IdentityVoidVerse 97advanced
Before Desire or Knowledge Arises
When no desire and no knowing has yet arisen — who am I then? Rest as that, before the first thought.
Source verse · Verse 97
यदा ममेच्छा नोत्पन्ना ज्ञानं वा कस्तदास्मि वै। तत्त्वतोऽहं तथाभूतस्तल्लीनस्तन्मना भवेत्॥
yadā mamecchā notpannā jñānaṃ vā kas tadāsmi vai | tattvato'haṃ tathābhūtas tallīnas tanmanā bhavet
When no desire and no knowing has yet arisen — who am I then? Rest as that, before the first thought.
▶ Practice this technique10 / 20 min · eyes closed
How to practice
- 1Settle quietly and notice the brief stillness that exists before any desire or thought arises.
- 2In that gap, ask gently: "When no wish and no knowing has arisen — who am I?"
- 3Do not answer with words; rest in the bare being that is there before the first thought.
- 4Let attention dissolve into that pre-thought presence and abide as it.
Practice note. A companion to "trace the sense of I": there you look for the I; here you rest in what you are before any I-thought even forms.
Terms in this technique
- aham
- The sense of "I"; the self that is inquired into.
- ātman
- The true self; awareness as one’s own being.
- cit
- Consciousness itself, the aware principle.
- śūnya
- Void, emptiness — not nothingness but open, contentless awareness.
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)