Vijnana Bhairava Tantra PART 26: VERSE 113 – 118

Vijnana Bhairava Tantra VERSE 113 & 114: SKILL 90

Śiva tells Śakti that He is going to reveal about the state of kaivalya. If the eyes are fixed without blinking, the state of kaivalya will arise. When one closes his ears, organs of procreation and excretion and meditates on the inner sound, he enters into the state of eternity of the Brahman.

This skill (dhāraṇā) consists of two verses. Both these skills deal with absolute awareness and hence clubbed together. In the first one, one has to focus his eyes within without blinking. While doing so, external objects get vanished and his consciousness gets fixed within, thereby disconnecting the external world from his consciousness and this consciousness is pure consciousness which is prerequisite to His realization. This can be compared to our sleep patterns. There are two types of sleep patterns. The first one is REM (Rapid Eye Movement) where eyes move rapidly during sleep and this sleeps is not the state of deep sleep. This is the state we get our dreams. Therefore, when the eyeballs move, the level of sleep is not deep. The other one is NREM (Non Rapid Eye Movement), during which state one enters the state deep sleep. Therefore, the movement of eye balls is directly related to the level of one’s mental state and hence Śiva says that eyes should not be blinked. Because of his pure consciousness, he enters the state of kaivalya, which is comparable to the term mokṣa in advaita philosophy. This is an advanced version of Bhairvai mudra explained in the verse 77.

During the advanced state of a good meditation, the meditator gets disconnected from the material world and his consciousness gets fixed on the Self within. No meditation will be effective, unless one learns to look within, either at the heart chakra or at the third eye chakra.

The next verse also dwells on the same level of concentration by looking within and the only change is that instead of closing the eyes, one has to close organs of hearings, procreation and excretion. While doing so, one has to look for the divine sound within. The verse says that such a sound is without vowels and consonants. Since there cannot be a word or sound without vowels or consonants, the sound referred in this verse is the point from which vowels and consonants originate and this point is known as bindu, which is a dot, the true form of Śiva, from which alone everything else originated. Therefore, this verse implies that by doing so, one can connect his consciousness with Śiva and become one with Him. One has to look for this bindu in the heart chakra.

While ears can be closed with the help of fingers, lowers organs can be closed by mūla bandha, vajroli mudra (sahajoli mudra for women) and aśvini mudra. Certain āsana-s and bandhas are different for women. These mudras do a lot of good, if practiced daily under the able guidance of a yoga master. Mudras and bhandas are significantly different from normal yogic āsana-s and hence, choosing the right master is important. One to one interaction is necessary while learning mudras and āsana-s, as in the case of mantra initiation.

Vijnana Bhairava Tantra VERSE 115: SKILL 91

By standing near a deep well (with a proper hold) one has to look into the depth of the well. After a few moments, one will feel a sort of giddiness and during this state, one becomes free of other thoughts and when other thoughts are eradicated, Śiva is realized.

This verse should not be taken on the face value, because if one stands near a deep well he could fall into the well. The subtle conveyance is about the importance of focusing one’s thoughts on a particular object or place. While fixing one’s eyes on a particular object, naturally other thought processes are dissolved. When one concentrates within, depending upon the intensity of the concentration, all other thoughts automatically get dissolved. This is like a lamp dispelling darkness in a room.

Vijnana Bhairava Tantra VERSE 116: SKILL 92

This is a wonderful verse. The verse says that irrespective of where the mind goes, either externally or internally, there is Śiva, underlining the omnipresence of Śiva. This is meant for those who are not able to focus their minds in anyway. Some people sit for meditation, let us say for 10 minutes or 20 minutes, or so. During the entire period of meditation, their thoughts never get focussed even for a few seconds. Though they are perfect in postures, breath control, bandhas, mudras, etc, still they cannot control the mind. Since Śiva is so compassionate, He says, “Don’t bother about controlling your mind. I am omnipresent and I am available to you all the time. Wherever your mind flutters, there I am! But remember to think about me” (used, only to explain).

Controlling the mind can be perfected only by practice. Short duration and increased frequency of meditation always helps.

Vijnana Bhairava Tantra VERSE 117: SKILL 93

This verse takes forward the concept of the previous verse. Whatever is seen or observed through sensory organs is nothing but the universal consciousness, the exclusive quality of Śiva. When He pervades throughout the universe, obviously whatever the objects that we see is also Śiva. The inputs from the sensory organs to the mind are only about Him. This is the situation where all dualities are dissolved, as what one sees is only Śiva and nothing else.

A mirror is taken as an example here. A mirror simply reflects the objects before it and there is no difference between the objects reflected by the mirror and the objects themselves. Śiva is the mirror and the objects that get reflected in the mirror, is the universe. Therefore, the universe is within Him and is projected outside (manifested) as the objective universe. In reality, there is no difference between the objects and the objects projected in the mirror. This further goes to prove the omnipresence nature of Śiva.

Whatever one perceives therefore is nothing but Śiva and this assertion leads to the state of Bhairva.

Vijnana Bhairava Tantra VERSE 118: SKILL 94

Bhairava explains that He can be realized in petty things that we do in our normal life, once again proving His true omnipresence. Sneezing is an involuntary act. During sneezing, an act that lasts for a few seconds, we never think about anything else except involving ourselves in the act of sneezing. Similarly, while we are terribly hungry, our entire concentration goes around satiating our hunger and other thought processes get annihilated. Another instance cited in this verse is our curiosity. When some strange things happen around us, we are curious to know about those things and during which time, we forget about our eternal worries (worries are eternal in a human life as long as ego continues). When other thought processes are not present, due to His omnipresent nature, He is realized. As long as other thought processes are present, the mind becomes impure and as a result, one’s consciousness remains at the mundane level. When the mind becomes free of thought processes, mind attains purity and as a result, his consciousness also attains purity. Consciousness cannot be focused unless the mind is purified. Hence it is said that one can attain liberation only through the mind.

Further Readings:

Vijnana Bhairava Tantra- Part 25

Vijnana Bhairava Tantra - Part 27

Vijnana Bhairava Tantra - Part 28