|
Inner Guidance
Circle of Harmonics
Inner guidance prepares the stage for a day's energy to unfold.
The Inner Guidance glyph is of the same direction (color) as the actual day-sign.
Inner guidance is bridging us with the bedrock of existence. It is the harmonic background energy behind apparent reality, the undercover resonance linking us to the transpersonal realm. It is anchoring us to the collective unconscious - and opening the gates to the superconscious.
The energy of Inner guidance is silent and serene. It reverberates the primordial sound Aum and connects us with the cosmic reservoir. Its resonance is experienced and strongly magnified while meditating. Inner guidance bridges us with the whispering universe.
The circle of fifths integrates the twelve different musical scales. Inner guidance resonates the pulse (or rhythm) of creation, as expressed in the sequence of wavespells
To gain deeper understanding of a particular Maya glyph, read about the sign in question in the Day-sign section.
Imix
Guided by the power of birth.
In each and every moment the universe is born anew. Consistency is only apparent. Our consciousness is not sharp enough to recognize the subtle spaces between manifest form. Particle physicists have become aware, that subatomic particles oscillate at an unbelievable high frequency, changing between manifest form and pure void. This is known as the uncertainty principle, first discovered by Heisenberg in 1927. Our whole universe is a wave similar to a radio signal. We all are tuned to this wavelength - we are immersed in the same frequency, hence everything within this wavelength appears as real. Only a penetrating consciousness can recognize the tiny gaps between the obvious.
Practicing a meditation technique befriends you with your inner reality. Facing your inner reality tensions start resolving, you become more relaxed and your awareness will be sharpened. You fall in rhythm with existence, sensing the vibrant pulse of life.
Watch the gap, the turning point between two breaths
a meditation technique from the Vigyan Bhairav Tantra (2)
"As breath turns from down to up,
and again as breath curves from up to down -
through both these turns, realize."
Close your eyes and allow your body to breathe at its own pace - don't interfere. Each exhalation is a small death, each inhalation a subtle rebirth. While exhaling, let existence to evacuate your being, wiping out all your identifications, dispersing your accumulated credentials. For an atomic moment, when all the air has left your lungs, just before your body starts inhaling again, there is a subtle gap. For a split second you cease to be. Then the air will start rushing back into your lungs, filling you with a new life, expanding into a fresh adventure. As your lungs are filled, watch the tiny gap before the air starts rushing out again. At this turning point there is a door to all-embracing cosmic oneness.
This basic meditation technique has some variations to it. If you feel a resonance with it, we recommend studying the subtle distinctions between these first nine methods of Vigyan Bhairav Tantra.
Ix
Guided by the power of timelessness.
Whenever your mind is empty time is bound to disappear. Mind and time are synonymous, they are different expressions of what we call reality. We are too much identified with the mind, with thinking and feeling both. Emptiness has a very negative connotation to it, we are terrified with it. Hence we are constantly hankering for some content - some god, mantra, scripture or philosophy. We are deeply afraid of nothingness because we yet do not understand that nothingness is our ultimate reality - pure space - consciousness. From emptiness we have emerged, back into nothingness we again are going to disappear and dissolve. Consciousness is our true nature - all forms are ephemeral, momentary, transient
Take some time every day - a few minutes will be good for a start - and experiment with meditation.
Enter the space within
a meditation technique from the Vigyan Bhairav Tantra (112)
"Enter space - supportless, eternal, still. "
Gather courage to be alone, not only closing your eyes to the outside world but also allowing to let go of all your concepts, ideas and beliefs. If they still come and visit you let them be, look at your thoughts - neither appreciate them nor fight them. Indifference is the key. Dare to let go of all support, move past this last barrier. It will be fearful, you will be scared. You are moving to where you can be lost completely. You may not be able to come back because all supports will be gone. You may fall into an infinite abyss. But if you have the guts to pass through your fears - simply taking note of their presence, understanding them as parts of your mind - then you are bound to find your own light. You will attain to the life which never dies. You will be reborn into timelessness - eternity - no more a person but a radiant presence.
Manik
Guided by the power of accomplishment.
Accomplishment is born out of your totality, your dedication, out of a deep urge to excel. Become a vessel for universal wisdom. The more you can be in a serving attitude the better. Avoid to get caught by your ego that would like to be somebody special.
You recognize hidden potentials, seeing what could be enhanced. Your mind, your eyes can envision futuristic projects and root ideas in this material world. Improve upon your skills, pay attention to the detail. Refine and polish your talents; master your creative genius. Find new ways to express your individuality. Dedicate yourself to elevate life's grace - choose to leave the world a little more beautiful then you have found it. You will be incredibly benefited if you integrate meditation into your daily life.
Develop pure attentiveness
a meditation technique from the Vigyan Bhairav Tantra (78)
"Wherever your attention alights, at this point, experience."
Whatever you are doing, cultivate an attentive attitude, develop a silent alertness. You hear something, you see something. Bring your total attention to this sensation, become the look and stop thinking. Loose yourself into the object. Your attention has alighted. Then existence will look back at you. Every look comes back; everything is reflected, responsed. If you are there to receive it you will fall back on yourself. From everywhere you will be rebounded and reflected. The whole existence will become a mirror reflecting you.
Ahau
Guided by the power of universal fire.
Fire always moves upwards - spiraling, ascending towards higher realms. In its untamed drive it defeats gravity and creates a strong suction, even alienating us from our roots. To remain in a flow one has to work on bringing these high vibrations down to Earth. Refine your body and clear its energy channels in order to become able to receive and adapt universal wisdom.
Active meditation techniques
Osho, the acclaimed twentieth-century mystic has designed different compound meditation techniques based on old Sufi breathing know-how and a unique understanding of modern mankind's psychology. During one hour - invited and accompanied by beautiful, enchanting and at times highly energizing music - one is moving through different stages of particular breathing, dancing, jumping and total stillness (Dynamic Meditation). Osho is stating that modern man has an incredibly busy mind, making it hard to just sit silently. Active meditations function like the pendulum of a clock. Going into extreme action one creates the momentum to fall into a much deeper stage of attentive and observant inaction - exactly what meditation is all about. Active techniques will be of great benefit for you - aiding you grounding your high vibration and reviving your physical body.
Dynamic Meditation
Dynamic Meditation is usually done in early morning and lasts for one hour. It has five different stages which are easily recognizable by the changing background music.
First stage (10 minutes): You breathe chaotically through your nose, concentrating always on the exhalation. Your body will take care of the inhalation. Do this as fast and hard as you possibly can - and even a little harder, until you literally become the breathing. Use your natural body movements to help you to build up your energy.
Second stage (10 minutes): Explode! et go of everything that needs to be thrown out. Go totally mad. Scream, shout, cry, jump, shake, dance, sing, laugh, throw yourself around. Hold nothing back, keep your whole body moving. A little acting often helps to get started. Never allow your mind to interfere with what is happening. Be total.
Third stage (10 minutes): With raised arms, jump up and down, shouting the mantra 'HOO! HOO! HOO!' as deeply as possible. Each time you land on your flat feet let the sound hammer deep into your sex center. Give all you have, exhaust yourself totally.
Fourth stage (15 minutes): Then music ends and you suddenly stop. Freeze where you are, in whatever position you find yourself. Don't arrange the body in any way. A cough, a movement - anything will dissipate the energy flow and your effort will be lost. Just be a witness to everything that is happening to you.
Fifth stage (15 minutes): Celebrate and rejoice with music and dance, expressing your gratitude towards the whole. Carry your happiness throughout the whole day .
Specially composed music is available on cassette or CD to be played while practicing Dynamic Meditation. (Original meditation music)
Ben
Guided by the power of space.
Music is a magical medium, luring us to turn in - enticing us to let go of life's mad circumference. Inviting us to plunge into our innermost center - which is not only our center but the center of existence itself. Music is a great gift from existence. Through the influence of harmonious sounds and propitious vibrations the human brain develops a much denser net of dendrites, boosting its intelligence (in reference to a study on the upbringing of children who developed perfect pitch). While singing, humming or listening to consonant frequencies a deep relaxation and revitalization takes place. Especially in an acoustically perfect room (round temple or pagoda) a sound-womb is created. This space, filled with particular vibrations of sound impels your whole being to resonate. Powerful energies are generated; an atmosphere, a vibrant space is actualized.
Nadabrahma Meditation
Nadabrahma Meditation is an old Tibetan technique which was originally done in the early hours of the morning. It can be done at any time of the day, alone and with others, but have an empty stomach and remain inactive for at least fifteen minutes afterwards. The meditation lasts one hour and has three stages. Sit in a relaxed position with eyes closed.
First stage (30 minutes): Accompanied by the mystical sound of Tibetan bells one is humming with lips closed, amplifying prana (life-energy), vibrating and energizing all the inner organs. You can visualize a hollow bamboo or an empty vessel.
Second stage (15 minutes): Share this pool of serene energy with whole existence. The first half you move your arms in slow circular motion, palms up, away from your navel, forming two large circles mirroring each other. The movement should be so slow that at times there will appear to be no movement at all. Feel you are giving energy out to the universe. For the second half you turn your hands over, palms down, and continue the circular movement of your arms into the opposite direction, coming back together to your navel. Feel that you are taking energy in.
Third stage (15 minutes): Total relaxation. Sit or lie on your back, quiet and absolutely still.
Specially composed music is available on cassette or CD to be played while practicing Nadabrahma meditation. (Original meditation music)
Cimi
Guided by the power of death.
Death is the greatest mystery there is - the culmination of life - its ultimate blossoming. Death is transcendence of limitations, the secret opening within the cul-de-sac as well as the unsolvable puzzle. Death is threatening our egos because it's exposing our narrow visions. Dare to open your eyes, and death will loose its grim face. Befriend its presence - learn to die while you are still alive . Make it your technique to simply remember death throughout your day-to-day life. All your decisions and choices will be x-rayed by this part of you which is aware of death - the witness which is pure space, immortal. You become aware of being the host of your personality, giving stage to your transitoriness. Surrendering to this you will play your many characters and roles with even more dignity and dedication.
Initially, if you are allowing the thought of inconsistency you will become aware of your time running out. The end of the runway is coming closer and fear is bound to come up. You might recognize how unprepared you still are. Yet quite an effort has to be taken. Just trust in existence - have the courage to speed your frequency up, so you're airborne at the end of the fast approaching cliff. And the paradox - pressing the accelerator make the cliffs approach even faster! But don't stray away with your attention. Your awareness of death will provoke you, enormous reservoirs of zest for life will be released. Hidden pools of energy will become accessible - you don't know about their existence. Simply accept death, surrender to the eternal principle of transitoriness. You are bound to become more authentic and charismatic. How can you remain ignorant and arrogant in the light of your fleeting nature? In fact, to the witness death never really happens. Go for the ultimate adventure and find that death is the supreme illusion.
Become each being
a meditation technique from the Vigyan Bhairav Tantra (106)
"Feel the consciousness of each person as your own consciousness."
Usually we don't feel the world around us. Whatever we know is just inferred - logically, rationally. Through the mind we are treating each other like commodities. First we have to allow the other to become a human being - as valuable as we are. In deep love it happens that two persons are not two anymore. Whatever bliss we experience through love happens through this feeling of oneness. In love you can do it with one person, in meditation you can do it with everyone. Whoever comes near you, simply dissolve into this being. Feel that you are not two lives, but one life, in a flow. In the beginning it is good to start with trees and animals - because it seems so difficult - one is scared and afraid - stuck in the ego. In the end you will experience bliss and ecstasy with the whole universe.
Cauac
Guided by the power of self-generation.
Unpredictable and mysterious are the paths of life. There is a tremendous variety of strong feelings within you, provoking and catalyzing you to transform - to redefine yourself constantly. Welcome the storms. They are purifying your being, filling your soul with vital and fresh energies, shaking you out of forgetfulness. Endure the paradox, learn to cooperate with the break-down of walls of illusion which are preventing you from being yourself. You are incredibly sensitive and at the same time boiling and sparkling in utter intensity. Dare to be unappreciated, wild and crazy. Let go of seriousness, learn to be a joke unto yourself.
Shaking in sex
a meditation technique from the Vigyan Bhairav Tantra (49)
"When your senses are shaken as leaves, enter this shaking."
Sexuality is holy, it is our primary life force. While making love meet your beloved intimately, without any inhibition. Embrace the pure life-energy in its totality, let it spread all over your body. Allow shivering and screaming, let your body take over. A great wind is blowing through you, allow every cell of your body to dance. Melt with your beloved and disappear into oneness. Invite the lighting forces to cleanse and regenerate you. Ecstatic energy starts flowing all over your body, vibrating and resonating deep bliss. Become this shaking, don't stay aloof! Forget everything - not only the body but your whole being will be shaking. Then the two bodies and the two minds will become a circle of existential energy. You will be part of the cosmos, dissolved as solid bodies. You become liquid, flowing into each other. Non-duality will be experienced, wholeness, Tao.
Eb
Guided by the power of higher self.
Everybody thinks that life in childhood was beautiful, that somewhere in ancient past there was paradise on earth. Psychologists say this is the memory of having lived in our mother's womb. There everything was beautiful, everything was as it should be. You were warm, blissfully floating, with no worries, no anxieties, no responsibilities, alone. You even were unaware of your mother, she didn't exist for you.
Look into unlimited space
a meditation technique from the Vigyan Bhairav Tantra (96)
"Abide in some place endlessly spacious, clear of trees, hills, habitations.
Thence comes the end of mind pressures."
Aloneness is your basic reality. From this space you have entered society and this will be your reality when you go out of society again, when you die. At times it is of great importance to move alone, having space all around you, endless space; so the pressure of the crowd, the pressure of others leaves you. But we have become addicted to crowds and after a few days the desire will arise to go back to the crowd. You must have experienced this during holidays: after a few days one starts feeling useless. Simply understand how the mind has been programmed by society. Resist its arguments and beware of creating a substitute society either - because, hankering for relationship you even might start communicating with trees. But make it clear - be totally alone and useless for some preset time . In solitude you realign with your original inner space where life is purposeless, non-utilitarian - a mere play, a celebration. Reconnect with your lost paradise, reestablish the communion with your higher self. Back in society you can recall and reverberate that inner space, attune to your own heartbeat and give voice to your higher self.
Chicchan
Guided by the power of life force.
Desire has been given to you by nature. So, who are you to fight with it? Whatsoever you experience is a reflection of yourself. Be grateful to existence, embrace the challenge and explore your desires. Wisdom and transcendence dawn upon you only when you burn the torch of life from both the ends together , when you live in utter intensity and totality. Then you finally will find there is nowhere to go, all desires are the same. When one is greedy one desires nongreed, when one is sexually obsessed one desires celibacy. Our desires always move to the opposite end.
Go beyond bondage and freedom
a meditation technique from the Vigyan Bhairav Tantra (69)
"Since, in truth, bondage and freedom are relative,
these words are only for those terrified with the universe.
This universe is a reflection of minds.
As you see many suns in water from one sun, so see bondage and freedom."
Bondage and freedom, the world and nirvana are not opposites; they are different stages of a process. This seems difficult to comprehend for the mind who wants to leave behind the world of bondage and enter nirvana - ultimate freedom. The sunlit peak is residing upon the dark valleys - but they belong together. It's because of the dark valleys that the peaks have such an otherworldly maze. They are relative. We have to transcend our attraction for them both, for the dark valleys of bondage as for the sunlit peaks of freedom. The tradition of Zen is based on this method. The natural consequence is enjoying your world, living your desires. Become Zorba the Buddha. Enjoy life in its fullness. Live ecstatically, totally. Burn all fuel of desire and you will become a smokeless flame of pure consciousness.
Etznab
Guided by the power of transcendence.
Transcendence precisely defines meditation - the art of witnessing. Three layers have to be transcended to achieve the fourth, which is your true nature. The first layer is the physical body. Become aware that you are in the body - but you are not it. The body is a wonderful vehicle and it deserves all your care and lovingness. It is serving you beautifully, there is no need to be antagonistic to it. The second layer to transcend is the mind. The body is gross the mind is subtle. The third layer is your heart - the world of your feelings, emotions and moods. Observing the body is the first step. Thoughts are more difficult to track. But once you have become aware of your body you will be able to watch your thoughts too. The third step then is watching your moods and emotions; they are the most subtle to trace. Once you have become aware of all the three concentric circles the fourth happens on its own accord. Suddenly you know who you are - not verbally but existentially. You will find you are pure consciousness, you are the empty space to welcome and celebrate your personality.
Be undisturbed by desires
a meditation technique from the Vigyan Bhairav Tantra (57)
"In moods of extreme desire, be undisturbed."
Our original mind is like a mirror. But all our experiences, our knowledge and our memories have gathered on it - stockpiles of dust. Your mirror cannot loose its purity. Once you have cleaned it from the dust it again will reflect existence in utter purity. The Eastern tradition, in contradiction to Christian philosophy knows no such thing as original sin. In the East man has not been condemned. Hidden under layers of dust remains your being, untouched - in utter purity.
In moods of extreme desire, be undisturbed. Naturally when in deep desire we are disturbed. So, you have to experiment. You are in anger, you are temporarily mad, no more in your senses. Suddenly remember to be undisturbed - as if you are undressing. You will know that anger is there on the periphery. Like a fever - it is there. The periphery is wavering, the periphery is disturbed. But you can look at it. And if you can look at it you will be undisturbed. You have become the witness of it, you have moved into the silent center of the cyclone. This technique is not suppressive. It does not tell you to suppress and be undisturbed - no! Because if you suppress more disturbance will be created. Express your anger without harming anybody - do it as a meditation. The difficulty is when you are disturbed you will not remember to stay undisturbed. Then try it this way: don't' wait for the moment when anger happens to you. Just close your room and think of some past experience of anger when you went mad. Remember it and re-enact it. This re-enacting is a healing process, you will unburden your mind from old dust.
Chuen
Guided by the power of magic.
In India the world is conceived as a divine play, a leela . This concept is beautiful, for it removes all the seriousness of original sin, of suffering and of dependence on someone to redeem us from all that heaviness. We tend to take ourselves much too serious, getting us to believe on how important the present issues are. Remember your first love, how serious it was - even your life depended on it. Now you can laugh about it, time has created the distance.
Be playful in activity
a meditation technique from the Vigyan Bhairav Tantra (110)
"Gracious one, play.
The universe is an empty shell wherein your mind frolics infinitely."
Make it your daily practice and look at life as a drama, a play. Keep in mind: this is just a game. And the game has rules to it - but no need to be serious about them. Nothing is sin - only error; and no god is punishing you - you simply suffer because you didn't follow the rules. And during a game time looses its grip upon you, the interaction is enjoyed, the end result doesn't matter so much. By allowing yourself to forget about time you are more relaxed - hence your consciousness is more expanded. At that point magic starts happening naturally. You start seeing many things you didn't see before. You were so much absorbed with your main focus, you were blind for the synchronicities, not flexible enough to take unexpected turns. In a mood of playfulness you are in a deep harmony with existence. Then, suddenly you become part of the eternal magic this universe is based upon.
Kan
Guided by the power of flowering.
This moment contains all and everything. It must be so, because the past is no more and the future is not yet. All that exists is hidden within this moment. The science of meditation has generated many techniques to root us in the now, to focus our attention on the actual. It wants to shake us out of our dreams and imaginations; centering us in the vertical, multidimensional and ever-present reality.
Normally we move on a line which we call time. Each of us is living within his private world, dreaming his personal drama, imprisoned by the law of cause and effect. The emphasis of any meditation technique is to throw us out of repetitive patterns, making us dive into the many dimensions of the now - to explore this moment as a multiple reality. Meditation techniques are designed to produce accidental cracks and openings in our closed and limited reality. The power of flowering is a potential, it is stored within the seed of this very moment . Cast the seed of this moment, let it germinate and grow - your life will turn into a meadow of thousands of flowers.
Look lovingly at an object
a meditation technique from the Vigyan Bhairav Tantra (18)
"Look lovingly at some object.
Do not go to another object.
Here in the middle of the object - the blessing."
The key to this method is hidden in the word "lovingly". So, first become more aware of the quality of your looking. Whenever you are in a getting-mood, lust and greed will hide behind your loving look. In your very looking you have reduced the other into an object of desire. Only if you are in a giving-mood will your eyes be able to convey love. Then, even looking at an object, and the object is transformed into an individual, a person. Love makes anything unique.
So, when you look lovingly you will forget yourself. Only the flower will remain, you will be lost into it. Let your consciousness be filled with only one thought - how can you help this flower to become more beautiful, more blissful. Let this feeling of what you can do - this pain, this deep ache reverberate your whole being. Bring your total intensity into it, let every fiber of your body and mind feel it. You will be transfixed in an ecstasy and the flower will become a divine presence. Do not go to another object… You cannot go; if you are in a love relationship you will only see your beloved's face - you will forget about the whole world, you will forget yourself. Here in the middle of the object - the blessing. Suddenly, as a by-product, the blessing comes to you, overwhelms you. Suddenly you become centered.
This is the paradox of love - forgetting yourself completely you become vacant, empty. Inner space is created. And you will feel totally helpless - because, what can you do? Whatsoever you can do seems insignificant, meaningless; it is never enough. In this helplessness surrender happens. You are empty. Then love has become a deep meditation.
Caban
Guided by the power of navigation.
Life is not a problem but a mystery. A problem can be solved, a mystery can only be lived and experienced. Scientific approach to life will always fall short because the intellect's methods are peripheral, violent and aggressive. In the process of dividing, analyzing and dissecting the very essence of life is bracketed out. Intellect never will be able to understand life as an organic unity, as a synthesis.
Navigate existence from the childlike innocence of your heart. When looking at a flower don't get stuck in thinking. Feel the flower, and the gap between you and the flower will disappear, to the point where you become the flower. Allow to get immersed - touch the core of existence.
Consider the body limitless
a meditation technique from the Vigyan Bhairav Tantra (93)
"Consider any area of your present form as limitlessly spacious."
This powerful method is designed to destroy your limits. In a state of empty mind you become limitless. The other way round, if you can imagine limitlessness your mind will disappear - it cannot coexist with the unlimited. So, close your eyes and imagine any area of your body becoming limitlessly spacious. Your head can contain the whole cosmos, without no boundaries to it. Be ready to loose your name, your identity, your poverty, your richness, your health, your disease, your miseries. All will be lost, for these things are part of your finite being.
If you are imaginative, a dreamer, then make this technique your daily practice. Look within your head - or any other part of your body - and feel the walls spreading, expanding. If this experience feels staggering, move really slowly. Imagine that your head has come to occupy the whole room - feel your skin touching the walls, feel the pressure of the walls. Slowly go on moving till your head becomes infinite. Within three months you will come to the point where the Sun will rise within your head. You will experience a deep freedom you have never known before. All the misery that belongs to your narrow mind will disappear. In this expanse you will be consumed - only the whole is, you have disappeared in it, become one with it.
Oc
Guided by the power of the heart.
The outer life is a cyclone - a constant conflict, turmoil, struggle. But this is only so on the surface; just as the surface of the ocean consists of roaring waves, maddening noise and wild struggle. If one dives into the ocean everything changes. All becomes serene, relaxed and silent. The same is the case with one's life. If one starts moving towards the innermost center struggle and conflict disappear, anxiety and anguish vanish. Towards that inner center is the search. The surface is bound to be disturbed and wild. We get identified with it too much and forget about inner peace and clarity. In fact, if we are rooted in the inner the outer drama will have a beauty on its own. If one can be silent within, the sounds without will become musical.
Meditation techniques are scientific methods to regain our center, to forget about the periphery and move inwards, to reestablish the connection with our innermost core.
Thinking is the outermost layer - the roaring surface. Feeling - the heart - is in between. Being is our silent core.
Feel the peace in your heart
a meditation technique from the Vigyan Bhairav Tantra (98)
"In any easy position
gradually pervade an area between the armpits into great peace."
This is a very simple method and it works miraculously. The first thing is to find an easy and relaxed position for your body. Then close your eyes and feel your whole body. With your attention move through your entire body. Wherever you feel a subtle tension, first make the tension stronger, contract your muscles, and then let go. Pay especial attention to your face muscles. 90% of all tension stored within our bodies are locked within our facial tissue. Release them by making faces.
Then move with your total attention to your chest, the space between your armpits. You will become filled with great peace - infinite, inexhaustible. The deeper you enter into this treasury the more you feel deep peace arising from your heart. In the shadow of this peace a great love will start radiating from within you. In the light of this overwhelming love everything, the whole world, will become unreal, a dream.
Practice every day for ten minutes and soon you will experience the beauty and the miracle of this method.
Akbal
Guided by the power of abundance.
Everything withers away, even the brightest star someday will die, but darkness prevails. Darkness is eternal - it has never been born and it will never die. Darkness is the womb of existence. We have immersed from darkness and one day we again will disperse in it, returning to the original source. It is very meaningful that one tradition - the school of the Essenes - conceives God as absolute darkness. Normally we are afraid of darkness. Light is associated with life, and darkness with death. But these are just the projections of our mind which gets terrified by non-existence. Darkness is the original womb out of which everything arises. Darkness is total relaxation. Becoming one with darkness - totally dissolving into it - and you have become pure space, pure consciousness - bodiless, deathless.
Darkness is ultimate abundance. Make friendship with darkness, change your negative conditioning. Go deliberately into darkness, feel surrounded and shrouded by its soft and gentle taste, feel relieved and bodiless in its caressing cocoon.
Dissolve into darkness
a meditation technique from the Vigyan Bhairav Tantra (76)
"In rain during a black night,
enter that blackness as the form of forms."
It is one of the most powerful and mysterious meditation techniques - allowing oneself to become one with darkness. In rain during a black night… set up a space of utter darkness, no single ray of light should be allowed to enter. You may put up black curtains to create a womb-like atmosphere, a space of absolute darkness - soft, velvet-like, all-embracing.
Make it a daily practice before you go to sleep. Sit comfortably and relaxed and keep your eyes open. Try to remain unblinking - and absorb the sweet taste of infinite spaciousness. Drink it through your eyes, let your being expand in this primordial womb. Stay with this meditation for at least ten minutes every night - you might expand it up to one hour. Keep doing the meditation for at least three months. You will move through many layers, releasing fears and tensions. You will pass through miraculous changes - light and peace will start radiating through your eyes.
Cib
Guided by the power of intelligence.
To clearly see and understand a situation or a thing some distance is needed. You have to step back and attune to your inner space, cutting off all influences and distractions. Unencumbered and freed of entanglements you then examine what a certain situation is all about. Rooted in self-sustainability you gather the courage for merciless conclusions, piercing through obstacles and hindrances in a direct way.
Intelligence means the ability to respond. Nature in itself is inherently intelligent, but we have been deprived from trusting our own nature. Disturbed and distracted by other people - parents, teachers and priests who have enforced their understanding on us - we have lost access to our own source of wisdom. Intelligence has been replaced by intellect, we have ended up in a mental game. But even this has a deeper meaning - to fully venerate our inborn intelligence we first have to loose it.
Intelligence originates in the totality of your being - its roots are in your heart. Rediscovering your own intelligence and living in accord with your truth needs tremendous courage. You will become a rebel, a warrior, ready to fight for your convictions. Meditation techniques are devices to empower your neglected inner dignity. You become the witness - seeing your many personalities from a distance. Suddenly there is a gap - you have become pure space, just hosting your personality.
Focus on fire
a meditation technique from the Vigyan Bhairav Tantra (79)
"Focus on fire rising through your form from the toes up
until the body burns to ashes
but not you."
This wonderful technique connects you with your essence, which is deathless, formless. This technique relates to the story of the holy bird Phoenix who rises from his ashes, transcending all impurities. Just lie down. Conceive yourself as dead - the body is just like a corpse. With closed eyes move inwards. As a preparatory step for fifteen minutes pay more attention to exhalation, feel a deep relaxation entering your body. Then bring your attention to the toes and feel the purifying fire starting at your toes, burning them to ashes. Why starting at the toes? Because it is easier to start there, your ego for the most of it exists in your head. So, starting at the toes slowly move on through your whole body, burning everything. You will remain the watcher on the hill. The body will be there - dead, burned, ashes - and you will be the watcher, the witness.
Daily practicing this technique, within three months you will come to the point where your memories will be burnt as well. They are material, part of your brain. This will be the sign: if your memory is still there then you have not gone deep enough yet. Finally, everything will have stopped - no movement, no thought, just watching. And once you have known this you can remain in this state continuously.
Burning all the unessential - and you will awake to your original intelligence. Knowing your deathlessness will empower your spirit, allowing to rise above suffering.
Muluc
Guided by the power of universal water.
Water is the symbol of life itself. Water is incredibly adaptable and strong both. Universal presence is another one of its qualities. Water is in a constant movement, dancing its ecstatic song of life. In human nature our emotional body vibrates in tune with universal water, is a fractal of water energy. It is via emotions that we can understand water and attune to its laws and liking. If we allow ourselves to live on the emotional plane we can become one with our surroundings - and ultimately one with the universe.
Our breath is the medium connecting us with the emotional world. The following meditation technique has tremendous transforming potentials.
Transform emotions
a meditation technique from the Tibetan master Atisha
"Bring all the sufferings of the world into your heart
and pour out the blessings."
Atisha, an ancient Tibetan master has modeled this unique technique of great potential: When you breathe in, think that you are breathing in all the miseries of all the people in the world. All the darkness, all the negativity, all the hell that exists anywhere - you are breathing it in. There - deep in your heart let it all be absorbed.
And when you breathe out, breathe out all the joy that you have, all the blissfulness that you have, all the benediction that you have. Breathe out, pour yourself into existence.
This is a method of compassion. Drink in all the sufferings and pour out all the blessings.
You will be surprised when you do it. The moment you take all the sufferings of the whole world inside you, they no longer are sufferings. The heart immediately transforms the energy. The heart has enormous transforming power. Drink in misery - it is transformed into blissfulness - then pour it out. Once you have learned that your heart can do this magic, this miracle, you would like to do it again and again. It is one of the most practical methods, it is simple and it brings immediate results.
Ik
Guided by the power of spirit.
As long as you are alive breath is a continuous flow - no gap is possible. The waves of breathing are breaking on the shores of your being, without your doing. With breathing, life energy - prana - is induced into your physical being. Breath is maintaining a bridge between you and your physical body, between you and the whole universe. Your body is the part of the universe closest to you, rooting you in space and time. When the flow of breath is broken the connection between you and this universe is broken - you have returned to the formless.
Breath is the vehicle of spirit - matter gets animated, spirited - breathing keeps your body alive. Watching your breath, moving with its subtle rhythm and movement brings you back to this very moment - over and over again - transcending time and space. Breath connects you with the source of life. Centered in your breath you will be in the world, and also beyond it. And you will find that each mood has its particular breathing pattern. Being sad your breath moves differently from when you're happy and joyous. In Tantra it is called 'riding the breath'. Remembering your breath, whatever you do, you will be rooted in the now. Your breath will bring you back in touch with your actual truth, your thoughts, your senses, your emotions and your moods. And there will be a subtle distance - your breath is in between - it will be easy to remain a witness to all sensations.
Watch the fusion point of two breaths
a meditation technique from the Vigyan Bhairav Tantra (3)
" Whenever in-breath and out-breath fuse,
at this instant touch the energy-less, energy-filled center."
The center of your body is near the navel. Your breath is constantly going to that center and moving out again. Thus, ordinarily we are not in touch with our center, we do not allow our breath to move that deep. Children still are rooted in their center, their breath moves all the way down into their bellies. That's why children are so happy, so blissful and so much energy-filled. A child lives in totality, when angry he is all anger - and this anger is beautiful, a natural force, a thunderstorm which clears the air. We have lost our totality, we have become rational beings. We have become civilized, educated, well-mannered. If one allows the breath to go down to the abdomen it gives energy to your sex-center. It touches and massages your sex-center from within, makes it more active and alive. Civilization is afraid of sex, hence children are prevented from touching their sexual organs. Sex-energy is pure life-energy. And if this life-energy is allowed it will transform into higher expressions - into love, creativity and divine bliss. But suppression will keep the breath shallow and sexuality becomes cerebral. Totality is dangerous, we are afraid of our true power, afraid of our totality.
So, the first thing, allow your breath to touch your center. Whenever you recall your breath, take it all down to your navel. Feel the throbbing life spreading all over your body, sharpening your senses, adding a special thrill to life. That is why smoking has such an attraction - one takes in the 'valuable' smoke, deeply absorbing it, giving you a reason to breathe into your center.
This center is the zero-point. It is not part of your physicality. In this sense is it energy-less. It is not a part of you, it is an absence, an emptiness. And it not only is your center but the center of whole existence. The moment you can feel the center from where breath goes out or comes in, the very center where the breaths fuse - this center becomes your door to become one with the entire universe.
Men
Guided by the power of vision.
No knowledge is true and authentic unless it results from and is based on experience. Knowledge can only be earned if you allow life to touch you deeply - then sacred wisdom is going to arise - almost magically it starts emanating from your innermost core. All intellectual knowledge is borrowed. Real learning happens through experience only. You allow existence to challenge you. You even inviting her to produce drama and affection, to create some whirls and turmoil to be entertained - and even amused. In a way you tickle life, play with it - joke, laugh - to get to see all the aspects of it. Intuitively you know - moving to extreme spots is sharpening your awareness, your intelligence, your vision. You become an adventurer. Open your focus, taste the juice of life and you will find treasures everywhere.
Focus your attention on the third eye
a meditation technique from the Vigyan Bhairav Tantra (5)
"Attention between eyebrows,
let mind be before thought.
Let form fill with breath essence to the top of the head
and there shower as light."
This technique is one of the very deep methods. Between our eyes sits the pineal gland , the most mysterious part of the human body. The Tibetans call it the third eye - shivanetra - the eye of Shiva, the eye of tantra. But usually this third eye is not functioning. It is ready there to function, any moment, but it does not function naturally. One has to do something to open it. This technique is to open your third eye.
Close your eyes and focus your attention between your eyebrows, at the energy center behind your eyes. Focus just in the middle, as if you are looking with your two eyes, and give total attention to it.
This is one of the simplest methods of being attentive. You cannot be attentive to any other part of your body so easily. The pineal gland absorbs attention like anything. If you give attention to it, both your eyes become hypnotized with that point. They become fixed , they cannot move - the third eye is magnetic for attention, it is fed by attention.
So the only thing to do is to center one's attention at this particular point of your body. Everything else follows naturally. Your witnessing self will arise. In its light you become aware of your thought process. Now you can encounter your thoughts. This will be the first thing. Then slowly, as your awareness deepens you will become aware of a subtle, delicate vibration within breathing, you can feel the form of breathing. Tantra says that your breathing is just the vehicle for what they call prana - life-essence, vitality. Air is the medium and prana the content.
By being focused on the third eye you suddenly will observe the essence of your breath. Then, imagine - let form fill with breath essence to the top of the head and there shower as light - , imagine that your head is filled with this essence, particularly the top of your head - sahasrar - the highest psychic center. Being focused on your third eye, whatever you imagine will start happening. This is also the potential danger of this technique. If your mind is not yet pure, you might harm yourself and others too.
As soon as you imagine it, light showering from within the top of your head and you will be filled with this essence. Under this shower of light you will be refreshed, reborn. It will enlighten your whole being.
Lamat
Guided by the power of elegance.
Life is in a constant flow. Every ending is a new beginning. And each moment in itself is unique, complete and perfect - each moment is a fractal of life. Nature is in a state of undivided totality, hence in harmony and completion, all the time. Whenever you are total in your doing you are accomplished and brilliant. Integrity generates perfection and elegance. Like a laser accumulates its power through focussing and aligning waves of light, accomplishment is achieved in single-mindedness. In order to reach that totality devices can be created. Dangers in particular have a sacred appeal, the greater the thrill or challenge the more likely mind will stop - and you will fall into your center.
Martial arts have been designed and practiced to induce such moments of totality and meditation. Samurais are seekers, fighting is their spiritual practice. Experiencing life-threatening situations and extreme dangers evokes incredible hidden potentials and reservoirs within. Situations of utter emergency unlock one's reservoirs, everything else disappears except the arrow of consciousness. Thinking stops - no thought, no ripple is left in your mind. Time dissolves - eternity is experienced. Moments of totality reveal one's deathlessness, one gets a taste, a glimpse of the divine.
Experience existence as waving
a meditation technique from the Vigyan Bhairav Tantra (61)
" As waves come with water and flames with fire,
so the Universal waves within us."
Waves are ephemeral forms, always in transition, rising out of the ocean and again disappearing - to give way and momentum for a new wave to arise. Waves in themselves are just forms, containers - expressions of existence. Waves appear as individuals. Each wave has its own personality - unique, different from any other wave. But deep down they are one ocean, their individuality is false and illusory.
We are just waves in a cosmic ocean. Misery arises because we identify with the form of our wave, we start thinking we are that wave. We are so caught up in appearances that we simply avoid to look at the evident facts.
Start feeling yourself as being a wave within the ocean of existence. Become a waving. Feel the life coming into you, filling you - and then again dispersing, emptying you. You are deeply connected with the cosmic ocean through the endless ebb and flow of your breath - which always is in transition. Nothing in you is static but your mind's idea of ego and self.
If you have seen this you are moving towards meditation. Then everything can become a door, each single act, each step, each movement turns into meditation. And you can enter meditation from anywhere, because the whole life is in a deep meditation. The hills are meditating, the stars are meditating, the flowers, the trees, the elements are meditating, the very earth is meditating. You are one, in communion with the cosmos. There is no distinction, the void is your real center. Adapt to the idea of being a nobody. Then no misery can harm you and no death can destroy you. You are formless, eternal - one with the whole.