Lover Of All: Radiance Sutras Verse 85

During this session, we discuss Verse 85 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

Okay,

You guys ready?

Let's close our eyes for a moment.

Let's just breathe deeply.

Let's just release all the thoughts,

All the conversation.

Imagine us all sitting in a room with our eyes closed,

Our hands folded on our laps,

Breathing deeply together.

Maybe someone is gently playing a gong in the corner,

Filling the room with this ambient vibration.

And this vibration is flowing through our bodies.

As we breathe deeply,

Toss aside your map of the world,

All your beliefs and constructs,

Dare the wild unknown.

Here,

In this terrifying freedom,

Naked before the universe,

Commune with the one who knows everything from the inside.

Invisible power pervading everywhere,

Divine presence permeating everything.

Breathe tenderly as the lover of all beings.

How does that make you feel?

Are there emotions that rise or thoughts that rise when you hear that?

Oneness,

Openness,

Freedom but not terrifying,

Feeling bliss in vulnerability,

Thoughts of being stripped down to nothing but having everything.

Naked before the universe,

The liver of all beings,

Small and expansive.

The lover,

Liberation,

Expansive,

Inspiring curiosity.

The reading breaks apart mind constructs,

The romantic one is the self's approach to everything,

Everyone.

So this sutra,

I'm going to read you another version of it.

So this sutra,

I'm going to read you another version of it.

So this is a very literal translation of it.

Having freed the mind of all supports,

One should refrain from all thought constructs.

Then,

Oh gazelle eyed one,

There will be a state of Bhairava in the self that has become the absolute self.

That's why we love Lauren Roche because he puts it in a poetic language that makes more sense.

So what this sutra is all about is our world,

Our experience here,

Is defined by our mind.

Our brain creates our reality all the time.

And that's the part of us that is our human self.

That's why we get lost.

That's why we feel stuck.

That's how we have inspiration.

You know,

It's one thing to grieve.

But it's another thing when grief goes on so long,

We can no longer live.

This is all created by the mind.

It has nothing to do with reality.

It's all in our mind.

Now our mind is designed to create our reality.

So it's not an error.

But when we forget our divine self,

When we forget the eternal self,

Life becomes pure suffering.

Or it can.

So in Tantra,

They teach about,

In Hinduism,

They teach about three aspects of the mind.

So you imagine you are this divine being,

You are this eternal being.

And we have congealed into this very interesting human form here in maya,

Here in this perhaps magnetically created spacetime continuum or sound created or however maya is created.

And in order for this divine being to experience the world around us,

They have these three parts of our brain.

The first they call manas.

And manas is the part of our brain that interprets the world through our senses.

So this is where I look at the computer.

And the light that reflects off of that goes into my eye,

Sends a particular signal to the brain,

To the manas aspect of my brain.

And it interprets it so that I can interpret what I'm seeing.

And then I look out the window and I see trees and I see sky.

And my brain interprets all of that because of manas.

Because manas tells me what I'm seeing.

It tells me what I'm drinking.

It tells me what I smell.

It tells me what I'm feeling.

So manas is this very important part of the brain that interprets the world around us through our senses.

And this is all of our external input for all intents and purposes as a physical being.

Maybe not as a transcendental eternal being,

But as a physical being.

That's all of our input.

And when you really think about that,

All of our input,

Whether that person loves us,

Whether I like cake,

What I hear on the news,

What I read in a book,

All comes to us first through manas.

Imagine if you had no senses,

No sight,

No sound,

No smell,

No taste,

No touch,

You would have no way to experience this world at all.

So manas is that first responder to the world around us.

And then chitta and buddhi kind of play an interesting role from there.

Buddhi is intellect.

So buddhi says,

Well,

That's no good,

But that's good.

Or,

So this is right,

This is wrong,

This is good,

This is evil,

This is useful,

This isn't useful.

That's buddhi.

This is this ability to go,

Ah,

This,

Then this,

This,

Then this,

This,

Then,

You know,

It kind of does this thing.

Chitta is the huge storehouse of all the experiences and impressions that we've ever had.

Every time someone loved us,

Every time someone disappointed us,

Every time we achieved something,

Every time we didn't,

Every time we ate pudding,

And it was awesome,

Or pudding,

And it was horrible.

It's all stored in chitta.

So then our mind is constantly some combination of receiving information,

Comparing it to chitta,

Comparing it to something that happened before.

Buddhi coming in and saying,

Wait,

That's no good.

This is okay.

Oh,

Wow.

Oh,

This is like,

Look at that.

And then like,

And then now I got new information.

And now I'm looking,

Oh,

And then that reminds me of something else.

And then,

Oh,

Wow,

Like,

Well,

That's no good.

And,

You know,

So this,

This is,

These are the conversations going on in our brain.

And that's our life.

Our life is the music between the thoughts,

The spaces,

And the thoughts.

That is our experience of maya.

They have a phrase or a term called vikalpa.

And these terms aren't important.

It's just some people really like,

There's something about the Sanskrit sometimes that,

Even though we don't speak Sanskrit,

It sticks in your brain in a different way,

Like there's more to it,

You know.

So a vikalpa is the general term for all of those thoughts.

And what's interesting about a vikalpa is the idea that every thought we have is followed by a counterthought.

And that counterthought thought may contradict the first thought,

Or it may complement the first thought.

So our brain is a series of thoughts and counterthoughts.

I have a thought,

My next thought goes,

Oh,

That's a great idea.

We could do this.

Oh,

We could do this.

This is awesome.

Look at that.

And it's a series of thoughts and counterthoughts.

And those thoughts are all coming or thoughts and counterthoughts are all coming from either citta,

Buddhi,

Or manas.

They're either coming in from the outside world,

Comparing to something old,

Or we're judging them based on a dichotomy of this versus that.

Or it's a thought and a counterthought.

Something comes in from the outside world,

And you have a thought about it,

And you go,

Whoa,

I don't want that.

No,

That's bad.

Can't have that.

Can't have this thought.

Well,

Maybe you can.

No,

I can't.

And this becomes,

And I'm sure you guys recognize these thought patterns in our brain.

So these are vikalpas.

And what's really interesting about all those thoughts and the counterthoughts is we actually,

Our ego rests on those thoughts.

We actually define ourselves based on the thought structures within us,

The thought constructs within us.

How I think,

The thoughts that those thinks bring up,

The,

Thinks isn't a word.

I was doing some weird Dr.

Seuss there.

But all that is what makes each one of us so unique.

Even reading this sutra,

I can read the sutra and every single one of us here is going to be sent into a different series of thoughts and counterthoughts as memories rise,

As thoughts rise,

As things you ever learned rise,

And all these different things.

And so in truth,

The net of vikalpas that make you up is who you are.

In the best sense,

That is your ego.

Now,

Having an ego is a great thing.

Having an ego lets me be Katrina.

And I don't confuse myself by thinking I'm Scarlet,

Or Steve,

Or BD,

Or Jen.

And I get to be Katrina.

And I get to be this individual,

Individuated soul.

I get to be that person.

The suffering comes in life where we really think that we are truly separate from everyone else.

Because there's another dimension of life where Scarlet,

Steve,

BD,

Jen,

Melissa,

Em,

And I are all the same person.

We all share the same spirit that is being animated through these different minds,

Through these different incarnations.

But we are the same.

We are the same.

And we have incarnated in different entities.

When we can remember that we are also all one,

We never feel alone.

This is this illusion of separation.

We exist separately to have a human experience.

But we are not separate.

And this is one of the founding teachings of Tantra.

So this Sutra asks us,

Can you release all those thoughts?

Can you release all the constructs,

The comparisons,

The judgment of right or wrong,

Useful,

Not useful?

Can you not reference the history within you and just be present with whatever's happening right now?

Are you capable of tuning out the world and going within?

What's that?

A limb of yoga called Pratyahara,

To withdraw the senses within.

That's what they're talking about.

They're talking about the practice of being able to withdraw from the constant reaction to external stimulus.

So imagine that.

Imagine sitting in meditation and you slowly focus on the breath and you release all the rest of the world.

We'll do this in a meditation in a moment.

And when thoughts come through,

You just don't engage with them.

Thoughts,

Counter thoughts,

Positive or negative,

Just let them go.

We're not going to engage with them.

We're not going to give them our attention.

Why?

Why would we do that?

Why would we withdraw our senses and then not engage in the vikalpas of our mind?

Because when we can do this,

When we can release all the thought constructs,

Our self re-merges with the eternal one,

With divinity.

We return to who we are.

The eternal one isn't something separate from us.

It is us collectively.

So it's quite a practice to be able to let go of all these thought constructs,

To allow ourselves to feel the infinite that we truly are.

Let's close our eyes and just come comfortably,

Sitting,

Lying down,

Wherever you are.

And let's just breathe deeply.

And I'd like you,

With your eyes closed,

To be aware of the sounds around you.

Be aware of what you can smell.

Be aware of what you feel in your body.

Be aware of what you taste in your mouth.

And then as you're breathing,

Let your awareness of those things slowly dissipate.

With every breath,

You are turning your attention to the inside of you.

With every breath,

You are turning your attention to the inside of you.

Very gently,

Just allow the breath to take you there.

Allow the breath to slowly release the outside world.

And then imagine a void that your mind and your body is.

And if thoughts come in,

Just let them dissipate into the void.

Just let them release.

Allow your body to feel relaxed.

Like you're returning home.

Feeling your body become porous and light and one with everything.

And breathe here.

As you breathe,

Feeling the cells of your body become one with the universe,

One with the darkness.

Your map of the world,

All your beliefs and constructs,

Dare the wild unknown.

Here in this terrifying freedom,

Naked before the universe,

Commune with the one who knows everything from the inside.

Invisible power pervading everywhere.

Divine presence permeating everything.

Breathe tenderly as the lover of all beings.

Let's just take a few more deep breaths.

Let's slowly return and open our eyes.

And just gaze around at the world around us.

So thank you so much for being here,

And I hope you have a wonderful day.

Reviews

My learning has grown so much since I started the Radiance Sutras. Katrina takes me deeper into this journey. I love her meditation’s, so well crafted and thoughtful. The lovely voice carries me into my Self! Namaste 🙏🏻

Beautiful and inspiring.
Thank you dear Katrina.
🙏🏼💫💕🙏🏼