Merging Fullness & Emptiness: Radiance Sutras Verse 3

This week's passage and practice is inspired by Lorin Roche's "Radiance Sutras" verse three. During the discussion, we take a deep dive into the verse, and then you will have the opportunity to embody the experience through practice.

Transcript

We are reading from the Radiant Sutras,

Which is a translation of the Vijñāna Bhairava Tantra,

An old tantric teaching.

And this is a translation by Lauren Roche.

And our intention is to listen with our soul,

Is to listen with that eternal self.

What I'm going to do is I'm going to read you a passage.

For anyone who has the book,

We are doing Yukti verse 3,

Page 38.

But even if you have a book,

Feel free to just close your eyes and just listen.

It's funny,

Right,

Because we've been programmed in our lives to have particular responses to things.

That when I hear this,

I think this,

And when I hear this,

I think this.

What if that's not actually your soul's response?

What if it's just what you should think or the intelligent answer should be or based on a book I read that reminds me of something?

Like,

You know what I mean?

It's not really our soul.

It's actually just out of our brain.

And our brain is very much part of the world.

It's very much part of the structure that we've been raised in.

So the idea here is to listen with our heart,

Listen with our soul,

And just allow whatever to rise to rise.

So I'm going to read it a couple times and then we're going to have a discussion about it.

Oh,

And then at the end,

We're going to do a little meditation.

So let's close our eyes.

Let's just take a couple breaths together.

Just allowing the breath to cleanse our mind.

To let go of anything we were thinking about just for this moment.

Just to allow an open field or a blank slate where we can imagine something new.

So the sutra,

We're talking about the breath.

Enter these turning points where the rhythm of life transform into each other.

Breath flows in,

Filling,

Filling.

In this moment,

Drink eternity.

Breath flows out,

Emptying,

Emptying,

Offering itself to infinity.

Cherishing these moments,

Mind dissolves into heart,

Heart dissolves into space.

Body becomes a vibrating field,

Pulsating between fullness and emptiness.

Enter these turning points where the rhythms of life transform into each other.

Breath flows in,

Filling,

Filling.

In this moment,

Drink eternity.

Breath flows out,

Emptying,

Emptying,

Offering itself to infinity.

Cherishing these moments,

Mind dissolves into heart,

Heart dissolves into space.

Body becomes a vibrating field,

Pulsating between fullness and emptiness.

What words or feelings roll through you when you hear that?

Trust,

Surrender like a summer's breeze,

Fullness and emptiness to drink eternity.

Vibrating field,

Dissolution.

I'm sustained by the breath of life,

Simple and powerful expansion,

Catching our true self for a second.

Yes,

Oneness.

It's bigger than just breath that turns also in our life.

Exactly.

So to speak to that,

If you imagine,

So what they're talking about is as we inhale,

There's this moment where we hold the breath or we retain the breath at the top of the inhale and then we exhale.

But what's interesting is yes,

We inhale,

We suspend the breath,

We exhale,

We suspend the breath,

There's this natural cycle of inhale,

Zero point,

Exhale,

Zero point.

But what's interesting about the turning of life,

The movement of life,

The natural movement of life,

Sometimes we feel like life is very linear,

That I do this and then I do this and then I do this and then I do this.

We are bound to just simply live the life based on all of our past experiences or choices.

Imagine every inhale is an action we take in life.

Every exhale is an action we take in life.

Or maybe every inhale is a thought we have and the exhale is an action we take.

The point in between the inhale and the exhale or the exhale and the inhale is this Shunya or zero point.

And it's the place where we are neither inhaling nor exhaling.

It's the divine space.

They talk about it being where Shakti energy rests for a moment.

But the Shakti energy meaning the physical manifestation of us.

If you imagine Shiva Shakti energy as oneness.

So this is us part of oneness.

And the Shiva energy is in the crown chakra.

In order for us to be manifest,

Shakti energy descended,

Air quotes,

Descended into physical form.

And our life is a perpetual dance of this Shiva Shakti energy.

But Shakti energy is just our manifest self,

Which includes our breath.

So as the breath goes into this Shunya or this gap,

It's not just still,

It's like a pool in a river where the water is sort of eddying or circling.

It's moving,

But it's sitting still,

It's almost creating a power or it's creating a concentration of energy.

And then we exhale,

We take action.

Even in life,

If we can stop all the movement for a moment,

And maybe we do it through meditation,

Maybe we do it through yoga practice,

Maybe we do it sitting at the ocean,

Or we do it quietly sitting,

Having a nice cup of tea,

But we allow the world to still,

We take a breath and then there's a turn where we can make a new choice.

And our life takes on a new trajectory or a new path.

So imagine in life,

We're doing,

We're thinking,

We're wondering,

We're,

You know,

We're constantly doing this because it's not like we're just going all the time.

We do stop and we think and we wonder,

Am I making the right choice?

What's the next step for me?

We do that no matter how busy we are.

But imagine there's a place between all the thoughts and the doing this beautiful,

Empty holding space where we actually let the world go into suspension.

And it's almost like from that point,

We can turn our boat any way we want that,

You know,

If we like,

Drive through that suspension,

We're probably just going to go straight on from the thought,

Right,

We're going to have that linear path moving forward.

But if we stop,

And we suspend,

Suddenly where we go may have infinite possibilities.

It reminds me of that saying by Viktor Frankl,

Between stimulus and response,

There is a space in that space is our power to choose our response.

In our response lies our growth and freedom.

I love that.

So imagine in every breath,

Like this isn't some fancy thing out there.

It's right here,

That every time we take a deep breath in,

Imagine every time we take a deep breath in,

We have a thought or a hope or an ask,

And we go.

And then we allow the suspension of time and space.

As our boat changes course,

Wherever it is we want to go,

And then we exhale.

And at the end of the experience that we've had,

We again stop the breath,

Observe our world before we inhale and ask our new question.

It's funny on the weekend,

I was reading this book called crazy wisdom of the yogini by Daniel O'Dier.

And I love Daniel O'Dier,

He wrote Tantra Quest,

And he wrote all kinds of great things.

I'm doing a bit of a deeper dive into Tantra,

Into the history of tantrum or the context of it.

I was really struck by how we've been raised that education is about learning history.

And don't get me wrong,

History can be very interesting.

And we can really glean important gems from history to find context of things that really resonate with us for our own path.

I really get it.

But I just found myself reading it and oh,

In the year 631 Padmasambhava took this teaching of tantra to Tibet.

And then he met up with this guy and this guy said this and then this guy went off to and it was just like,

I felt like I was reading the chapter in the Bible,

You know,

And so and so begets so and so who begets so and so.

And I just kept reading it thinking,

Why do we spend so much time reading what other people said?

Other people had inspiration.

And we can spend so much time memorizing what so and so said and what so and so didn't say and the stuff they wrote down in the scriptures and everything else.

And the irony,

Especially in something like tantra is the teaching is to sit quietly within our own self and hear our own wisdom.

And I was really taken this weekend,

So this is very raw for me,

That I don't quite understand why I would want to study so deeply the history of where everything comes from instead of just living now.

Like it's almost like a bit of an addiction or something that,

And don't get me wrong,

Like I do find it interesting to a point.

I think it can be a great distraction that only these great teachers understand tantra or understand a spiritual path.

And these sutras that we're reading right now,

Like really tell us,

It's right here in our breath.

It's right here in every one of our lives right now.

Whether we're pondering things work related,

Or family related,

Or personal growth related,

Or joy related.

The answer is literally inside our breath.

In every breath,

Like,

So you imagine if you meditate,

That the goal isn't to be able to sit in meditation for 20 minutes,

But it's actually the bliss of the journey within listening.

And again,

We think that the listening is coming up with great things that we can quote and great things that we can share with others.

And it's like,

No,

The greatest things we can come up with is just the advice for our own path.

Right?

It's just the expansion of our soul's journey.

So it's very interesting,

I find these so interesting,

The power that we have right inside something as simple as our breath.

We don't even we don't have to be physically fit.

We don't have to be young or old,

Or anything to be able to access this wisdom inside our breath right now.

I just find that fascinating.

The next part of this one,

It says the breath flows in,

Filling,

Filling in this moment,

Drink,

Eternity.

You know what I watched last night?

I watched the second Jumanji with Taylor.

It's hilarious,

By the way.

If you want to watch something that is so funny.

These kids get sucked into the Jumanji game,

And they come out as the characters that have their avatars.

And that's where like the one guy who's sort of the geeky guy,

He's played by the rock.

And this really cute little girl,

Like she's all like influencer,

And I'm all an Instagram girl.

She's played by Jack Black.

And so Jack Black has to,

It's just it's so funny.

But what was interesting is when they were in the game,

And I apologize if I if I gave anything away here.

But if when they're in the game,

They have these three lines on their arm,

Which is basically how many lives they have left in the game.

So they can die a couple times,

But they they can't die the final time.

This is really important.

And at one point,

The guy who Chris rocks character,

Who is actually this really scared kid in the normal world.

He gets down to one life,

And he suddenly isn't brave,

Because of course,

This rock,

The rocks character is very brave.

But he realizes in that when it finally comes down to it,

And the Jaguars are after them.

He doesn't have that bravery anymore.

And then Kevin Hart's character.

He says,

Well,

You have to we have to we have to finish the game.

And the rock says,

But I'm so frightened.

I only have one life left.

What if I lose it?

And Kevin Hart says,

But that's real life.

We only get one life.

That's the real world.

He says,

You have to decide what you're going to do with it.

Which guy are you going to be the brave guy or the frightened guy.

And it was the most beautiful,

You know,

Gem dropped into a very funny and well done movie.

And that's what this is like,

That our lives are equally significant.

As Leonardo da Vinci or George Jefferson,

Or whoever your George Jefferson.

You tell him not an American.

George Jefferson coming on up.

Oh my god.

So it's really,

Really important to this matters right now.

Only nothing else matters.

The breath flows in filling,

Filling in this moment,

Drink eternity.

Every breath like right now as you're inhaling,

And then suspend the breath at the top and drink eternity.

And then the breath flows out,

Emptying,

Emptying,

Offering itself to infinity.

The breath flows out,

Emptying,

Emptying,

Offering itself to infinity.

So imagine that.

So you take this beautiful deep breath in,

Suspend the breath,

Experience eternity.

And then exhale,

Let it all out,

Bring your navel all the way in,

Suspend the breath out and experience infinity.

And then inhale.

And it's a very interesting thing to imagine that holding the breath out is infinity,

Because it feels like nothingness.

But essentially nothingness and everythingness is all the same.

We can't define either one.

And then the next part,

They talk about cherishing these moments.

Mind dissolves into heart,

Heart dissolves into space,

Body becomes a vibrating field,

Pulsating between fullness and emptiness.

And what's really interesting about this is what this sutra is about is actually the mixing and the merging of the prana and apana energy within us.

So the prana is everything that comes into our bodies.

And in the body,

This energy moves upward from the belly,

Moves upward.

And apana is everything that moves downward.

Apana is everything we release,

Maybe through defecation or urination or sweat or all that kind of thing,

Apana or menstrual cycles and things like that.

Prana and apana.

Well,

What's interesting about this,

They call it kumbhaka,

Which is the retention of the breath.

It's not important what the Sanskrit is,

But kumbhaka is the retention of the breath on the inhale or on the exhale.

And what happens during that retention of the breath is that the prana and the apana merge together and they start to swirl and become one,

Which seems funny.

When you think of that,

Your inhale and your exhale becoming one,

Or the energy coming into your being and the energy released from your being are one.

That's not easy for our brain to understand.

But imagine for a moment,

Let's try this in the breath.

So you have the pranic energy that we bring in on the inhale,

And we have the aponic energy that we release on the exhale.

And now when we inhale,

So let's do this together,

Let's take a deep breath in,

And we're going to stop the breath,

And it's almost like both streams are sort of flowing together,

Creating those eddies and those whirlpools and those swirling bits.

And then the energy comes to move and it exhales.

We get to the bottom,

We retain the breath,

That energy swirls and swirls,

You know,

Mixing with the inhale and then whoosh into the inhale.

And they even say that when we can retain the breath this way and become adept at it,

That this actually reverses the aging process,

That there's something about the timelessness that we experience,

The effect on our bodies,

That it actually merges this upward energy and downward energy together,

And we don't age the same.

So it's very,

Very interesting.

They'll even go so far in like yogic teachings that we retain the breath until we can turn the pranic energy to go downward and the aponic energy to go upward.

I have no idea how they do that.

But this is part of the journey of flowing it all together.

It's the masculine and feminine balance.

Exactly.

And you kind of dance with it in the inhale and the exhale and the eddying and the holding.

And then all of a sudden,

It all just becomes one.

And it's interesting here,

That they say that the mind dissolves into the heart.

Let's just think about that for a minute.

Let's just think about that.

To feel within us,

What would it feel like for my mind to dissolve into my heart?

I don't think there's words as much as it's just a feeling.

And then my heart dissolves into space.

So the mind dissolves into the heart,

And the heart dissolves into space.

And the body becomes a vibrating field pulsating between fullness and emptiness.

So the meditation is called,

I've done this one with a lot of you guys before.

It's called the meditation for a calm heart.

And the way we do it is you place your left hand over your heart center.

So your left hand is pointing to the right.

Your right hand is in Gyan Mudra.

Your index and thumb tips are touching,

Your other three fingers are straight.

And you just let that hand rest at the side as if you're taking an oath.

So your right hand is at your side taking an oath in Gyan Mudra.

Your left hand is over your heart center.

You're sitting nice and tall,

Maybe on the floor,

Maybe on a chair.

Close your eyes and just gaze at the tip of your nose.

So your eyes are just open a tiny little slit gazing at the tip of your nose.

And if this is uncomfortable,

Just close your eyes.

It's all good.

Tuck your chin in a little to straighten your spine.

And we're going to inhale deeply.

At the top of the breath,

Retain the breath for as long as is comfortable.

So you're not causing pressure or holding the breath really tight.

You're just stopping the breath,

Feeling that eddying of the energy.

And then we exhale.

And at the bottom of the breath,

Hold the breath out for as long as is comfortable.

Now if you struggle with holding the breath out,

That's okay.

Just do it as long as is comfortable for you.

If you're pregnant,

Don't hold the breath out at all.

Just inhale,

Suspend at the top,

Exhale and go right into the inhale.

Some people are very uncomfortable with the holding it out,

Which is why it's important to only do it as long as is comfortable for you.

Okay.

So just let's get started.

And we're only going to do it for three minutes.

So with our eyes mostly closed gazing at the tip of our nose,

We inhale,

Suspend the breath and you can raise your chest a little here.

Hold the breath.

Let's pretend that's as long.

You might want to go way longer.

Exhale all the way out,

Bringing your navel in towards the spine,

Then holding the breath out.

So continue at your own pace.

I'm just going to read this once while you're doing it.

And then we'll have silence for a couple minutes.

Enter these turning points where the rhythms of life transform into each other.

Breath flows in,

Filling,

Filling.

In this moment,

Drink eternity.

Breath flows out,

Emptying,

Emptying,

Offering itself to infinity.

Cherishing these moments,

Mind dissolves into heart,

Heart dissolves into space,

Body becomes a vibrating field,

Pulsing between fullness and emptiness.

We've got our double backup,

Time or energy.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Reviews

Before listening to this wonderful session, I had been meditating with Pablo Arellano’s beautiful music - Adagio of Light, as the sun rose. I was thinking about the Yukti verses, feeling my breath. The ecstasy of life came to me as a precious and present moment. Then this session!!!

So beautiful❣️♾️☯️⚛️⚘️☄️
No words to express❣️Thank you so kindly✨️Namaste 🙏🏼✨️🌸🖤🪔⚘️☄️

Such a beautiful meditation in infinity & eternity ✨

Thank you for sharing, what wonderful start for today 🙏🏼

Love love love the radiance Sutras 💖 and you! Thank you so much Katrina🙏

I’ve listened to this now a few times and I truly want to express my gratitude. Such a deep and wondrous dive into this wonderful verse. I feel all energies rising and falling into nothingness and everything.

A gift from the universe to find this here today. Thanks. So good to be with you and your encouraging words. ❤️⛄️

Beautiful ! Thank you 🧡