Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Vijnana Bhairava Tantra


The Vijnana Bhairava Tantra is believed to date back to the second millennium B.C. , and in its earliest form, it was purely in the oral tradition, meaning that it was chanted and memorized.  As such, it is one of the earliest teachings on yoga and meditation.  The name, loosely translated, means “The terror and joy of realizing oneness with the Soul.” 

My favorite translation of the Vijnana Bhairava Tantra is offered by Lorin Roche in his version entitled The Radiance Sutras.  In his preface to this edition he describes his topic:
A tantra is a manual of practices. This one is a book of meditation instructions, set as a conversation between lovers. The focus is on full body spirituality, being at home in the universe, and how to accept every breath, sensual experience, and emotion as a doorway into deep and intimate contact with the energies of life.
The text feels as though it was composed by a couple, a man and a woman who sang the verses to each other as they co-composed. They lived this teaching. The techniques that are described here occurred to them naturally, as an evolution of the questions they were asking of life, and their explorations of the body of love. As was the convention of the time, they frame the conversation as the Goddess and the God in them speaking. The conversation is about how to enter into the vibrant essence of the world with the dual balance of passion and detachment.
I love this teaching because it is offered in a language of love.  It is believed that the offering of deep knowledge cannot be effectively received without love; the trust of the student to receive the lesson and the love of the teacher to offer genuine instruction.  After all, isn't a true act of "making love" an act toward enlightenment?  Roche explains  the form:

The conversation begins with the Goddess asking, “Beloved, tell me, how do I enter more deeply into the reality of the universe?” In reply Bhairava describes one hundred and twelve techniques for awakening into reality through everyday life experience. Each of these is a way of attending to the rhythms, pulsations and sensuousness of the divine energy flowing through us always - and out of which we are made.

Through these techniques, we are alerted to the presence of the sacred that is always permeating our bodies. All of these methods involve savoring the incredible intensity underlying the most common experiences and they work by activating the senses, extending their range further into the inner and the outer world. The basic dynamics of life such as breathing, falling asleep, waking up, walking, loving, all of these are used as gateways into alignment and enlightenment.

Each meditation is a dive deeper into life, into the underlying reality of what life is. Balance is there at every step: the unshakable serenity of the depths is used as a foundation so that we can tolerate the electrifying vastness of the universe. We are invited to cross the threshold, walk through the guardians of the gateway, face the terrors and make our way into the immense and timeless depths that are always calling us.
When we open the doors of perception, take in this vast universe, fill ourselves with it and it's immensity, and then send it out again, we are truly becoming one with this vastness.  Herein lies intimacy, that powerfully alive feeling of grounded connectedness.

I would say that this is, in essence, the mission of the Gallery of the Senses. The Sensuist loves the intense stimulation of the senses, not out of a sort of indulgence or gluttony; rather, the Sensuist refuses to numb oneself, thus refusing to deprive oneself of the faculties which enable us to feel alive and connected with the vastness of this universe.  One of my favorite sutras as translated in the Radiance Sutras, directs in this way so beautifully:
Embrace each of your senses in turn,
Seeing as being touched by light.
Hearing as immersion in an ocean of sound.
Tasting as enlightening.
Smelling as knowing.
Touching as electrifying.

Then leave all these behind,
and be intimate with the unknowable.
Contact me to learn more about the Gallery of the Senses and my Sensuist Intimacy Coaching.  I can be reached at lcharpontier@gmail.com or 408.320.2954.  Or visit my website at www.galleryofthesenses.net

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