Vijnana Bhairava Dharana 3

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 tradition of Kashmir Shaivism and offers 112 ways to experience the energy of meditation, the Kuṇḍalinī Śakti. In this 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 3, which focuses on awareness of the "madhya" or "the middle". According to Kashmir Shaivism, awareness of the madhya helps us to enter the thought-free state, the state of Śiva, a state of expanded consciousness.

Transcript

Welcome to this exploration of the Vijnana Bhairava Tantra.

The Vijnana Bhairava Tantra is a highly respected text in Kashmir Shaivism.

It contains 112 different dharanas or centering techniques that help us to understand our deepest nature.

Dharana number three.

I'm going to sing it for you and then we'll speak a little bit about what the dharana is about.

The breath should neither move out nor enter.

When this happens,

The madhya,

The middle place,

Unfolds.

There,

There is dissolution of thought and one attains the nature of Bhairava.

So this dharana is to do with a very important concept in Kashmir Shaivism,

A very important yogic practice.

You notice that I caught myself when I said concept.

Often when we read a scripture,

We think that it needs to stay on the page.

But with Kashmir Shaivism,

It's meant to be lived.

Each dharana in the Vijnana Bhairava is an invitation for us to explore our consciousness.

In fact,

Kashmir Shaivism is considered to be a highly respected form of tantra because it is such a detailed map of consciousness.

So the invitation here is to work actively with the dharana and see what unfolds for you.

Sometimes it might be easy,

Sometimes it might be difficult.

This is because consciousness is vast.

How could we ever reach the end of consciousness?

That being said,

Let's look at what the madhya means.

So literally,

Madhya is the middle or a gap.

The middle or a gap.

The middle or a gap.

Did you see what I did just there?

I gave us an experience of the gap between those repetitions.

You see in Kashmir Shaivism,

This gap,

It exists between thoughts,

It exists between words,

It exists between actions,

And as in this dharana here,

It exists between the breath,

The in-breath and the out-breath.

So this dharana is an invitation to go deeply into this gap,

This potentiality,

And see what is there.

Now you can do this with your eyes open,

You can do this with your eyes closed.

For now,

Let's try it with our eyes closed.

So gently close your eyes.

Breathe in.

And then gently hold that breath for a moment.

And just experience the madhya,

The gap between the breaths.

And now exhale.

Now hold the breath out for a moment and feel the cessation of the breath.

Go into the gap there.

Now breathe in.

And feel the madhya when the breath subsides.

Are there any thoughts there?

And now breathe out.

And now feel the madhya where the exhalation subsides.

And that gap,

And that madhya,

Is there any thought?

Now gently let your breath return to normal.

So that's the dharana.

That's the centering technique.

That's the practice.

Now focus on the gap that opens up when the inhalation subsides and when the exhalation subsides.

Find that place.

See how deeply you can plunge into it.

This is the secret of samadhi.

Or if we're going to use a strictly tantric term,

Samavesha.

Samavesha.

Penetrating into oneness,

Into sameness.

Sameness with what?

With consciousness.

With Bhairava.

So practice this awareness of the madhya,

The gap,

Until we meet again.