Skip to content
IdentityVoidEmotionVerse 123intermediate

Beyond Pure and Impure

The purity the limited imagine is not purity in the vision of Shiva; nothing is pure or impure — so, thought-free, be happy.

Source verse · Verse 123
किञ्चिज्ज्ञैर्या स्मृता शुद्धिः सा शुद्धिः शम्भुदर्शने। न शुचिर्ह्यशुचिस्तस्मान्निर्विकल्पः सुखी भवेत्॥
kiñcijjñair yā smṛtā śuddhiḥ sā śuddhiḥ śambhudarśane | na śucir hy aśucis tasmān nirvikalpaḥ sukhī bhavet
The purity the limited imagine is not purity in the vision of Shiva; nothing is pure or impure — so, thought-free, be happy.
▶ Practice this technique10 / 20 min · eyes either

How to practice

  1. 1Notice a judgment of "pure" or "impure", "clean" or "unclean", "holy" or "defiled" as it arises in the mind.
  2. 2Recognise that such purity is only what the limited mind imagines — not the truth seen in the vision of Shiva.
  3. 3Contemplate that, in reality, nothing is inherently pure or impure; both are mental constructs (vikalpa).
  4. 4Drop both judgments and rest, thought-free (nirvikalpa) and at ease — simply happy.
Practice note. A liberating verse for anyone bound by guilt, taboo, or obsession with purity: in awareness itself there is no clean or unclean. Let the construct go and be happy.

Terms in this technique

śūnya
Void, emptiness — not nothingness but open, contentless awareness.
cit
Consciousness itself, the aware principle.
sākṣin
The witness; awareness that observes without being touched.
aham
The sense of "I"; the self that is inquired into.

Sources consulted

  • Jaideva Singh, Vijñānabhairava: The Manual for Self-Realization (Motilal Banarsidass, 1979)
  • Swami Lakshmanjoo, Vijnana Bhairava: The Manual for Self Realization (Universal Shaiva Fellowship, 2007)
  • Bettina Bäumer, Vijñâna Bhairava: The Practice of Centering Awareness (Indica Books, 2011)
← All 112 techniquesVigyan Bhairav Tantra home →