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VoidSensationVisualizationVerse 47intermediate

The Body Pervaded by Space

Contemplate every substance of the body as pervaded by space; held steadily, this contemplation becomes firm.

Source verse · Verse 47
सर्वं देहगतं द्रव्यं वियद्व्याप्तं मृगेक्षणे। विभावयेत्ततस्तस्य भावना सा स्थिरा भवेत्॥
sarvaṃ dehagataṃ dravyaṃ viyadvyāptaṃ mṛgekṣaṇe | vibhāvayet tatas tasya bhāvanā sā sthirā bhavet
Contemplate every substance of the body as pervaded by space; held steadily, this contemplation becomes firm.
▶ Practice this technique10 / 20 min · eyes closed

How to practice

  1. 1Bring awareness to the body and its substances — flesh, bone, fluid, all of it.
  2. 2Contemplate each of these as pervaded through and through by space (viyat) — porous, spacious, more void than solid.
  3. 3Let the felt solidity of the body give way to a sense of substance suffused with space.
  4. 4Return to this contemplation steadily until it becomes firm and natural. Rest in the spacious body.
Practice note. Distinct from "the body as open space": here the body's very materials are seen as shot through with space, until density dissolves. Repetition makes it stable (sthirā).

Terms in this technique

ākāśa
Space, ether; the open expanse, inner and outer.
śūnya
Void, emptiness — not nothingness but open, contentless awareness.
bhāvanā
Contemplative imagination; cultivating a state through felt imagery.
cidākāśa
The space of consciousness; the inner sky of awareness.

Sources consulted

  • Jaideva Singh, Vijñānabhairava: The Manual for Self-Realization (Motilal Banarsidass, 1979)
  • Bettina Bäumer, Vijñâna Bhairava: The Practice of Centering Awareness (Indica Books, 2011)
  • Swami Lakshmanjoo, Vijnana Bhairava: The Manual for Self Realization (Universal Shaiva Fellowship, 2007)
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