Beyond existent and non-existent (A Vigyan Bhairav Tantra Technique)

Beyond existent and non-existent- Anant Sri

(A Vigyan Bhairav Tantra Technique)

We shall take up a new meditation technique from Vigyan Bhairav Tantra. In this technique Shiva tells Devi that saving one subject, feel the nonexistence of all else. And once that is achieved move on to the next step by going beyond the feeling of that one subject and along with it go beyond the feeling of nonexistence of all else as well. Transcending both enter your true nature.

This is the simplest, the most beautiful and the most magical technique. This, on one side has given rise to many beautiful trends in spirituality but on the other hand this has given rise to maximum misgivings when not properly understood resulting in fanatic activities besides other confusions.

This is one technique that is most suited for women as the feminine aspect in women makes it easy for a woman to stay at one subject where as men, as compared to women find it difficult to stay on one subject.

While entering into, its practice you may chose the subject of your choice. This subject could be anything you love, any person, any pet, any book, any color, almost anything that appeals to you. This technique is in steps. So, enter into the first step of feeling just one chosen subject and feel that nothing else exists except that one thing. Make sure that you consciously feel that and that it is not just a thought.  Because as it enters the realm of thought, then it starts reasoning that other things also exist, how is it possible that only one subject is there, and this reasoning will not let you feel it. Though, It is true that all else is also there but for you they are not there, for you they become nonexistent.

If you have a human being as a subject, then you have to be a little careful and ensure that he or she may be the only thing in your life but it may not be true at the other end, you may be just one amongst many others. If you do not have this understanding, then there could be expectations and heart breaks.

Another clarity that you should ensure is that it has to be a conscious choice of the subject, not that it just happens to be so.

In Bharat, spirituality is weaved very intelligently into daily living. Like they say that you see your partner, your beloved, your husband, your Guru as God. This was introducing you to the first step of this meditation.  Or treating a scripture as holy, or else idol worship are all indications for giving you a beautiful subject for the first step. Not that these are the only choices, you can have any subject which goes with your system and enter into the first step of this technique.

Once the first step is fully experienced you can and have to move on to the next step. But here is the beginning of the problem if the second step is not understood.

Mostly people practice the first step and then get stuck there and get so obsessed that they become anti to everything else. Then they enter into cults and fanatic activities, like this is the only God, this is the only holy book, this is only prophet and so on. This gives rise to all divisiveness while they continue with all their talk on non-duality.

The beauty of the first step is that it evolves into bhakti where love is so intense that just the beloved remains and all else becomes non-existent. But this too needs to be transcended. Now when you enter the second step, you have to let go the feeling of your subject and also the feeling of non-existence of all else. Now this again is a bit tricky, for you can let go the feeling of what exists but how do you let go the feeling of that which is non-existent. And this points at the presence, the witness that is aware of the existent as well as the non-existent. And once you see this, it is here that you glide into non-duality i.e. your being.

Only by entering the second step and completing it, is that the whole cycle completes. And once the cycle completes you become simple and normal.  This is what I mean, by saying become simple and ordinary. In the beginning various subjects are there and your energy runs in all directions. Then when you have just one subject, your energies become channelized towards one and this intensity of the channelized energy provides you the platform from where you transcend all, the one and the all else and take a leap into the non-dual self, your being. Now again, everything is there just as before; but your energies are not running after them.

This is well expressed by the Zen saying that in the beginning bazaars are bazaars, jungles are jungles, rivers are rivers, and mountains are mountains for a seeker. In the middle bazaars are not bazaars, jungles are not jungles, rivers are not rivers, and mountains are not mountains. And when one has realized then again bazaars are bazaars, jungles are jungles, rivers are rivers, and mountains are mountains. This is the completion of the cycle; becoming ordinary and simple.