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The Body as Rising Flame

Imagine the body burning upward into ash; what does not burn is what you are.

▶ Practice this technique10 / 20 min · eyes closed

How to practice

  1. 1Imagine a fire kindling at the feet.
  2. 2Let it rise slowly through the legs, trunk, arms, head — the whole body consumed.
  3. 3Watch the body become ash, then watch the ash scatter and vanish.
  4. 4Rest as the awareness that watched, and was never burned.
Practice note. This is a dissolution practice, not a violent image. Hold it calmly; the point is the witness that remains, not the fire.

Terms in this technique

bhāvanā
Contemplative imagination; cultivating a state through felt imagery.
laya
Dissolution, absorption; the merging of attention into its source.
tejas
Light, brilliance, inner fire.
sākṣin
The witness; awareness that observes without being touched.

Sources consulted

  • Jaideva Singh, Vijñānabhairava: The Manual for Self-Realization (Motilal Banarsidass, 1979)
  • Osho, The Book of Secrets (St. Martin’s Griffin, 1998)
  • Bettina Bäumer, Vijñâna Bhairava: The Practice of Centering Awareness (Indica Books, 2011)
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