Vigyan Bhairav Tantra

[Nefastos]

Without support for feet or hands,
sit only on the buttocks.
Suddenly the centering.

There are practices which can more easily than the others seen as purely physical, and this is one of them. Taken literally, this practice utilizes the physical sense of equilibrium in order to bring energetical peace in body. The form of attainment is here the "centering", meaning that we can henceforth attain that divine middle point discussed, for example, in the last stanza.

But there is always, without exception, possibility to take practices as mental asanas and not only physical. Because this is my own way and because I see it more safe than the purely mechanical processes, I'll once again analyze the instruction as a symbolic one.

Let us remember the man as a microcosm, a pentagram as Agrippa depicts him in De occulta philosophia:



Here the "feet" and the "hands" are the aspects of Mercury, Saturn, Venus, & Jupiter. Accidentally we see that the feet correspondences are the same as the brotherhood's Black aspect's, and that the hands' correspondences are the same as the White aspect's. These, in turn, correspond to certain principles in human construction. Like this:

WHITE ASPECT consists of:
Hands of Logos or God(/dess):
Venus (manas, the higher abstract & intuitive mind)
+
Jupiter (auric body, the coherence of spirit, also called âtma or True Will)

BLACK ASPECT consists of
Feet of Logos or God(/dess):
Saturn (kâma-manas, the physical, collective mind)
+
Mercury (buddhi, the love of devotion and the sense-organ of unity)

RED ASPECT consists of
Head and reproductive organs or Logos or God(/dess):
Mars (kâma or dynamic emotion)
+
Moon (linga sharîra or the subtle body)

Understanding this tabulation and its correspondences to both heavenly and earthly man (macro- & microcosmos) we also can deduce other things; in this case, even the buttocks. When one is neither in move or in rest, they are used in sitting, and they form a body part which bring the kâma-manas or lower mind and buddhi or intuition close to the lower torso. The sitting is an act of energetical grounding, and a usual way to depict certain energetical and absolute/hermaphrodite deities (e.g. Baphomet). We can even tabulate again to make these dynamics easier to grasp:

Laying - Black (energy distributed evenly - "Chaos")
Sitting - Red & White (bodily aspects in rest, spiritual ones in action)
Walking - Red & Black (bodily aspects in action, spiritual ones in rest)
Standing - White (energy held upwards - "Law")

So, this practice is about Red & White equilibrium, and its point of focus in turn is in Black or in physical state. Even if we take the practice as purely mental, the buttocks are symbol for physical grounding: Saturn & Mercury, when put in perfectly even & unmoving balance, produce the state of mental silence (or more accurately, the voice in silence, because this is not pralaya or uncreation). Kâma-manas with its demand of accuracy and buddhi with its opposite focus cancel out each other, and result is the "centering". State not unlike levitation we discussed earlier in stanza number 12. We can also easily see the similarity in these practices 12 & 19.

[Nefastos]

Yesterday we discussed practical symbolism of buttocks. It's hard to improve on that, but we must move on nevertheless.

In a moving vehicle, by rhythmically swaying,
experience.
Or in a still vehicle,
by letting yourself swing in slowing invisible circles.

Once again, the practice utilizes one's gravitational sense. If taken as purely physical, this practice helps to mesmerize the yogi to focus in the center of his being. The gravitational sense organ in his head and the astral correspondence of the same in solar plexus are attuned with this hypnotic motion, resulting in sensation that is similar to - and thus enabling a careful tantric to attain - a spiritual experience.

But because everything that exists is fundamentally a mental structure in the mental universe (no pun intended), we can also think how these "moving vehicle", "rhythmical swaying" and other descriptions could be taken metaphorically.

The wording "still vehicle" already might give us an idea that these practices are not necessarily even meant to be primarily physical. The "vehicle" here is vahana, the chariot or a steed with the help of which someone is moving/acting. Hindu gods have their vahanas or steeds, their means of transportation by which they contact the physical world. These vahanas are the lower principles, and I say "lower" in a meaning that they are grounded (see the former stanza's comments). So, for example, in our hieroglyphic key, the "vahana" principle is the lower HUM triangle, depicting the formal aspects. (In case we need the nuances, the "chariot" is the MANI-cross-wheel plus the HUM-triangle, and the latter alone is the "steed". But the word vahana usually covers both of these.)

Now, an important thing here is to note the difference or yoga practice in vehicles (that is, subtle bodies or projects) that are in movement & in rest. When the vehicle is moving, the motion in needed is a swaying motion like in a pendulum. In a vehicle standing still the pendulum is put in spiral movement. (If my White aspect brothers read this, they once again notice the difference between these two forms of motion. White aspect demands the use of spiral movement, in "invisible circles", while other aspects may use another kind of motion that alternates between the two extremes of one and the same axis.)

We are in a "moving vehicle" when our mental bodies are in phases of dualism; thinking/feeling in terms of I and not-I. We are in a "still vehicle" when our mental bodies are past the phases of dualism; thinking/feeling in terms of non-dualism. It is actually quite meaningless whether our physical vehicles are in motion or in rest, for the physical body is just a neutral cast of forces; a silent explosion of energy put together by intellectual (mostly subconscious, but still intellectual) structures & held together by emotional integrity.

In every stanza there's an important slight difference between the terms how the attainment is characterized. In this stanza the positive outcome is "experience". This means that by these processes we can attain the straight sensual perception of the cosmic harmony. As an experience, it does not necessarily last long; neither does it necessarily give us any special powers. But once we have "experienced" this state of non-dualism, we can no longer deny it, or to reduce or diminish it. It has become a solid fact, and the divine harmony is no longer speculation but reality. That is not a small accomplisment for a human being.

[Nefastos]

The rapid progess with the text continues, for now.

Pierce some part of your nectar filled form
with a pin,
and gently enter the piercing
and attain to the inner purity.

Lately we have discussed blood sacrifice in two other topics, and now in this tantra the similar action of piercing one's own flesh is given as a spiritual practice. Because the physical side has already been somewhat discussed, and our main attention here is to seek the mental correspondences to use in non-physical meditation, I go straightly to that symbolic interpretation.

It is a common symbol in religious symbolism to give one's blood in atonement (vicarious or individual). Such was the method of the old world covenant, and an act of violence was paid by another. Nowadays this is a method that has turned from progressive to regressive, since people are more individualized, and can - therefore should - use subtler & more coherent understanding instead of forcing things to happen. We already see how our modern culture is threatened by that old world thinking of forces of human mind versus the forces of nature. A more harmonious perspective must be utilized instead.

"Nectar-filled form" = Blood inside one's body is the holy wine of transsubstantiation. It is the nectar of the gods; "the blood is life". Even sad ghosts & petty elementals can be given a short objective lifespan if we cut it to them from our own - or, in a worst scenario, from another victim's - reserve. But it is not only blood of the physical body which has this aura of sacredness, but the "blood" of one's soul too. Taken as intellectual meditation, this "nectar-filled form" is any form that the yogi's mind has constructed for himself to use.

This might sound like a distant idea, but let us contemplate our physical bodies for a moment. If we are not hard core materialists, we can't even identify solely to these bodies: they are more like tools to the mind and spirit of ours. There is another body, a mental body made of thoughts of identification, that links together our idea of self (ahamkâra) and this "corpse-body", as it is sometimes called. In the former stanza I already stressed this energetic & mental side of our physical bodies.

For an occultist, the real body is hence not the most physical one, but the latter is like a golem, a construction brought to life to complete some works, but having no ultimate unity with the self. The energetical body is herein the one that is "pierced", and the piercing can be done in two ways:

The more mechanical way is to focus one's attention in some part of this eidolonic body. When the focusing is strong, that energy-body is pierced, and that part's heavy magnetism is made more volatile. In some cases, this may result in stigmatic bleeding, because one's linga sharîra & sthûla sharîra (eidolonic and physical bodies) are in somewhat abnormal relationship. Usually such a connection happens because of astral intoxication, & can be either traumatic or drug-induced in origin.

This is not a way I would suggest. Rather, another practice where not mechanical centering of attention is used, but instead intensive focusing on thoughts & emotions that nourish the energetical body. There is this threshold of energies where these two merge as one and solidify as one's silent will power as his energetical, "nectar-filled" body. It is the point where kâma & kâma-manas crystallize, and that structure we can contemplate without a great possibility of disturbing our inner energies by forcing that might end up, in a worst case, in an uncontrolled subconscious growth, e.g. as cancer. (An occultist once wrote that cancer as our modern culture's common scourge has its karmic roots in inadept handling of matter-bound magic in the ancient cultures. Some may see this as an interesting possibility. "Mind over matter" really works, but as long as we try to force our will power to work over our bodies without understanding the careful energies of the latter, slowly escalating catastrophes are bound to happen. Forcing something into submission is rarely the correct answer in high occultism.)

Now, a "pin" or a very sharp and one-pointed instrument - of mind - is used to pierce these thought-constructions of ours. The operation is somewhat similar that was discussed in stanza 18, but instead of a steady "climbing of the ladder", more powerful method is used. There is a great pressure, our dharana or the focusing ability of mind is pressed deeply into the chosen part, until the "nectar" flows out. Like said, it is the volatile state of energy that was crystallized before, and this act of piercing or centering brings about a melting effect. (Another kind of this same application of the "sharp particles of fire" are the flames in alchemists' Athanor, but in that case the whole structure, not only some part of it, is affected at once.)

But it is not enough to let the nectar flow, especially not here were we have used so artificial a way. We must "enter the piercing": not only feel that something is happening, but understand it & see how the formerly constructed energy is not de-constructed and melted into pure water of kâmic/buddhic energy. The idea is similar to the process of the Tibetan Book of the Dead's: there is this bardo moment where energy is not entirely this or that, and if we can consciously, inspiredly enter that moment of momentarily uncreation, we can attain purity of being.

Every time our mind/energy is going through one of its transformations, there is present the central focus which secretively manipulates the process into its next state: because every metamorphosis is actually, in a way, creation ex nihilo - i.e. from the laya point. And thus, whenever our mind finds itself in the threshold state of being, we have a possibility of attaining enlightenment of a certain sort. Certain sort can be anything from a new creative idea to complete liberation from samsara, depending on the subjective scale of situation.

[Nefastos]

Let attention be at a place
where you are seeing some past happening,
and even your form,
having lost its present characteristics,
is transformed.

This one is about memory, once more about a subject recently discussed in this forum. But we have several possibilities to understand what exactly the meditation consists of.

The easiest possibility is to take the practice in a way that when we are visiting (bodily or mentally) a place from where we have strong memories, we can undestand the problem of identification because, suddenly, there are two selves: the one who remembers, and the one remembered. If we place our attention to that problem of the two-fold self in clear contemplation, we can come to understand how neither of those are absolute, actual self, but that the both are only its reflections. In such a moment, more true Egoic self can be reached.

But there is yet another possibility. We can try to trace "the place where we are seeing some past happening". In this interpretation, we're talking about more mystical states of being. I've already pointed out how these stanzas can be taken as progressing stages. Seen in that light, we are here in our afterlife states. The last stanza was about (physical or archetypal) death, pierced by the spear of death, in that moment utilizing the Book of the Dead meditation. This one is about the worlds of memories, namely kâma-loka (~Hades) & devachan (~Elysium). Our physical body is already gone, & we are living in our memories; re-living & shaping to new energetical body our former life experiences, both victories and failings. If at those moments we can grasp the moment & understand what we are going through, a new door may open. Once again, there's a possibility to escape samsara, the mechanical wheel of life.

But as was with the former practice, as is with these all practices, they actually do not demand any outer conditions. Like the pin-practice can be done without physical death experience, this as well can be gone through without being out of body per se. If we can with our minds locate those "places" where this "memory of life" is seen, we can escape the underworld or the world of gods before even drawn to them as disembodied beings. For all the planes are here and now, and the great potentiality as well as the great tragedy of man - the microcosm - is in that in him, all the different truths are present at the same time. That is why we must choose so carefully.

[Nefastos]

Feel an object before you.
Feel the absence of all other objects but this one.
Then leaving aside the object-feeling
And the absence-feeling,
Realize.

Similar to stanza 18, but here emphasis is in absence. Cf. the mentioned difference of Buddhist & Hindu view points, where the first focuses on Void aspect of the Absolute and the latter on its Fullness. If the "object of one's love" meditation was more like a Hindu practice, this is more akin to Buddhistic view: first we contemplate on something, feeling everything else as null, and then we let go of even that one object plus the feeling of absence. (The latter is very important, otherwise we bound ourselves to the pratyeka-path of spiritual nihilism that is, ultimately, still a veil, and manifestation of a wrong although subtle personal clinging to the idea of emptiness.)

Stanza 18 gave us "blessing"; this one gives us "realization". That is, the former was more about feeling heart, this is about the heart of intellect. Also we see once again that this practice is natural to do once the other is conquered, and we have found the centre of our love: it has been unraveled already, becoming neutral in a new way. The bonds have become more like reins of self.

[Nefastos]

When a mood against someone or for someone arises,
Do not place it on the person in question,
But remain centered.

Well, isn't this a good little yoga practice for us participating in the internet discussions?

Apart from everyday use, it can be stressed, though. Every emotion can be traced back to archetypal, back to their neutral source. When personalities are left out, only divine is left present.

But then we must also strive to see divine as neutral, although meaningful. E.g. my personal way of seeing wrongdoings in the world as wrongdoings of God is only at the halfway of true enlightened understanding. When my process is complete, I will understand how there's no God that we can criticize, since true spirit is true Meaning, transcending doubts of human psyche. That is "centering", seeing things as absolutely neutral, but in a good way. Neutral does not mean lack of feeling, but feeling brought to its absolute source. Absolute Truth is also the Meaning of existence, & total energy. It is liberation from doubt and hence from bondage.

Because this practice is so basic, no attainment is promised in addition to that centering itself. It should be united with other good approaches.

[Nefastos]

Just as you have the impulse
To do something,
Stop.

Extremely simple, yet this can be an effective method. Yet, we must understand that this "stopping" is meant to stop one's reactional response. Because of that, regarding of one's temperament, "stopping" can be many things: very often it might be to stop stopping.

If one's temperament is in fiery or airy sign, such a person usually reacts quickly: in such cases, "stopping" is literally that; stopping the flow of energy from within to without. In that case, it can build up his power, for he has chosen to keep his calm & thus conquered his reactional side a little. But if one's temperament is in earthly or watery sign to begin with, most common respond from him would be to "stop" and not participate in dynamic action. In those cases, this stopping must stop, & one must act quickly instead. Otherwise this is not a yoga practice, but just an easy way to justify one's personal vice of inaction or slowness or thinking too much.

In both cases, to stop one's natural way of action will help him to build up a different kind of energy within: it creates like a positive friction, helping to usher the more soulful kind of energy into inner action.

I hope it's needless to say that this should not be our ultimate goal in life, however. What needs to be done & what must not be done are like absolute values: for the world outside us it's not relevant whether we're acting according to our temperament, or seeking empowerment though this kind of yoga. Because of that, this practice should be used mostly in a context of one's personal everyday life, with things that are neutral & which have little impact on the life of others.

[Nefastos]

When some desire comes, consider it.
Then, suddenly, quit it.

Very similar to the previous stanza. But it was about "impulse", this is about "desire" - emotion not as easily dismissed. Because of that, it must first be "considered".

Unlike we might think, this consideration in a practice at hand is not a rational process of weighing the goods & the bads of following the desire. Rather, it is picturing in one's mind the possibility of such kâmic action with an open, neutral mind - and then, when that's done, just choosing otherwise; like with a shrug.

For if we'd think a long time & from different angles our situation with the present desire, whatever we'd do, we'd always put more & more energy in the process. In that way one or both of these would happen:

1) Our desire grows in strength, because we fuel it with our thoughts.
2) We end up building a wrong, distractive kind of void in our mental/emotional vehicles.

The latter is even worse option than the first. When using yoga of mortification (leaving desires) it is easy to start to build one's mental/emotional bodies in a distorted way; cold, stunted in growth, suffused with permanent keynote of despair, gloom, or even secret hatred. Such power built on cold negative feelings will lead us either to the path of descension, or to slow alienation from occultism, except its outer formal shell.

[Nefastos]

Roam about until exhausted and then,
dropping to the ground,
in this dropping be whole.

Almost the same, whether we take this literally (physically) or symbolically. Either way we let ourselves, our minds, to wander a long time until really tired. It's also easy to unite these too, to take a long walk, at the same time letting the conscious & subconscious mind to process whatever things they want. But this must be done to the verge of exhaustion: a little stroll in a park isn't enough here.

When mind - and possibly body, if we have actually walked - has given its restless energy, there's a possibility of wholeness of experience, corresponding to the end of the cycle of our spiritual pilgrimage: having seen & experienced the world, the soul collects itself in monadic unity, holding in it in a wordless form all its thoughts, emotions & energies. Once again, the dense crystallized form melts into oneness, still without losing its true selfhood.

It's not the same if we spend our energies in work or sports (instead of "roaming"), because in that case we'd be usually unable to ground our deeper, subconscious, more chaotic needs in the process.

[Nefastos]

Suppose you are gradually being deprived
of strength or of knowledge.
At the instant of deprivation,
transcend.

Extremely tantric practice, this one: a possibility to turn loss or hindrance into an instrument for illumination.

If we believe in life after death & gradual casting away of bodies in it, we can see this as an analogy for losing one's lower mental (i.e. higher astral) body. It is a state wherein the focus of identification is once again extremely important: Do we identify ourselves with the formal, or the formless self? If the former, we'll feel ourselves extremely drained of all power, inspiration, constitution & even reality. And that is a fact exactly, for the lower body is dead when it becomes separated from the spiritual self. The analogy to physical death is quite exact, although the process of decomposing energies does not actually move the physical body about as undead, as it does to the astral bodies of man.

If one doesn't believe in those more occult post mortem states, an analogy can be found for example in dementia, or even in temporal effects of a bad flu or some other common illness, which may affect our intellectual faculties noticeably.

Either way, we can picture ourselves in such a state where the mind formerly so familiar to us begins to slip away, & we are left bewildered & spiritually exhausted.

While going through that state we can try to remember & understand that the spirit does not actually cease to be when it escapes the outer form that has been our vessel of identification. If we have identified ourselves with that spirit, we will be able to escape with it: for then we are it, our feeling of "self" is exactly that spirit's innermost dharana or magical act of contemplation. Only if we have forgot that, instead having identified with the side that is perishable & forever changing, that lonely reflected spark of consciousness will be left for some time in the outer shell that at some point will cease to function altogether. After that, it will be necessarily released & once again joins to its flame, the Ego we forgot we actually are, instead of this puppet-like personality. But then it would be more mechanical & slow process, gone through without much merit & advancement.

"Transcendence" that this practice seeks is the leap from the crumbling hill upwards in the air. It will likely not be possible if we have never tried it before; but if the act of mental leaping (that is, calibrating the self-identification anew for real) is familiar to us, the "spark" can keep the Self in it all the time.

This will even work in a way that if we are tired from physical or psychical injuries (of illness, extreme stress, physical trauma, or some other) we'll be able to shift our mental focus to the spiritual vehicle outside our body even when physical body is functional and awake. For such is the power of elemental shells - the lower principles of man - that they can reflect higher mind's physical memories as mechanical functions, including even speech &c. (The same reason also tells why it's possible - in some extremely rare cases - to "lose one's soul" altogether and still seem all right to all but most sensitive people. Such a state should not be confused with not having one's Self awake.)

This will be a useful method of practice for ourselves when ill, badly shaken, dying, or most of all, casting away our mental body at some point after physical death; or simply, simulating these states in personal meditation.