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CenteringEmotionVoidVerse 103intermediate

Neither Pleasure Nor Pain — the Middle

Do not throw the mind into pain, nor into pleasure; know what reality remains in the middle.

न मन को दुःख में डालो, न सुख में फेंको; जानो कि बीच में कौन-सा तत्त्व शेष रहता है।

Source verse · Verse 103
न चित्तं निक्षिपेद्दुःखे न सुखे वा परिक्षिपेत्। भैरवि ज्ञायतां मध्ये किं तत्त्वमवशिष्यते॥
na cittaṃ nikṣiped duḥkhe na sukhe vā parikṣipet | bhairavi jñāyatāṃ madhye kiṃ tattvam avaśiṣyate
हिन्दीमन को न दुःख की ओर ढकेलो, न सुख की ओर फेंको — दोनों छोरों से हटकर ठीक बीच में ठहरो। और देखो, हे भैरवी, उस मध्य में कौन-सा तत्त्व — कौन-सी शुद्ध चेतना — शेष रह जाती है। वही तुम्हारा स्वरूप है।
EnglishDo not throw the mind into pain, nor into pleasure; know what reality remains in the middle.
▶ 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

I lunge toward every pleasure and recoil from every pain, Lord, and the swinging never stops. Where is rest?

मैं हर सुख की ओर झपटती हूँ और हर दुःख से सिकुड़ती हूँ, नाथ, और यह झूलना कभी रुकता नहीं। विश्राम कहाँ है?

भैरव · Bhairava

In the middle. Do not cast the mind into suffering, nor fling it toward enjoyment. For once, do neither — rest exactly in the balance between the two pulls.

मध्य में। मन को न दुःख में डालो, न सुख की ओर फेंको। एक बार, कुछ मत करो — दोनों खिंचावों के बीच के सन्तुलन में ठीक-ठीक ठहरो।

देवी · the Goddess

And resting in that balance, what do I look for?

और उस सन्तुलन में ठहरकर, मैं किसे खोजूँ?

भैरव · Bhairava

Ask, and look: in that middle, what reality remains? What stays steady while pleasure and pain rise and fall — that, unmoved, is the pure reality of awareness itself.

पूछो, और देखो: उस मध्य में कौन-सा तत्त्व शेष रहता है? जो सुख और दुःख के उठने-गिरने पर भी अविचल रहे — वही, अचल, स्वयं चेतना का शुद्ध तत्त्व है।

देवी · the Goddess

So equanimity is not coldness, but a doorway?

तो समता उदासीनता नहीं, बल्कि एक द्वार है?

भैरव · Bhairava

A doorway. As the Self lies between two breaths, it lies between every pair of opposites. Equanimity is the still seam through which the changeless ground beneath all dualities shines.

एक द्वार। जैसे आत्मा दो साँसों के बीच है, वैसे ही वह हर जोड़ी विपरीत के बीच है। समता वह निश्चल सीवन है जिससे सब द्वैतों के नीचे की अविचल भूमि चमकती है।

Why it works

Experience constantly swings between pleasure and pain, and the mind is flung with it. This verse asks you to refuse both lunges and rest in the equipoise between them — then to inquire what is left. What "remains in the middle", unmoved while pleasure and pain rise and fall, is the pure reality (tattva) of awareness itself.

How to practice

  1. 1Notice the mind's habit of lunging toward pleasure and recoiling from pain.
  2. 2Deliberately do neither: do not cast the mind into suffering, nor fling it toward enjoyment.
  3. 3Rest exactly in the middle, balanced between the two pulls.
  4. 4Ask, and look: in that middle, what reality remains? Abide as that.
Practice note. The middle here is between pleasure and pain themselves — a felt equipoise. What stays steady while both come and go is the answer.

The deeper story

This applies the master-key of madhya (the centre) to the pleasure–pain axis. As the breath-gap lies between two breaths, the Self lies between every pair of opposites; equanimity here is not indifference but the doorway to the changeless ground beneath all dualities.

Terms in this technique

madhya
The middle, the centre, the gap between two states — a key VBT doorway.
sākṣin
The witness; awareness that observes without being touched.
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)
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