The Mysterious One: Radiance Sutras Verse 87

During this session, we discuss Verse 87 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

Well today we are reading from the Radiant Sutras and this is a book written by Lauren Roche who did a deep study of the Vijnana Bhairava Tantra which is a very old tantric text which comes out of the Kashmir Shaivism line of Tantra.

Every Monday we read a sutra which you know I was reflecting this morning about it personally.

I so love it.

I love getting to dive into each sutra individually once a week because it allows my psyche the week to ponder it.

Even if I'm not consciously thinking about it,

It's now new information that's now floating around in my cells.

So when something happens I don't know it's like we're always a little bit different and I believe that that's what the tantric path really is.

That it's a very gentle shifting of consciousness.

All of a sudden you know three years from now someone asks you know why are you so calm like you have such a lovely demeanor or how come things don't get to you like they get to other people.

You can honestly say well I study Tantra and they're like oh okay tell me what the book is and it's like no it's actually quite a long journey.

So for example today I'm going to read a sutra but every single person here is going to take it a little bit differently.

It's going to go into our system and it's going to massage,

Adjust,

Release different things.

And then next week we'll read another sutra and that will then take this new landscape and massage,

Adjust,

Release,

Add to.

But it's so organic we don't even know it's happening and that's what I find personally why I just I look forward to this class so much.

I look forward to preparing for this class because it's such a a wonderful deep dive for me and so it's just lovely to share this.

So what's going to happen is I'm going to read a sutra and we're going to ponder what this means to all of us because again it means it has to mean something different to every one of us.

It feels like you could do the same sutra the following week and it could be a completely different experience.

Totally.

It's so magical.

We literally we will finish this book probably this season like by June and we could honestly start it up again at the beginning and it would be a radically new experience again.

Like it's just a phenomenal thing.

So that's the point.

So if you're new,

Awesome.

This is our starting point and if you've been here for multiple weeks or you've listened to any of the recordings here on Insight Timer because there is a playlist called Radiant Sutras where we have all the recordings.

If you have been here it is interesting to sort of contemplate the past few weeks even if you don't remember them.

It's almost like you ask your psyche to remember and your psyche remembers even if it's not conscious thought to kind of allow this week's sutra to build upon the wisdom of past sutras.

So I'm going to read a sutra.

We're going to have a sharing of our thoughts of what comes up for us and then we're going to dive into the philosophy of it and the philosophy of tantra and how this applies to our life and then we'll do a meditation and then we'll go out into the world and have an epic week.

So we're reading for anyone who has the book we're reading number 87 on page 122 but even if you have the book I invite you to just close it for a moment and let's all close our eyes and just breathe deeply expanding the belly as we inhale contracting as we exhale.

And I mentioned the breathing because when we slow down our breath and we breathe properly expanding the belly as we inhale contracting as we exhale we take our bodies out of fight or flight out of fight or flight or fight flight freeze fawn flop whatever hyper nervous system state we may be in and as soon as we breathe deeply we shift out of that into the parasympathetic nervous system and then we're actually able to receive because as long as we're in any of those other states it's kind of like you're running for your life through the woods or you're hiding in fear you can't we're not able to learn we're not able to receive from the divine we're not able to receive from our highest wisdom so it's really important just to take a moment and breathe deeply let whatever thoughts are going around go and kind of allow ourselves to open up like a satellite dish for new thoughts.

Here we go.

Waves rise from water.

Flames arise from fire.

Rays emanate from the sun.

So do you and I shine forth from the mysterious one.

What comes up for you when you hear that?

Could be a feeling or a thought or even a phrase that's rolling in your mind.

Oneness with all.

Smiles rise from our souls.

The wave is still the ocean.

We are one with everything.

Exactly.

We are all part of everything.

We are part of the mystery.

Purpose.

Energy all around us.

True connection.

One cannot look at another person in the same way.

We are each mysterious sun rays,

Water waves and flames.

A shared source of radiance.

This is a very interesting sutra because it's almost like it's hard to talk about.

Like I don't know if you feel like that but that it's almost like my soul knows this but it's hard to give words to it.

As you said the waves they crashed outside and I became more aware of them.

I'm so used to them.

They fade into the background sometimes.

My favorite sounds.

It is very visceral.

So they say that they're in tantra that there are two stages or two steps or two steps in that spiritual path in this particular journey.

And the first is understanding our true essence.

We cannot capture waves or flames or sun rays.

They can only be felt and must change or pass according to conditions.

We have to come back to that.

So the last few sutras have been a lot about understanding our nature.

Like last week for example the sutra was there is a knower who experiences everything.

There is a presence dancing everywhere.

There is a lover who embraces us all.

There is a lover who embraces us all.

I am one with that light.

I am one with that power.

I am one with that love.

And so that sutra helps us connect with Shiva consciousness.

If you imagine in tantra every spiritual path begins with a worldview.

And it may not be exactly how we each feel but it's like you kind of need to create a container and a foundation to have a conversation.

So the tantric worldview says that all energy emanates from a central source called Shiva Shakti,

Creator,

Essence,

God,

However you want to understand that.

And this is the eternal oneness,

Pure bliss,

Pure energy,

Pure consciousness.

In order for us to have this experience we're having this oneness separates into two or it seems to separate into two.

Shiva remaining as pure consciousness and Shakti being manifest reality.

And then life becomes this interesting dance between them.

I want to do an experiment with you guys.

Okay so what I want you to do is I want you to rub your hands together.

Just really rub them hard.

Rub them,

Rub them,

Rub them.

Really rub them hard.

Keep breathing.

Get some real heat going in your hands.

Okay we're going to keep going.

Just keep keep really pressing in the air.

Rubbing,

Rubbing,

Rubbing,

Rubbing,

Rubbing.

Okay without pulling them apart let them stay still and just set them in prayer pose in front of your heart chakra and just breathe for a moment.

Just feel whatever tingles are there.

And I want you to imagine that your palms right now are Shiva Shakti.

They are oneness,

Everything.

And now very gently I want you to pull them apart only one inch.

Just a very small amount.

And just leave them here for a moment.

And just don't move.

And just breathe deeply.

Close your eyes and breathe.

And now I'd like you to play a little bit with your hands.

Try to pull them away from each other and try to push them in towards each other.

And I want you to feel the energy between your hands.

Now besides this being really cool,

Imagine the right hand is Shiva and the left hand is Shakti.

The right hand is pure consciousness and the left hand is pure manifest reality.

Pure manifest reality.

And life is this constant energy,

Tension,

Dance,

Awareness between the two.

Okay we'll release our hands,

Let them go.

So last week,

So here we are,

And all we know is we are this curious energy that we live in.

We live in this curious energy of this dance between Shiva and Shakti,

The divine and the physical.

And sometimes we don't really know which one to identify with.

So the last few sutras have been sort of building us up to a place where we can even imagine fully identifying with Shiva.

Fully identifying with pure consciousness.

Imagine like,

I am all of these things.

Little old me.

I am.

And it's easy for us to just say you need to identify with Shiva or something.

But it really takes a journey to really embrace that.

To truly sit,

And this could be a lifetime journey,

To truly embrace that you are that right hand.

You are Shiva.

You are the eternal one.

You are the divine.

So that on its own is a real journey that we could take for decades.

The first step is to imagine that you do come out of that essence.

And then the second step is recognizing that everything on the earth right now also comes from that essence.

And because we all come from the same source,

There's a resonance inside of us.

With everything on the earth.

Why do we love to watch the ocean waves?

Why do we love that?

Why do we love to feel the wind?

Why do we love to feel sunshine on our face?

Is it because we emanate from the same source?

The waves that move on the water,

They're all just the same.

Bhairava,

Shiva Shakti,

Source,

Creator,

Oneness.

It's an element,

And we see the movement of that element.

Why do we love to watch a fire?

Like why does our body,

Our soul,

Love to watch flames?

Isn't it interesting how in in rapture,

In this moment,

Isn't it interesting how enraptured we can be from the elements,

From seeing the elements alive,

To watch the flames of the fire,

To watch wind,

To watch waves,

To feel the sun.

Isn't that interesting?

Where life came from,

They give us energy,

Life force magic.

So if you imagine how we identify with the flames of the fire and the waves of the ocean or the lake,

Now imagine that we too are emanations of source.

Of source.

Just like the flame is an emanation of source energy through fire,

We are an emanation of source energy.

And every single thing on this planet is an emanation of source energy.

The sounds that emanate from nature,

Exactly.

Receiving natural energy,

Water,

Fire,

Sun,

Wind.

What if the reason is the energy is the same energy that flows through us?

You know I have this imagining of going out when it's really windy and letting the wind enter my body,

Like feeling that energy come in and it's actually nourishing me like food or literally sunbathing,

Lying in the sun and allowing this energy of heat to nourish my body.

In one of the books I was reading,

This is what they said.

If we have arisen from the same source,

Then just as every ray of light carries the brilliance,

Heat and glow from the sun,

In the same way,

All the different forms of Bhairava,

God,

Consciousness,

Creator,

All the different forms carry the attributes or nature that characterize the Supreme Consciousness.

I would love to know what you're thinking right now.

Where you're at.

How does this feel for you?

Where do you experience?

It's funny we say that,

To experience oneness with nature.

What does that mean?

Does it mean that I feel one with nature or do I feel that I know we both come from the same source?

We are nature.

This is resonating with me but I don't know how to articulate it.

I feel most comfortable in nature's true self.

I'm thinking about love,

The perfection of people just as they are,

Wherever they are and however they are,

Imperfections and all.

Feeling vast and tiny like a drop of water in the ocean.

This deepens my understanding of why nature nourishes me.

We are one,

Instead of I am,

We are.

I connect with nature without words.

We feel each other's energy and understand.

We come from the same source and therefore sometimes I feel other people because we are.

We are.

Our awareness and consciousness are magically pulled into the aspects of nature.

Let's do a meditation.

Wherever you are,

Let's just close our eyes and breathe deeply.

Become very comfortable either sitting or lying down.

And in your mind's eye,

Imagine yourself sitting on a park bench.

You're just breathing deeply.

And then you remember that there's a beautiful waterfall.

So you get up and you walk down the road and you see a little path heading into the woods.

So you turn down the path and you can already start to hear the water.

And you're watching your foot fall.

You're watching the rocks and the leaves under your feet.

You can smell the forest.

You can hear the birds.

And eventually it opens to a clearing and here is this beautiful waterfall.

So you find a nice place to sit.

And you just relax watching the waterfall.

And you allow it to mesmerize you.

Some part of your being,

Perhaps the watery part of your being,

Feeling that water,

The flow,

The power,

The sound it makes,

The smell of water.

When it hits water.

And then you lay down on your back on a nice patch of grass and you feel the sun beaming down on your skin.

And you feel the warmth.

You feel your cells being nourished by this sunlight that has traveled all the way from the sun.

Tiny bits of sunshine entering your body,

Nourishing you,

Warming you.

And you just turn your hands upward,

Resting on the earth,

Receiving this wonderful heat and warmth and energy from the sun.

And then you decide to take a deep breath.

And you take a deep breath in and out.

And then you decide we're going to make a little fire.

So you roll up,

Gather some wood,

Place it in a spot that there seems to have been fires before.

You grab your matches and you light a fire and you watch the little flame begin to come.

And slowly it builds to more and more until you have a nice little fire and you watch the flames.

And you wonder where the flame comes from.

Where does this energy come from?

What is fire?

But you just allow these questions to float while you enjoy the crackling of the fire.

And after a time,

You sit upright,

You close your eyes,

And you start to feel a light form inside of you.

And you start to realize that this light within you,

This energy within you,

Is all consciousness.

You feel this energy vibrating out from your core.

And then you realize that this energy is the same energy that lights the fire,

That sends the sunshine,

That makes the water.

And that vibration that you feel coming from within starts to just envelop everything around you.

Jalasya eva urmaya vane jvala bhangya prabhavrava mama eva bharavasya eta vishva bhangya vijjavyayam Jalasya eva urmaya vane jvala bhangya prabhavrava mama eva bharavasya eta vishva bhangya vijjavyayam Waves arise from water.

Flames arise from fire.

Rays emanate from the sun.

So do you and I shine forth from the mysterious one.

Waves rise from water.

Flames arise from fire.

Rays emanate from the sun.

So do you and I shine forth from the mysterious one.

So do you and I shine forth from the mysterious one.

Let's take a deep breath in together.

And exhale.

And let's come back together.

So thank you so much for being here and I hope you have a wonderful day.

Reviews

That was amazing. I happened to be walking in the woods close to a waterfall just when you started the meditation so I sat down next to it and did the meditation with the sound of the water in the background.
Also, like a snake eating its tail, I am casting my vote for the perpetual radiance sutras reading programme once you get to the end… 😊

Thank you, love the calm essence of your voice. This really resonated with me today, looking forward to the weekly reading !

We’ve been in an atmospheric river for a few days here in Northern California. So easy to experience oneness with the element of water. And to think that I also come from the same Source! Space, silence, consciousness, bliss, happiness, already here, now, in me, emanating from me. Thank you for your connection together with Source.

Wowww I have no words. Just going to bask in the sunshine of myself now 💛