Love One Person: Radiance Sutras Verse 99

During this session, we discuss Verse 99 of the Yukti Verses from the 'Radiance Sutras', a translation of the Vijanana Bhairava Tantra by Lorin Loche. A meditation follows our discussion.

These sessions are recorded on a weekly basis and all are welcome.

Transcript

So we are reading from the Radiant Sutras by Lauren Roche,

An interpretation of the Vijnana Bhairava Tantra,

Which is an ancient tantric text that comes out of Kashmir Shaivism.

The intention behind it is to experience the world differently.

Oftentimes we end up on one or the other end of a spectrum where maybe we were raised to believe that we had to really focus on the things of life,

The money,

The relationships,

Fitness,

Whatever,

And none of these things are bad,

But it's like we completely focus on those things and we kind of get lost almost in the smallness of it,

And it's almost like all those little things fit together and completely fill our day,

Fill our consciousness to the point that we almost feel like robots just chunking through our days.

And on the other end of the spectrum,

Sometimes we just feel like,

You know what,

Life is just about God-consciousness.

And I'm not saying this lightly,

But it's just like,

I just want to escape that monotony.

I just want to release myself of all of those constructs and limitations,

And I just want to flow in ease and joy of spirit.

But Tantra says,

Imagine you have both.

Imagine you have the expansiveness of God-consciousness,

And you bring that into every minute moment of your day.

Everything from driving your car,

Shoveling the snow,

Making love,

Making a sandwich,

Writing a book,

Listening to music.

Imagine all the little aspects of our physical world.

Imagine every moment was a gateway to the infinite world.

And then vice versa,

That every moment that we spend experiencing the divine aspects of our life changed us in a way that we were even more able to dive into our physical lives in joy and understanding.

And it's almost like people who have had a near-death experience oftentimes,

They kind of come back with the big picture.

And that big picture permeates every cell of their body,

And then suddenly they enjoy everything.

They enjoy chaos,

They enjoy happy times,

They enjoy difficult times,

Because they're just so thankful to be there to experience it.

And this is really what Tantra is,

Is bridging these worlds to the point that they're inseparable,

Maybe to the point that they are indistinguishable from each other.

That as you flow through life,

You're always with this wonderful awareness.

You know?

So this book is a series of 112 sutras that all flow together to help us with that bridge,

To help us bridge the infinite and the finite,

The divine and the physical.

And not the divine out there and the physical us,

But the divine within us and the physical self,

And the divine out there and the physical divine out there,

And all the permutations and combinations.

This is the goal.

So we're going to read a sutra.

We're reading number 99 today.

We're going to have a discussion about it,

And then maybe have a little meditation at the end.

All right,

You guys ready?

So let's close our eyes,

And just connect in with our heart.

And let's just breathe deeply,

Releasing everything else,

And just connecting with our heart center.

Love is particular.

When you love someone,

A tangible,

Touchable someone,

The whole world opens up.

If you want to know the universe,

Dare to love one person.

All the secret teachings are right here.

Go deeper and deeper still.

The gift of concentration is the spaciousness that surrounds it.

Focus illuminates immensity.

What comes to you when you hear that?

What feelings rise,

Or what words roll through your mind?

One person equals one being.

So beautiful.

That is so powerful.

We are the universe.

It is within.

Eternity.

To abandon all situationships,

And that some people won't ever have the capacity to love one person.

And the reminder that one true love is possible.

Love is divine connection.

So happy I'm here today.

Love others more than one.

The deep wisdom is there.

All the secret teachings are right there.

Go deeper and deeper still.

Focus illuminates immensity.

Dare to love.

Focus illuminates.

Everything we need to learn is within loving someone fully and completely.

Fall in love with every other being over and over again.

So this is a really interesting sutra because Lauren specifically talked about loving a person,

Which is very juicy,

And we're going to look at that.

But the original sutra,

It doesn't actually mention a person.

It just mentions something.

But Lauren,

In his infinite wisdom,

Amped up the ante.

He increased the value here.

Here's another interpretation of it.

Focus intently on one particular object and notice that all other objects in your field of vision become empty.

Contemplating the emptiness of everything else in the periphery of your vision,

Even though one object remains,

You will slip into a state of tranquility.

Focus intently on one particular object and notice that all other objects in your field of vision become empty.

Contemplating the emptiness of everything else in the periphery of your vision,

Even though one object remains,

You will slip into a state of tranquility.

So what's interesting about this translation is that the teaching is that if you choose one thing to focus on,

And you pour all your concentration into that one thing,

Everything around that thing becomes empty,

Becomes void.

Yes.

Oh my God.

Many times yesterday,

Contact improv,

Ecstatic dance,

And a loving conversation with an older man.

Everything else fell away.

I was in love.

Exactly.

Thank you,

Nina.

Or Nina.

I apologize if it's Nina.

Focus illuminates beyond all expectations we could ever imagine.

So even right where you are in your room,

Just pick one thing.

Pick something in your room that intrigues you.

Just anything.

A picture,

A chair,

A book,

Anything.

And look at it.

Or if you're looking outside,

Look at a tree or something,

But something close enough you can focus on.

Focus on that thing completely.

And notice how everything else in your periphery disappears.

Now,

The thing you are focusing on is now pure consciousness.

This is divine consciousness.

This is the light of God,

The light of Brahman,

The light of Bhairava.

This total focus you have on this singular thing,

Object,

Person,

Whoever it is,

Whatever it is,

Is pure consciousness.

This is Shiva.

And all else is the void.

Kind of like what we do in Trataka.

Exactly.

Candle gazing or gazing upon a singular object.

Why is this significant?

I'm knitting a sock.

Everything else melts away.

Right?

Why is this interesting?

Why is it interesting to be able to hold in consciousness this pure energy of consciousness on one thing and the emptiness all around?

And this isn't a quiz.

I'm curious,

Like there's a hundred million right answers here.

But why is that valuable to you?

Staring at fire is when I've had some of my most profound meditations,

Like I melt into the flame.

That is how we can be fully present and live in this moment.

Stillness is at the peak of the wave.

Yes.

What does it feel like?

I still would love to hear all of your answers.

I'm just going to keep chatting,

Because it's really significant.

What is this feeling when we focus intently on anything?

Yes.

Beginning of oneness.

It feels like spirit is working through me when I sculpt.

Yes.

That feeling of creation energy,

Of God energy,

Of the divine flowing through you into this singular point.

That's how we touch the divine and remember exactly who we are.

Exactly.

It's bliss.

There is no other distraction and we are an open portal to the infinite universe,

Whatever it wants to reveal.

Exactly.

And I'm going to come back to what you've said,

Carla.

A centering of energy.

If I can focus on one thing and adopt more moments like that in my life,

Then it will be able to love,

Connect,

And just be present now.

Exactly.

To be able to string these moments together.

Becoming oneness,

Swaying in nature is another way to float into becoming one with surroundings.

So our brains are accustomed to always being distracted.

We're accustomed to having thoughts constantly coming in.

I focus on a painting and parts of it moved.

When I write creatively and focus only on what I'm writing,

I feel connected to source.

Mushroom experience without the mushrooms.

Yes.

And feeling oneness with all that is.

Becoming a container and a witness.

Yes.

So brilliant.

In tantric idea,

They talk about something called a vikalpa.

A vikalpa is a thought process.

And so it's like something happens and then we have a counter thought.

And the counter thought either agrees with that thought or it goes against that thought.

And then you have another thought that then agrees with that thought or goes against that thought.

And you have another thought,

Another thought,

Another thought,

Another thought.

And it's always having these strings of thoughts all the time.

This process stops the strings of thought.

Another part of our brain is always thinking about difference.

As I gaze around the room I'm in right now,

I'm like,

Ah,

That is a couch.

That is a chair.

The chair is black.

The couch is pink.

There's a light over there.

There's a light on the ceiling.

There's a desk over there.

It's constantly sorting out all the differences all around me.

And I like sitting on the couch,

But I don't really like sitting on that stool.

The dog likes sitting on the wingback chair,

But then there's a TV over there.

Like it's,

But your brain is always like constantly processing,

Comparing,

Differentiating,

Doing all these things.

But when we choose one thing to focus on,

The differentiating mind comes to a standstill.

There is nothing else to look at.

There is nothing to compare to.

This is bliss.

And sometimes even if you're looking at something,

A thought might come about the thing you're mind is vacant,

Empty,

Vacuous,

Whatever word we want to use to say empty.

It's almost like there's nowhere to go with that thought.

Earlier when I was writing about this,

I was looking at my cushion that I sit on,

That I'm sitting on right now.

It's a blue yoga Zafu cushion.

And I'm staring at the blue cushion and then everything else disappeared.

And I did have the thought,

The cushion's blue and round.

But that was it.

It was almost like,

Because I couldn't compare it to the chair beside it or the rug underneath it or the whatever,

Even those observations just fell flat and they disappeared.

One of the challenges of this meditation is that sometimes we don't want to give up the monkey mind.

We don't want to give up all the random thoughts.

And we really have a comfort in all of those thoughts flying around inside of us.

And this is where it's really important to practice focused awareness.

And what I mean by that is that we've really normalized having a mind that flies all over the place.

That the mind is just thinking about this and thinking about that and thinking about that and la la la la.

We've normalized this,

That oh well that's just what minds do.

But is it?

What's interesting is as a child our limbs are kind of flailing.

They're flailing all over the place until we figure out that,

Oh wait a minute,

I can control this.

I can control this hand.

That's interesting.

I can open and close it.

You see babies doing this,

They're like watching as the hand opens and closes.

As the brain is,

They call it myelin eating,

The brain begins as gray matter.

And as we learn how to do things,

A white myelin sheath forms over the gray matter.

And eventually this becomes easy and the baby doesn't have to watch it.

It just can grab something and it now has full control over that part of its nervous system.

We aren't taught that we can have that kind of control over our mind.

And I know even as I say the word control it sounds negative.

But our mind is so powerful.

Like just for an example,

If we take this particular teaching,

Staring at one object,

Allowing all of our attention on that object,

All of it,

All of our horses are focusing on one object.

Can you feel the power in that?

And then imagine the monkey mind.

So you're trying to look at an object,

But the horses in your brain are running all over the place.

They're like,

They're like flying all over like this and they're running around and running around.

You can feel like,

That's weird.

You know,

That doesn't feel good.

But instead then all the horses look in one direction and they're totally focused.

And now suddenly you get to feel the divine.

One of the greatest challenges when we study Tantra is that we don't feel the presence of God,

The divine consciousness,

Bhairava,

Whatever that means to you.

Why?

Why don't we feel it?

Well when I was imagining these horses flying all over the place and you're sort of in the middle just trying to keep your balance between all of these thoughts flying around all the time,

It's hard to even feel some kind of divine power or because everything's just so all over the place.

But as soon as I said,

But then all the horses are focused in one direction,

It's like everything in me just lined up and you could imagine the energy of a single vibration flowing through the universe.

They say that the world began with sound,

That primordial om.

This is hard to imagine in our day-to-day flurry.

But if we can become single-pointed and the only thing that exists in that moment is what you're focusing on and everything else falls away,

We get to experience the divine.

So again,

I'm just going to look at,

We're just going to look at Lauren's interpretation for a moment.

And again,

He's taking this in terms of looking at a single person,

But you can look at a single person or an object.

Love is particular.

When you love someone,

A tangible,

Touchable someone,

The whole world opens up.

When we focus completely on a single thing,

Person,

Tree,

Whatever,

Just a hundred percent focus through that pure focus,

It's like a portal opens and you get to experience the entire universe.

All the secret teachings are right here.

Go deeper and deeper still.

So to imagine you're looking at one thing,

A chair,

A person,

A yantra,

A mandala,

A cushion,

A rose,

A candle.

So you gaze at this one thing.

And it's interesting because he says,

Dare to love one person,

Dare to focus on one singular object.

And then go deeper and deeper still.

The gift of concentration is the spaciousness that surrounds it.

The focus of concentration is the spaciousness that surrounds it.

So can you feel that?

When we are able to fully focus on a singular thing and all else empties completely,

Our focus is singular and our being is now floating in spaciousness.

This is shanti,

Tranquility,

Peace.

And we enter shanti through single focused concentration.

And it's interesting because in the back of his book,

The Radiant Sutras,

Lauren talks about how it's so important for yogis or tantrics or anybody on a spiritual path to make sure that you have hobbies and things that you love to do,

Things that you love to get lost in.

Right?

Sometimes being on a spiritual path can become very serious.

Right?

And we must always be contemplating and journaling and doing the yoga and all these kind of things.

But where we really experience it,

Like,

You know,

That whole experiencing it off the mat,

What do you love to do?

And I would actually love for you guys to share in the chat.

What do you love to do that the whole world falls away?

What do you easily focus on?

Because to understand that all meditations come from life.

What do you do and the whole world falls away?

And therefore you feel tranquility,

Swimming,

Nature photography,

Art,

Nature,

Dance,

Hand embroidery,

Dance,

Singing,

Climbing,

Swimming,

Yoga,

Walking,

Cycling,

Drawing,

Nature,

Nature,

Art,

Hiking,

Puppies,

Running,

Drumming,

Or dancing,

Playing darts,

Writing,

Playing with children,

Knitting,

Writing,

Sledding like a five-year-old,

Painting,

Teaching,

Reading,

Dancing.

The conversation yesterday was writing your own story.

What do you desire?

How will you be in it?

Where does it come from?

My answer is freedom.

Be love within.

I was sobbing.

It doesn't feel hard to get into a Zen space when observing animals.

Totally.

Singing,

Roller skating,

Listening to music,

Paint,

Dance,

Chill,

Watching the sea,

Singing,

Dancing,

Yoga,

Learning,

Being a mom.

Well,

And this is just,

It's a beautiful example,

Being a mom or caring for anyone,

Anyone.

It could be a parent,

An animal,

Anybody.

Because sometimes we get so caught up in the busyness,

Like especially,

You know,

I was talking to a woman last week who's a busy mom of six kids and it was like how do you get to experience relaxation and the joy of chaos and things when you're just surrounded by it.

So imagine taking this meditation into that and you simply gaze upon one child,

Or all the children,

But specifically one,

And everything else falls away.

And you get to feel this divinity flowing through this creation that you're looking at.

Sitting near water,

Lake,

Or ocean.

Of course,

Nobody is saying work,

Quit job immediately to pursue roller skating.

Watching a fire burn,

Mopping the floor,

Washing dishes,

Cleaning your space,

Watering plants.

Totally.

And it's interesting,

Like to Alexandra's point and to Deb's point,

Imagine doing this at work,

Whatever your work is.

You know,

Today I have to do a report for the government for my business.

Imagine if I allowed myself complete singular focus on the spreadsheets,

On the books,

And the whole rest of the world falls away and I'm in tranquility doing an HST report.

What if we can always do it?

But it's important to practice doing the things that are easy.

You've got to go after the low-hanging fruit.

I actually did quit my job to teach midlife awakening retreats.

That's awesome.

So I might have to add roller skating to my next one.

Genius.

Chop wood,

Carry water.

Exactly.

Exactly.

Let's all close our eyes for a moment.

Wherever you are,

Lying down,

Sitting upright,

Pretending to work,

Breathing deeply.

And in your mind's eye,

Imagine you're walking down a road.

And you can smell the fresh air.

You can hear the birds.

You can hear the sound of your feet crunching on the ground underneath you.

And up ahead is your favorite bench.

And you sit down on the bench.

You place your hands at your sides and you look around,

Breathing deeply with a big smile on your face.

And a beautiful tree catches your eye.

And you start to gaze at the tree.

You see its trunk,

The branches,

Its leaves.

And you allow all your thoughts to be focused on the tree.

And there's a joy in this single thought,

This single focus.

And you allow yourself to be fully absorbed into this beautiful creation before you.

And everything else around has disappeared.

It's just you and this tree.

And everything else has just blended together into a lovely blur.

And as your eyes focus on the tree,

You feel your body become very relaxed.

All the tension leaves.

You can feel this power flowing through you.

The same energy that created the tree,

That created you.

And you realize what a miracle this world is.

How powerful our intention is.

And just allowing your gaze to flow deeper into this tree.

Imagining how it was born from nothing,

From a seed.

How it draws nutrients from the soil,

From the sky,

From the sun,

From the rain.

How it lives in community with everything around it.

Everything in the universe exists within this tree.

Tam eva manasa dayatva vedita api pra samyati.

Love is particular.

When you love someone,

A tangible,

Touchable someone,

The whole world opens up.

If you want to know the universe,

Dare to love one person.

All the secret teachings are right here.

Go deeper and deeper still.

The gift of concentration is the spaciousness that surrounds it.

Focus illuminates immensity.

Let's just breathe deeply and in your mind's eye,

Close your eyes.

And feel the power of focus as we walk through our world.

That everything we gaze upon,

We can bring this pure,

Complete focus.

As the rest of the world melts away and we can experience peace,

Tranquility,

And bliss.

And let's gently come back together.

Thank you so much for being here.

Hope you have a wonderful day.

Reviews

The power of meditation, focus, quieting the mind. An easy object to focus on for me is breath when I meditate. But as I work or move around, I love practicing the focus on one person or object and find bliss. Ultimately I love the concept of “dare to love”.

Love all Katrina’s lives and presentations ❣️This helped me withdraw from intense anxiety to a state of calm. Reset my nervous system. Thanks for sharing and bringing your energy to share.🙏🏽