughts are who we are.
So great.
I'm going to sing the dharana for you now.
Take a comfortable posture.
Just relax.
You might want to breathe a little bit.
When was the last time you took a good breath?
Let's take the time to settle now and breathe.
The yogi,
That's you,
That's me,
Should meditate in the heart on the five voids of the five senses,
Which are like the five voids appearing in the circles of the colorful feathers of peacocks.
In this way the yogi will be absorbed in the absolute void.
In Kashmir Shaivism,
In the Vijnana Bhairava,
This is a common theme.
Being aware of the void.
Because being aware of the void,
Well what is the void?
Being aware of nothingness,
Being aware of the nothingness that holds everything,
Takes us beyond thought,
Takes us beyond duality.
So what this dharana is asking us to do.
Join me now.
Have a little look around the room with your eyes,
With your sight.
Have a look around.
I'll do it too.
And everywhere you look,
Imagine the thing you are looking at to be nothingness.
It's void.
It's nothingness.
It's void.
It's nothingness.
It's void.
And now listen intently.
Listen intently to any noise,
Whatever you hear.
Penetrate into the nothingness of where that sound comes.
It's void.
It's nothingness.
Hear that nothingness.
See if you can do that.
Just be curious about it.
No need to push.
And now if you can,
Taste something,
Or even maybe just taste the saliva in your mouth.
Taste the nothingness of that.
Taste the nothingness of that.
Taste the nothingness of that.
And train your mind to penetrate into the voidness of taste.
Taste the nothingness.
And now smell.
Is there a fragrance you can discern?
Through the sense of smell,
Go to voidness.
Go to nothingness.
Don't get caught on the fragrance of whatever it is,
Whether it be pleasant or unpleasant.
Go to the nothingness of it.
Go to the nothingness of it.
And the last one,
Just take your hand and feel something.
Feel something.
Touch.
But instead of going straight to the feeling of touch,
See if you can feel the voidness in that touch.
The nothingness in that touch.
The place from where touch comes from.
See if you can feel that.
See if you can be aware of that.
Now stop.
Be in the voidness.
Be in the nothingness.
Be beyond the turnings of thought.
This is the practice.
Dharana 9.
Enjoy.
Experiment.
Be curious.
Life is joy.
Enjoy.
And these Dharanas,
They help us to do that.
So,
Thank you for joining me.
I'll see you again next time.
Enjoy.
Find the nothingness.
Find that void.
See you soon.
