Vijnana Bhairava Tantra 112 meditations

23. Other Systems and Alternate Approaches
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These relate to 112 meditations said to have been offered as a tool by Lord Shiva, in his dialogue with Parvati Ma. There are many interpretations and elaborations on these meditations. I chose to dive into Swami Lakshmanjoo’s teaching on this, based on his book, ‘The manual for Self Realisation’.

I prefer to write in verse, so I’ll begin ~

Vijnana Bhairava Tantra: preamble & epilogue

Both void & manifestation

Spanda: life pulse vibration

Expanding & contracting

Concealing & revealing

Stupefying & illuminating

Separating & uniting

Shiva’s self luminescence

In playful innocence

Creating a pulse of separation

Culminating in divine union

Paths four for liberation

All found in the void of cessation

Krama: the descent & rise

Resulting in joyful surprise

Or Pratyabhijna: re-cognition

Upon ego delusion dissolution

Whilst Kaula: mukti with bhukti

Embrace & release in continuity

Doing nothing Spanda: resonation

With the omnipresent ॐ vibration

Shiva appears upon the earth

Shakti accompanying as his consort

Both one as Ardhnarishwar indivisible

Render the 112 agamas plain & simple

That for those souls seeking renuion

The path be clear without confusion

This preamble given we yet need education

About the basic mind-body construction

First the purpose

Of this circus

Descending to rise to fulfil the potential

Love in love with love as the ultimate miracle

Father wishing that the son be as He

Striving to become strong and mirrorlessly see

Being absolute and illumined how may we play

Unless immersed in limitations that make us sway

Thus Shiva the magician manifests maya illusion

Layering it with five veils to keep Himself in delusion

Himself? Yes; for God alone exists and nothing else is

All that we see & know & feel is His own elixirous fizz

The first veil being limitation in time

Bound by the linear periodic chime

The second confinement within a boundary

Limitation of space being also illusionary

Third to fifth restricted will, knowledge & power

Bondage to illusion self-blocking the bliss shower

Yet what is manifested from perfection is perfection

Thus concealed in mind-body is innate self-illumination

The earth vehicle an interface ephemeral

Within which pulsates the divine eternal

As the seed of the ultimate having propensity for expansion

The lifetron searches instinctively to reclaim bliss elation

However senses five active are all externalised

Along with lower mind in doership having everything analysed

The secret being that the aspect perfect throbbing within

Is the voice of conscience steering us away from sin

The sin being nothing other than self ignorance

In opting for transience instead of our eternal presence

All the above known from different scriptures

Being in delusion we are now our shadowy caricature

Shiva in compassion then does reveal the 112 meditations

Each of which may grant us here & now instant liberation

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Vijnana Bhairava Tantra introduction

A dialogue between Gods manifested polarities

To exit duality and get to the one singularity

Freedom & liberation as an ever present orientation

Illumined & unbound in will, knowledge & action

All being grace

There is no race

For God consciousness

The path is pathless

Even the burning yearning

For with the divine connecting

Wherefrom came the exalted thought

That inspiration along with it brought

Yet trapped in body-mind

Unable to unshackle ego bind

112 practices are revealed

Self help plan with nothing concealed

Three paths to embark upon our entrée

Somewhat like the Gunas three

The highest path thought free meditation

Next mantra recitation and yoga in action

The highest path then the vibrant void

Unfettered & unbound in bliss overjoyed

The other abiding in the gap of cessation

Be it thought or breath or mantra recitation

All paths leading to God forging a unity

A samadhi of unbroken continuity

Each practice a form of meditation

Grace alone completing actual ascension

A quick word on what actually is God realisation

Being absolute freedom of will, knowledge & action

Recognition that void & manifestation are the same

A dance divine of concealing & revealing as a game

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Vijnana Bhairava Tantra - prelude to the 112 practices

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Self luminous and self existent

Throbbing within a bliss current

Undifferentiated state of singularity

To know Itself descends into duality

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The choiceless choice an act of free will

Screen of consciousness eternally still

Projects attention into a vibration a notch lower

That that pulse of separation moves farther & closer

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The play enacted in a spectrum of illusion

The projected lifetron bewildered by maya projection

Being always complete but veiled so feeling limited

Imbibes easily in stillness bliss currents of rapture elated

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As such there being no way for we are already That

In a self hypnotic trance we seek methods that all fall flat

By divine grace alone we exit the hall of mirrors

Following the fragrance of love as our heart quivers

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Yet in as much as we wish to employ mind & body

Instruments of limited thought and perceptions shoddy

The path is singular although offering opportunities many

Within cessation of pure intention in stillness sedentary

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Cessation or emptiness humming with potent power

Formless & identityless no longer limited by mind lower

Exits too limitation of time and boundaries of space

Self existent & self luminous Itself radiates divine grace

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Liberation here & now within bodily form

Self illumined in the eye of the bliss storm

The 112 paths kinetic to rest in absolute potentiality

Getting to indivisible oneness singularity

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Vijnana Bhairava Tantra Practice-1&2/112

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Each half breath has a point of cessation

Yet the voids differentiated by intuitive intention

The beginning of exhalation return to space

Whilst commencement of inhalation divine grace

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Geometrically we may assign lungs to the Anahata

Breath flow from nose to head crowned at Sahasrara

Connector between the two being the Vishuddha

Union of separated polarities the flowing divine enigma

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The flow being of nothing other than consciousness

From the domain of matter through ether into formlessness

Hiranyagarbha the one at Sahasrara becoming two

The polarities merging in a bliss explosion as bliss renews

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The practice affirms manta ॐ (ohm/ham) during inhalation

With the sound ‘Sa’ or ‘So’ during exhalation

Yet focusing not on breath but relying on purity of loving intent

Within our heart to the ॐ sound current we become sentient

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is the energetic path first of one hundred & twelve

Urging us to focus on the voids and therein within ॐ dwell

Blurring boundaries between form & formlessness

Merging in-form consciousness with Absolute Oneness

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The second of the 112 paths same as the first

Differentiated by an insatiable thirst

Whereupon we abide in cessation without thought

Simply imbibing the divine soma nectar as bliss brought

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Vijnana Bhairava Tantra Practice-3/112

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Before we get to the practice number three

A few words to reside in clarity

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The triad or trika

Para, para-para & apara

Lowest the apara - we as in-form consciousness

Aligning with (para-para) Shakti to get to (Para) Shiva Oneness

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Or we may say our journey from ignorance to luminescence

Relying upon energy as vibration in octaves of innocence

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The path being pathless there being no coming or going

Yet awakening from amnesia by simply re-recognising

So no doing to be done erect without support

The Sushumna ignites vaporising the maya fort

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Or we may say bypassing the Ida & Pingala

We cajole the Kundalini to ascend via Sushumna

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Thus theoretically this practice is known

Yet execution feasible only when fear has flown

So what does the practice actually entail

How may we rudderless sail

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Resting thoughts imaginal

As also theories conjectural

Our focus on Sushumna when breath ceases

Possibly is a childlike prayer that Shakti pleases

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The practice also speaks of Samadhi like meditation

Which if enabled grips Sushumna in bliss elation

Which it always was & is

Though we were oblivious to its fizz

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As such this practice is for those who are so qualified

Having partly awakened with lower mind vaporised

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Epilogue

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The practice narrated

As stated

Yet it may be affirmed

Confirmed

That indeed the Sushumna is the rod of initiation

Luminous with radiant bliss throbbing in elation

Preceded by fusion of polarities in the Anahata

Whereupon bliss in permanence abides in the Sushumna

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Note for readers: These meditations are adapted from Swami Lakshmanjoo’s interpretations of the VBT and coloured by direct recognition at places. I myself do not engage in any practice.

Please use your discretion, take what resonates and discard what does not.

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Vijnana Bhairava Tantra Practice-4/112

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A simple physical breath recitation

For we cannot yet call it meditation

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Gently inhaling we pause at the heart

Likewise pause at crown when breath departs

Breathing thus with pause of cessation

Thoughts may come & go as of ego suggestion

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We gradually lengthen the practice duration

Flow of breath regardless of thought agitation

Simply positioning attention during the voids

Alternating at heart & crown therein buoyed

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What happens thus is assigning priority

Getting to the divine in stuporous simplicity

By merely performing an exercise in lengthening time

Until the divine relents and we we hear the chime

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Within

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Footnote

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Such is the exposition

But there is no imposition

Possibly it may not resonate

Unless thought rested we meditate

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We may then thus tweak what is written

Like a spirited horse not do as bidden

Adding to this doing our own colouration

Of love seeking love via breath meditation

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Why not?

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Vijnana Bhairava Tantra Practice-5/112

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Tantra being the path of energy

To facilitate divine connectivity

Triad from gross to subtle to emptiness

Are three basic tools for getting to oneness

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Eventually no path’s higher or lower

Although some are faster and others slower

Essentially divine reality omnipresent

It depends upon how we choose to be sentient

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Taking theoretical knowledge of chakras as a given

We may embark upon the offered suggestion

So plunging into technique number five

Vibrancy in stillness that makes us jive

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Employing imagination along with our breath

Breath silent descends via Sushumna in stealth

Where at root in supreme glory resides the Para Shakti

Empathetic to our trepidation smiles in loving geniality

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The practice involves cessation of breath as prana

Surrendering in wonderment to behold the divine enigma

Content as a child in the lap of the divine mother

We know not where it takes us for the bliss shower

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There then being upon our part no striving

For at the Muladhara itself we feel the pulse vivifing

We rest all vicarious knowing of chakras & nadis

Each cell within our form holding the divine in entirety

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Para Shakti illumines the Sushumna with her radiance

Each chakra in its own right Shiva in full brilliance

We thus rest as Shakti decides imbibing the divine elixir

For who are we to suggest any imagined vector

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As far as subtlety goes the Sushumna too has layers

Revealing invisible conduits depending upon our prayer

Unfathomable is the ultimate divine mystery

Yet each coordinate perfect for divine connectivity

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Vijnana Bhairava Tantra Practice-6/112

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Employing imagination

As valid affirmation

A wish granted before uttered

Flower petals upon our path scattered

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We visualise the Kundalini like lightning

Not frightening but benign & enlivening

Shakti recognising 12 finger space geometry

Jumping chakra to chakra in instant connectivity

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Root to navel to heart to throat to third eye to crown

Lightning fast jumps never looking down

Free of fear or desire or doubt or hesitation

Devoid of any ego borne precipitation

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Hark!

Are we ready to leap in the dark?

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Vijnana Bhairava Tantra Practice-7/112

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Here we get to a new visualisation

Chakras not six but twelve as of this computation

Root, sacral, navel, spleen, heart & throat

Plus upper palate, third eye, Guru & three at the crown afloat

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This is an esoteric technique directly taught

So that errors into the practice are not brought

Involving mantra with inner light and focus in continuity

An energy path mystical not to be confused with Kundalini

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The practice involves cessation of breath without breathlessness

Blurring boundaries between form & formlessness

Penetrating the dark void to get to Absolute Oneness

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The Tantras have many such agamas

Direct initiations - to lower mind enigmas

Take this, if we will, as Krama + Spanda

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Vijnana Bhairava Tantra Practice-8/112

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We imagine breath filling the entire Sushumna

In fullness from Muladhara to Sahasrara

Then along this locus

We get to one pointed focus

Between the eyebrows at the Ajna chakra

Pure awareness without thought stigma

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Then the breath becomes more subtle

Not by focus but from loving devotion simple

Our attention then abides

In rippleless stillness resides

At the third eye zone

Fruits follow in timeless time of seeds sown

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Within this visualisation leading to meditation

We retain single pointed focus by mental creation

Of a dam or an enclosure binding us at the Ajna

Attention subtler & finer drawing in by charisma

God Himself in Absoluteness

Vivifing our being in fullness

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Vijnana Bhairava Tantra Practice-9&10/112

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Are we in staid tranquility overjoyed

Both in manifestation as well as in the void

Do we continuously look at sensory impressions askance

Or does the mind-body hypnotically hold us in a trance

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These are the silent reflections

The form vaporising questions

That this practice asks us to investigate

In a continuum of stillness thus meditate

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This path of Pratyabhijna or re-cognition

Becoming our ever present orientation

Recognising Universe as vibrational no-thingness

Both void & manifestation God as the only Oneness

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Vijnana Bhairava Tantra Practice-11/112

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We shift attention to the Sahasrara and be there buoyed

Imagining within the vibrant void divine joy

Finally we see Everything as void-ness

Illumined by the That Oneness

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In addition within the crown is a flaming light

Not imaginary but in reality shining bright

The divine revelation of self illumination

Arising by grace upon automatic breath cessation

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Whilst thus in meditation

Knowing there is no limitation

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Vijnana Bhairava Tantra Practice-12/112

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Voids within the void and conduits within the central conduit

We keep refining sensibility with unwavering prayer resolute

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The Sushumna is no doubt the central funnel

Throbbing with bliss, a divine enabled miracle

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Yet this practice asks of us to visualise

That in time we may recognise

Cylindrical capillaries as carriageways of energy

Of divine electricity

Layered one inside the other

Finer & finer, subtler & subtler

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Meditating thus on the imagined innermost channel

We go there and in innocence ask God for the miracle

Meaning that we vaporise and so be to become

As a bliss mist with the divine one

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God being the way as also the means

This is the knowing from this practice we glean

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Vijnana Bhairava Tantra Practice-13/112

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With one pointed attention

We focus on the Ajna going into meditation

Preceded by physically closing ears, nostrils & eyes

With fingers of our hands that we may behold in surprise

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The Bindu, the dot of light

Shining within, effulgence white

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As in any practice we repeat again & again

No pain, no gain

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Vijnana Bhairava Tantra Practice-14/112

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We now get to a secret technique

Into which we are allowed a sneak peek

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Eyes open we still our eyeballs with our finger

A comfortable pressure but pupils should not quiver

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In trusting simplicity we let the light within arise

A flame self luminous known to sages wise

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Then within stillness sedate

We let our attention oscilllate

Between the third eye-crown-Bindu & heart

The flame divine never departs!

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Vijnana Bhairava Tantra Practice-15/112

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A meditation on that that is as is

The unstruck sound accompanied with a bliss fizz

Within the heart

Is where it starts

In stillness & silence we may listen

To the inner sound current that glistens

Vibrancy

In constancy

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In case we are yet not cognisant

If inner sense polarity is dormant

We may sit in silence listening to nature sounds

Waterfall, leaves rustling, laughter of children in a playground

The essence of this practice being make attention one pointed

Within the vibration cognised is realisation automatically granted

All the doing we do is to choose to dissolve in the current

The Absolute being instantly available in this moment