DissolutionVoidVisualizationVerse 54advanced
Dissolving the Levels of Reality
Contemplate the principles of body or world dissolving from gross to subtle to subtlest, until the Supreme is laid bare.
Source verse · Verse 54
स्वदेहे जगतो वापि सूक्ष्मसूक्ष्मतराणि च। तत्त्वानि यानि निलयं ध्यात्वान्ते व्यज्यते परा॥
svadehe jagato vāpi sūkṣmasūkṣmatarāṇi ca | tattvāni yāni nilayaṃ dhyātvānte vyajyate parā
Contemplate the principles of body or world dissolving from gross to subtle to subtlest, until the Supreme is laid bare.
▶ Practice this technique15 / 20 min · eyes closed
How to practice
- 1Consider the constituents of the body (or of the whole world) — earth, water, fire, air, space, and subtler principles.
- 2Contemplate each dissolving into the next: gross into subtle, subtle into subtler still.
- 3Let the whole structure of "thingness" melt downward toward its source.
- 4When all the levels have dissolved, rest in the Supreme (parā) that stands revealed.
Practice note. You need not name every tattva. The movement — gross dissolving into ever-subtler — is the practice; the Supreme is what remains.
Terms in this technique
- laya
- Dissolution, absorption; the merging of attention into its source.
- śūnya
- Void, emptiness — not nothingness but open, contentless awareness.
- śakti
- Energy, the dynamic power of consciousness; Devi.
Sources consulted
- Jaideva Singh, Vijñānabhairava: The Manual for Self-Realization (Motilal Banarsidass, 1979)
- Bettina Bäumer, Vijñâna Bhairava: The Practice of Centering Awareness (Indica Books, 2011)
- Swami Lakshmanjoo, Vijnana Bhairava: The Manual for Self Realization (Universal Shaiva Fellowship, 2007)