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VoidCenteringDissolutionVerse 122advanced

Emptiness in All Other Things

While knowing one object, all other things are empty; meditate on that emptiness, and even the known subsides into peace.

एक वस्तु को जानते समय शेष सब वस्तुओं में शून्यता रहती है; उसी शून्यता का ध्यान करो, तो ज्ञात वस्तु भी शान्त हो जाती है।

Source verse · Verse 122
वस्त्वन्तरे वेद्यमाने सर्ववस्तुषु शून्यता। तामेव मनसा ध्यात्वा विदितोऽपि प्रशाम्यति॥
vastvantare vedyamāne sarvavastuṣu śūnyatā | tām eva manasā dhyātvā vidito'pi praśāmyati
हिन्दीजब चित्त किसी एक वस्तु को जान रहा होता है, उस समय शेष सब वस्तुओं में शून्यता (अनुपस्थिति) रहती है। मन से उसी सर्वव्यापी शून्यता का ध्यान करो — और तब वह ज्ञात वस्तु भी उसी शून्यता में शान्त (विलीन) हो जाती है।
EnglishWhile knowing one object, all other things are empty; meditate on that emptiness, and even the known subsides into peace.
▶ Practice this technique10 / 20 min · eyes either

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.)

देवी · the Goddess

When my mind fixes on one thing, Lord, the whole rest of the world falls away. Is there a doorway in that?

जब मेरा मन एक वस्तु पर टिकता है, नाथ, शेष सारा संसार ओझल हो जाता है। क्या उसमें कोई द्वार है?

भैरव · Bhairava

There is, hidden in plain sight. While you know one thing, all other things are, for that moment, absent — empty. Turn the mind not to the one object, but to that emptiness of everything else.

है, सामने ही छिपा हुआ। जब तुम एक वस्तु को जानती हो, शेष सब वस्तुएँ उस क्षण अनुपस्थित — शून्य — हैं। मन को उस एक वस्तु पर नहीं, बल्कि शेष सब के उसी खालीपन पर मोड़ो।

देवी · the Goddess

I dwell on the empty background, not the thing in front?

मैं सामने की वस्तु पर नहीं, खाली पृष्ठभूमि पर ठहरूँ?

भैरव · Bhairava

Just so — meditate on the ground, not the figure. Dwell on that pervading emptiness, and as you do, let even the one known object subside into it. Rest in the peace that remains.

ठीक वैसा ही — आकृति पर नहीं, पृष्ठभूमि पर ध्यान दो। उस व्यापक खालीपन में ठहरो, और ऐसा करते-करते उस एक ज्ञात वस्तु को भी उसी में बैठ जाने दो। जो शान्ति शेष रहे उसमें ठहरो।

देवी · the Goddess

So ordinary perception itself hides the void within it?

तो साधारण अनुभव में ही शून्य छिपा है?

भैरव · Bhairava

It does. Perception is always of one thing against the emptiness of all the rest. Invert figure and ground — meditate the emptiness, not the object — and ordinary knowing becomes a doorway to the void that is the ground of all knowing.

है। अनुभव सदा एक वस्तु का, शेष सब के खालीपन के सामने, होता है। आकृति और पृष्ठभूमि को उलट दो — वस्तु नहीं, खालीपन को भावित करो — और साधारण जानना उसी शून्य का द्वार बन जाता है जो समस्त जानने की भूमि है।

Why it works

Whenever the mind knows one thing, all other things are, for that moment, absent — empty. This verse has you meditate not on the known object but on that surrounding emptiness of everything else. Held in the mind, that emptiness spreads until even the single known object subsides into it, and what remains is peace — objectless awareness.

How to practice

  1. 1Attend to any single object — and notice that, in that moment, everything else has fallen into the background, effectively empty.
  2. 2Turn the mind to that emptiness of all-other-things rather than to the one object.
  3. 3Dwell on that pervading emptiness with the mind.
  4. 4As you do, let even the one known object subside into the same emptiness, and rest in the peace that remains.
Practice note. A clever reversal: instead of the figure (the object), meditate on the ground (the emptiness of everything else) — and watch the figure dissolve into it too.

The deeper story

This verse exploits the structure of attention itself — perception is always of one thing against the emptiness of all the rest. By inverting figure and ground (meditating the emptiness, not the object), it turns ordinary cognition into a doorway to śūnyatā, the void that is the ground of all knowing.

Terms in this technique

śūnya
Void, emptiness — not nothingness but open, contentless awareness.
laya
Dissolution, absorption; the merging of attention into its source.
madhya
The middle, the centre, the gap between two states — a key VBT doorway.
sākṣin
The witness; awareness that observes without being touched.

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)
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