One Consciousness in All Beings
Consciousness is the one nature in every body, the same everywhere; contemplate all as that, and conquer becoming.
चेतना ही सब शरीरों का एक स्वभाव है, कहीं कोई भेद नहीं; सबको उसी चिन्मय रूप में भावित करो और संसार को जीत लो।
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.)
I feel so alone in my own body, Lord, cut off from all others. Is there a doorway out of this isolation?
मैं अपने ही शरीर में इतनी अकेली अनुभव करती हूँ, नाथ, सबसे कटी हुई। क्या इस अकेलेपन से बाहर कोई द्वार है?
Look at other beings — people, creatures — and at yourself, and contemplate that the same consciousness is the real nature in every body, with no difference anywhere.
अन्य प्राणियों को देखो — लोगों को, जीवों को — और स्वयं को, और भावना करो कि वही एक चेतना हर शरीर का असली स्वभाव है, कहीं कोई भेद नहीं।
The same awareness, looking out of every pair of eyes?
वही एक चेतना, हर जोड़ी आँखों से बाहर देखती हुई?
One and the same. Hold all beings, and yourself, as made of that single awareness. The sense of separate, isolated selves dissolves in this felt non-difference.
एक ही, वही। सब प्राणियों को, और स्वयं को, उसी एक चेतना से बना हुआ थामो। पृथक्, एकाकी आत्माओं का भाव इस अनुभूत अभेद में घुल जाता है।
And this is said to conquer the round of birth and death?
और यह जन्म-मरण के चक्र को जीतना कहा जाता है?
It is — for the fear and craving that drive that round rest on a separateness here seen through. There is no "other" consciousness to fear or to harm; from this one recognition flow both fearlessness and compassion.
है — क्योंकि उस चक्र को चलाने वाले भय और तृष्णा उसी पृथकता पर टिके हैं जो यहाँ देख ली जाती है। डरने या हानि पहुँचाने को कोई "दूसरी" चेतना है ही नहीं; इसी एक पहचान से निर्भयता और करुणा दोनों बहती हैं।
Why it works
The verse states a non-dual fact and turns it into practice: consciousness is the shared, identical nature in all bodies. Contemplating every being — and oneself — as that single awareness dissolves the sense of separate, isolated selves. The "conquest of becoming" follows because the fear and craving that drive saṃsāra rest on a separateness that is here seen through.
How to practice
- 1Look at other beings — people, creatures — and at yourself.
- 2Contemplate that the same consciousness (cit) is the real nature in every body, with no difference anywhere.
- 3Hold all of them, and yourself, as made of that one awareness.
- 4Rest in this felt non-difference; it is said to conquer the round of becoming (saṃsāra).
The deeper story
This is the ethical and contemplative heart of non-dualism: the awareness in you and in another are not two. Later Shaiva and Vedānta teachers draw compassion and fearlessness from exactly this recognition — there is no "other" consciousness to fear or to harm.
Terms in this technique
- cit
- Consciousness itself, the aware principle.
- ātman
- The true self; awareness as one’s own being.
- aham
- The sense of "I"; the self that is inquired into.
- bhāvanā
- Contemplative imagination; cultivating a state through felt imagery.
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)