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VoidCenteringDissolutionVerse 122advanced

Emptiness in All Other Things

While knowing one object, all other things are empty; meditate on that emptiness, and even the known subsides into peace.

Source verse · Verse 122
वस्त्वन्तरे वेद्यमाने सर्ववस्तुषु शून्यता। तामेव मनसा ध्यात्वा विदितोऽपि प्रशाम्यति॥
vastvantare vedyamāne sarvavastuṣu śūnyatā | tām eva manasā dhyātvā vidito'pi praśāmyati
While knowing one object, all other things are empty; meditate on that emptiness, and even the known subsides into peace.
▶ Practice this technique10 / 20 min · eyes either

How to practice

  1. 1Attend to any single object — and notice that, in that moment, everything else has fallen into the background, effectively empty.
  2. 2Turn the mind to that emptiness of all-other-things rather than to the one object.
  3. 3Dwell on that pervading emptiness with the mind.
  4. 4As you do, let even the one known object subside into the same emptiness, and rest in the peace that remains.
Practice note. A clever reversal: instead of the figure (the object), meditate on the ground (the emptiness of everything else) — and watch the figure dissolve into it too.

Terms in this technique

śūnya
Void, emptiness — not nothingness but open, contentless awareness.
laya
Dissolution, absorption; the merging of attention into its source.
madhya
The middle, the centre, the gap between two states — a key VBT doorway.
sākṣin
The witness; awareness that observes without being touched.

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)
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