VoidSensationDissolutionVerse 48intermediate
Only Skin, Nothing Within
Contemplate the skin as a thin wall with nothing at all inside it; meditating on that emptiness, become the un-meditatable.
Source verse · Verse 48
देहान्तरे त्वग्विभागं भित्तिभूतं विचिन्तयेत्। न किञ्चिदन्तरे तस्य ध्यायन्नध्येयभाग्भवेत्॥
dehāntare tvagvibhāgaṃ bhittibhūtaṃ vicintayet | na kiñcid antare tasya dhyāyann adhyeyabhāg bhavet
Contemplate the skin as a thin wall with nothing at all inside it; meditating on that emptiness, become the un-meditatable.
▶ Practice this technique10 / 20 min · eyes closed
How to practice
- 1Bring awareness to the skin as the body's outer boundary — a thin wall enclosing you.
- 2Now contemplate that within that wall there is nothing at all — no organs, no mass, only empty space.
- 3Hold "only skin, nothing inside" steadily.
- 4Meditating on that inner emptiness, let even the meditator dissolve — becoming what no longer has an object to meditate on.
Practice note. It is a contemplation, not a denial of the body. Let the felt sense of solidity quietly empty out rather than forcing the image.
Terms in this technique
- śūnya
- Void, emptiness — not nothingness but open, contentless awareness.
- ākāśa
- Space, ether; the open expanse, inner and outer.
- sākṣin
- The witness; awareness that observes without being touched.
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)