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.
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
Do not throw the mind into pain, nor into pleasure; know what reality remains in the middle.
▶ Practice this technique10 / 20 min · eyes either
How to practice
- 1Notice the mind's habit of lunging toward pleasure and recoiling from pain.
- 2Deliberately do neither: do not cast the mind into suffering, nor fling it toward enjoyment.
- 3Rest exactly in the middle, balanced between the two pulls.
- 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.
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)