Consciousness Through Any Sense
Wherever consciousness shows itself through any sense, dissolve the mind into that pure perceiving; fullness follows.
जहाँ भी किसी इन्द्रिय-मार्ग से चैतन्य प्रकट हो, उसी शुद्ध बोध में मन को विलीन कर दो; भरितता प्रकट होती है।
The conversation of Devi & Bhairava
A faithful retelling of the dialogue that frames this verse — the Goddess asks, and Bhairava answers with the teaching above. (The śloka is the scripture; the conversation dramatizes its meaning, in English and Hindi.)
Each of my senses seems to bind me to its objects, Lord. Can a sense instead become a doorway?
मेरी हर इन्द्रिय मुझे अपने विषयों से बाँधती-सी लगती है, नाथ। क्या इन्द्रिय इसके बजाय द्वार बन सकती है?
Take any sense-perception — a sight, a sound, a touch — at the moment it is fresh and clear. Notice that what makes it vivid is consciousness, shining through that sense-channel.
किसी भी इन्द्रिय-अनुभव को लो — एक दृश्य, ध्वनि, स्पर्श — उस क्षण जब वह ताज़ा और स्पष्ट हो। देखो कि उसे सजीव क्या बनाता है — चेतना, उस इन्द्रिय-मार्ग से चमकती हुई।
So I turn from the object to the awareness within the perceiving?
तो मैं वस्तु से हटकर उस चेतना की ओर मुड़ूँ जो अनुभव के भीतर है?
Just so. Turn from "what I perceive" to the pure perceiving-awareness itself, and dissolve the mind into it. Because the perception shares the nature of consciousness, this dissolution yields fullness — bharitātmatā.
ठीक वैसा ही। "मैं क्या अनुभव करती हूँ" से हटकर उस शुद्ध अनुभव-चेतना की ओर मुड़ो, और मन को उसी में घुला दो। क्योंकि वह अनुभव चेतना का ही स्वभाव रखता है, यह विलय भरितता — पूर्णता — देता है।
Then every perception, through any sense, is a place where you shine?
तो हर अनुभव, किसी भी इन्द्रिय से, वह स्थान है जहाँ आप चमकते हैं?
Every one. The senses are not veils but apertures through which the one consciousness shows itself. Recognise the awareness within any perception and dissolve into it — and the very senses that seemed to bind become the swiftest doors.
हर एक। इन्द्रियाँ परदे नहीं, झरोखे हैं जिनसे वह एक चेतना अपने को दिखाती है। किसी भी अनुभव के भीतर की चेतना को पहचानो और उसी में घुल जाओ — और वही इन्द्रियाँ जो बाँधती-सी लगती थीं, सबसे तीव्र द्वार बन जाती हैं।
Why it works
Every act of perception, through any sense, is consciousness revealing itself in the form of that sensation. This verse has you recognise that pure perceiving-awareness within any sense-experience and dissolve the mind into it. Because the perception shares the nature of consciousness, this dissolution yields bharitātmatā — the state of being full, complete.
How to practice
- 1Take any sense-perception — a sight, a sound, a touch — at the moment it is fresh and clear.
- 2Notice that what makes it vivid is consciousness shining through that sense-channel.
- 3Turn from the object to that pure perceiving-awareness within the perception.
- 4Dissolve the mind into it; rest in the fullness (bharitātmatā) that opens when awareness recognises itself in the sensing.
The deeper story
This is the perceptual heart of Trika: the senses are not veils but apertures (akṣa-mārga) through which the one consciousness (caitanya) of the Lord (vibhu) shows itself. To dissolve the mind into the awareness within perception is the swiftest recognition — fullness reached through the very senses that seemed to bind.
Terms in this technique
- cit
- Consciousness itself, the aware principle.
- laya
- Dissolution, absorption; the merging of attention into its source.
- sākṣin
- The witness; awareness that observes without being touched.
- ātman
- The true self; awareness as one’s own being.
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)