Vijnana Bhairava Tantra PART 24: VERSE 102 – 107

Vijnana Bhairava Tantra VERSE 102: SKILL 79

If one contemplates the universe as if it is the work of a magician, or a piece of paining or a fugacious object, one experiences the Bliss. The work of a magician is illusionary and does not long last. In the same way, the universe and its objects are created by Śiva, only to last for a short duration. A man lives in this world is for a short duration and during his existence, he is afflicted with desires, attachments, pride, prejudice, etc without bothering to look at the Reality of Śiva. Through this verse, Bhairava says that one should not waste this human birth, which itself is a gift by Him. The entire universe is only fugacious in nature and any thought contrary to this reality is only illusionary. When one understands through the requisite knowledge that the objective world, realised through his senses is not permanent, he realizes the Truth and as a result he feels the inner joy and happiness. This is the way to liberation.

Vijnana Bhairava Tantra VERSE 103: SKILL 80

Bhairava explains to Bhiravi that one should not get attached either to pleasure or pain. There is midpoint between these two and one should try to know this midpoint. Pleasure and pain are the products of mind and its modifications, known as antaḥkaraṇa (mind, intellect and ego).

Mind is always susceptible to the inputs from sensory organs. Sensory organs provide inputs to the mind from the material world. If one sees an object it is only the mind that decides whether it is beautiful or not. What appears as beautiful to him may not be beautiful to another person. This is decided by one’s mind. All the minds are not the same, as the mind is influenced by one’s intellect and the level of ego. The ego is not powerful enough, it is better for realizing the universal brotherhood. Too much of ego makes a person to isolate himself from the reality, as his ego acts as powerful barrier in realizing the Truth. Presence of powerful ego is self destructing even in material life.

The life is guided not only by his own karmas, but also by the karmas of people around him. Karmas are self made through previous births. Happiness and sadness are part of life as no one does only good, throughout his life. When there is happiness, there is bound to be sadness. When food is consumed, the remains have to be excreted. It is a natural process. Therefore, in order to understand this reality, one should not become too much elated during his happier moments, as the sadder moments could be in the offing and vice versa. Life is like a wheel, causing ups and downs throughout. When one becomes too happy, his mind will not become refined to face adversities. On the contrary, if one lives at the midpoint between the two extremes, neither happiness nor sorrow will affect him too much. For such a person, emotional swings will never be there. If a person’s mind is not influenced by emotions, he can easily enter the state of Bliss, as he truly understands the Reality.

Vijnana Bhairava Tantra VERSE 104: SKILL 81

Bhairava does not teach His Consort Bhairavi the normal course of yoga in Vijñāna Bhirava. It is the essence of all the teachings as the teacher is the Supreme Brahman Śiva and the student is not only His Consort, but also His independent Power, who alone can make one realize Śiva for liberation. None of the Scriptures can be compared to Vijñāna Bhirava, as they are authored by human sages and saints. But Vijñāna Bhirava is authored by the Creator Himself out of His compassion to the humanity and His willingness to offer liberation. This is known as His Grace.

One should not give importance to his body, as everybody is bound by size and shape. One can have only limited vision through his sensory organs, in this instance case, biological eyes. When one sees the world through his eyes, his realization is limited to the extent of his limited vision. Therefore, it is apparent that the limiting factor is one’s body and its associated sensory organs. Sensory organs, by default cause too many thought processes in the mind making the mind impure. If one frees himself from the factors of limitation (sensory organs), he can affirm that he is omnipresent. His individual consciousness becomes one with cosmic consciousness. His individual identity limited by his ego is destroyed and becomes one with vastness of the universe. When he affirms at this state that “I am everywhere”, he truly feels his presence everywhere. Affirmation is one of the important factors in Self-realization. Affirming with a crowded mind will not serve the purpose of affirmation. When affirmations are made, the mind should be pervaded only by that affirmation alone and this paves the way for Bliss and ultimate realization, as the emphasis on “I” gets dissolved and emphasis on “everywhere” becomes more resolute.

There are two preconditions for realization. One is the purity of the mind, which is paramount. Another factor is universal love in its nascent form, love and compassion for others. Perfection is spirituality can easily be attained if these two are strictly adhered to. This can be practiced by making affirmations before commencing meditation. A perfect meditation is the one, where the mind becomes devoid of material thoughts and fully pervaded by love for others. Effect of such meditation will be inexplicable happiness and joy. This is the yardstick to measure one’s depth of meditation.

Vijnana Bhairava Tantra VERSE 105: SKILL 82

This verse takes forward the essence of the previous verse.

Knowledge of a specific object is called special knowledge with reference to that particular object. This verse refers to the knowledge of a pot. A pot is realized as a pot because of two factors; one is the knowledge about the pot and two by using one’s consciousness or awareness. Here, knowledge about the pot is on limited plane, restricted to the pot and the one who looks at the pot. In other words, this knowledge is limited to the perceived object and the perceiver. The knowledge is limited because the perceiver’s knowledge is limited only to the extent of the pot.

If the perceiver replaces the pot with that of the universe, his awareness on the pot becomes universal. His restricted consciousness now becomes unrestricted, as he switches his consciousness from a limited object to the vastness of the universe. As long as the aspirant restricts his awareness either to his own self or to any particular object or objects, his consciousness is restricted. Restricted consciousness means restricting his consciousness to certain chosen objects or persons. This leads to desires and attachments. On the contrary, if he fixes his consciousness on the vastness of the universe, he too becomes universal. When the same universe is perceived as Śiva and Śakti, his consciousness becomes unrestricted and attains purity. Only the purity of consciousness can lead to Self-realization, as duality is dissolved during this practice.

Vijnana Bhairava Tantra VERSE 106: SKILL 83

Perception is always related to the subject and the object, which in turn are interrelated. When there is an object, the process of understanding that object is the subject. When an object exists, subject has also to exist, as they are interrelated. In the case of the pot discussed above, pot is the object and its realization is the subject. General human tendency is to restrict this subject-object relationship to different types of objects. For example buying a home, a car, etc. wherein subject-object relationship is based on the objects such as a home or a car.

But, a yogi thinks differently. He fixes his awareness on the subject and not on the object. He fixes his attention on the act of seeing not on the object that is seen. If he fixes his consciousness on the object, then his consciousness gets restricted by time and space, as every object is susceptible to modifications and ultimate destruction. But the subject always remains the same. As long as one stays in the material world, he sees different objects in his daily life, which is a natural phenomenon. But the yogi merely fixes his consciousness on the act of seeing, which is the subject. He becomes a witness only to act of seeing not getting himself involved with the objects in anyway. That is why he is able to consider the entire world as Śiva and Śakti. For him, objects do not make any difference as he never fixes his awareness or consciousness on the objects, which alone leads to desires and attachments. As long as he remains as a witness to the act of perception, his consciousness is not bound by time and space. His consciousness becomes universal, which leads to Bliss and ultimate realization.

Vijnana Bhairava Tantra VERSE 107: SKILL 84

This verse says that a physical body is not necessary for perfect meditation. In the dream state body is irrelevant, as the dream unfolds only in the arena of the mind. In the state of deep sleep, even the mind stops functioning. But in all the four states, consciousness prevails. In the deep sleep state, one’s consciousness prevails in association with the subtle body and in the fourth state of consciousness viz. turya, consciousness prevails along with the causal body. Irrespective of the nature of body, consciousness prevails perpetually. If the consciousness is not present, the very existence of a being is purposeless, which is medically known as the coma stage.

If an aspirant looks at this consciousness not only from his own perspective, but also from others perspective, he enters the state of universal consciousness, the state of Bhairava. The practice is a simple contemplation. Look at the world from everybody’s point of view. In other words, one has to look at the world through the consciousness of others, including that of insects, birds and animals. This is all pervasive consciousness or the Supreme Consciousness of Bhairava. This is also known as omnipresence. Crossing all the barriers of limitations, such as time and space, leads to universal consciousness, which is also known as Bhairava Consciousness. He becomes Bhairava.

Further Readings:

Vijnana Bhairava Tantra - Part 23

Vijnana Bhairava Tantra- Part 25

Vijnana Bhairava Tantra - Part 26