IdentityLightVerse 137advanced
The Self That Illumines All
Everything is revealed by knowing, and the Self reveals all; since they are one in nature, knower and known shine as one.
Source verse · Verse 137
ज्ञानप्रकाशकं सर्वं सर्वेणात्मा प्रकाशकः। एकमेकस्वभावत्वाज्ज्ञानं ज्ञेयं विभाव्यते॥
jñānaprakāśakaṃ sarvaṃ sarveṇātmā prakāśakaḥ | ekam ekasvabhāvatvāj jñānaṃ jñeyaṃ vibhāvyate
Everything is revealed by knowing, and the Self reveals all; since they are one in nature, knower and known shine as one.
▶ Practice this technique10 / 20 min · eyes either
How to practice
- 1Notice that whatever you experience is "lit up" — made known — by awareness.
- 2See that this revealing light is the Self: the Self illumines everything.
- 3Contemplate that the knowing, the knower, and the known share one and the same nature — consciousness.
- 4Rest in that unity, where seer and seen are recognised as a single light.
Practice note. Subject and object look like two, but both are made of the one light of awareness. Hold them as one nature rather than as a gap to be crossed.
Terms in this technique
- cit
- Consciousness itself, the aware principle.
- ātman
- The true self; awareness as one’s own being.
- tejas
- Light, brilliance, inner fire.
- 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)