Updated: October 23, 2024
Vigyan Bhairava Tantra here is the verse for today. If one experiences the physical body as void, even for a moment, with the mind free from thought, then one attains transcendence and becomes Bhairava Shiva as infinite possibilities. So once again, to reinforce the essence of tantric teachings tantra is is a path that is opposite of what we might call the renunciation path of and yet it has the same end goal and that is liberation from suffering. So tantra is a very interesting branch of the Vedanta, in a sense, it's also frequently called the fifth veda. And what tantra emphasizes is ritual, ritual action that includes everything from visualization to mantra, to various rituals, to trap energy, to gain insight and to go beyond the five categories that actually restrict our our liberation.
These five categories include the power of time, color, the power of regularities of experience called natural laws, the power of attachment which obscures the unlimited possibilities because of constricted identity. This is in Sanskrit called Kala the power of limited knowledge, .. So the more we know, the more the unknown looms and then the power of limited action as well because we can only act from the level of our awareness. liberation means going beyond all these restrictions to unbounded experience, infinite possibilities, infinite creativity, synchronicity, nonlocal correlation and manifesting through intention and attention. And for this, we need to actually look at these sheaths. So the first sheath is called Annamaya kosha which is the physical body derived from food and also moving according to the movements of prana.
So Pranamaya kosha, Annamaya kosha which is usually interpreted as the physical sheath, then Manomaya kosha the restrictions of the mind, then Vijnanamaya kosha the restrictions of the intellect, the restrictions of the ego. And then as we go beyond these restrictions, ultimately, we enter the body of bliss, which is Anandamaya kosha even there, there are many kinds of Samadhi where there are restrictions to ultimate liberation in the field of all possibilities, which is called Moksha. So this is what we are doing with these Vigyan Bhairava Tantra exercises.
So today's exercise could be simply very simple, close your eyes and just have the intention to experience your body first feel the sensations in your body and then have the intention to experience the body as completely formless with no boundaries, one with the rest of the universe which is also boundless, no boundaries, formless, infinite. Don't do this intellectually, just close your eyes and experience your body as a void with no boundaries connected to all that exists. Of course, even when you do that, you will have thoughts fluctuations, some sounds, maybe some images but keep your awareness in the form less and see the fluctuations. or look or Have the insight, that the fluctuations that you're experiencing qualia colors, shapes forms sounds are just excitation, the shaktis of the formless. But then ask yourself what is beyond and then have the idea that your body is formless awareness and meditate on that idea. The body is the universe and having the nature of awareness. That's all you need to know. The body is one with the universe without boundaries. And it is not an empty void, it's the womb of creation.
It is what knows itself as modes of knowing that we call the physical world, the physical body, the mind, the intellect and all the you know, we mentioned the 23 25 tattvas that formlessness assumes starting with witnessing awareness then as the mind, then as the intellect, then as the ego, then as the five tanmatras then the five senses and ultimately, the five elements, this is how the field becomes the experience of the universe. But remember, the experience is both species specific and in our case, culture specific. Once we know that we can liberate ourselves from all notions, from all ideas. And actually know that we are after all the coverings are removed, we are the divine manifesting not only as this universe was as multiverses Ok. I know that's a little heavy but that's what we're doing going all the way in these, wonderful insights from the Vigyan Bhairava Tantra try this exercise for today.