Stare at sunlight reflected in water or in some object — and in those moments forget yourself. —Dvapa Nanam (in the Paul Reps style)
Introduction to the Text
The Vijñanabhairava (or Vigyan Bhairav) is an ancient text that outlines many simple methods intended to lead a person to the “spontaneous recognition” of their true nature. Like all the nongradual paths of instant illumination — Tantra, Dzogchen and Zen — the viewpoint of the Vigyan is that a slight shift in perception is all that is needed to discover the Self, recognize your true nature, reach nondual awareness, which is the same ordinary awareness and is always there in the background, or whatever you want to call that state. That coveted nondual awareness everyone talks about, that “cosmic consciousness” — you already have it, you just need to recognize it — like catching a glimpse of sun through clouds that part to reveal an endless sky.
Today it is said that the Vigyan gives 112 of these methods, but it actually contains 163 Sanskrit verses with very important information also given at the beginning and end, which present the philosophy and metaphysics, the nature of reality, which can be thought of as the “bread” of a sandwich containing the “meat” of the methods within. The beginning, and especially the end, may be the most abstract and esoteric parts, while the “112 methods” are the practical manual part of the book. Yet to me there appear to be more than one hundred and twelve methods.
The metaphysical together with the practical features are precisely what make this text a “Tantra,” which works with what is accessible (the body, the senses, perceptions, conceptions, and so on) rather than being just another dry text of philosophy or ritual. Its methods work with living energy that are neither ritual nor practice — they’re simply pokes and pricks and tricks meant to draw your attention to something important. No person is expected to understand or use them all! On the contrary — so many are given so that everyone can find a few that work for them. If even one or two methods work for you, count yourself lucky — that’s all you need!
Comments on Its Structure and Translation
It seemed obvious to me when reading the text that it must have undergone a long period of development, probably several centuries, and that its methods were grouped under broad themes, such as the body, the senses, staring with the eyes, visualizations, meditations on consciousness, on emptiness, and so on. Therefore it seemed equally obvious to treat the verses and methods not as scripture carved in stone but as individual building blocks, some of which I selected and arranged into a more coherent narrative. (The same approach was used for every other text presented on this blog.) Each verse is a standalone method, of course, but grouping a few together reveals a bigger picture.
Just as gallery lighting illuminates individual works of art but cannot light a whole museum, so the selection below hopes to shine small bright lights only on certain portions of the Vigyan — the ones that resonated with me. Whole categories of other methods (e.g., visualizations, meditations on abstract concepts such as “emptiness”) were completely left out.
As a collection of practical wisdom acquired through direct experience, the Vigyan has also been called the Shiva Vijñana Upanishad and the Shaiva Upanishad. It was compiled in its present form probably around the 8th century. The text below is based on Paul Reps’ freewheeling and poetic translation, the first in English (1955), which became timeless with its publication in the classic Zen Flesh, Zen Bones (1957), still in print today.
The Reps translation, which takes up just 14 pages in the 1989 Doubleday edition, may still be the best introduction to the text — but as a poetic, not literal, translation, it has been oversimplified in many places. I updated and modernized the style and language here and there, but in a few places I altered the text substantially after also consulting the translations of Jaidev Singh (1979) and Jan Esmann (2010). The best translation I have found so far is the one by Ranjit Chaudhri in 112 Meditations for Self Realization: Vigyan Bhairava Tantra (2024 ed.); unfortunately, I haven’t had the opportunity to read it yet.
Following each verse I provided the method and verse numbers in parentheses (of the 112/163) for convenient cross-reference against other translations. The “112 methods” were numbered by others; Reps gives only the method numbers, Esmann only the verse numbers, and Singh gives both, though they don’t quite agree.
Gazing with the Eyes
Abide in some place endlessly spacious, clear of trees, hills, habitations. Thence comes the end of mind pressures. (35/60)
In summer, when you see the sky endlessly clear, enter such clarity. (51/76)
Simply by looking into the blue sky beyond clouds, the serenity. (59/84)
Listen to the entire mystical teaching imparted: Eyes still, without blinking, at once become absolutely free. (88/113)
In rain during a black night, enter that blackness as the form of forms. (62/87)
At the edge of a deep well, look steadily into the depth until the void takes you. (90/115)
Meditations on Consciousness
In truth, forms are not separate from each other, just as omnipresent Being and your own form are not separate. Each is made of this consciousness. (75/100)
This so-called universe appears as a juggling, a picture show. To be happy, look upon it so. (77/102)
The appreciation of objects and subjects is the same for an enlightened as for an unenlightened person. The former has one greatness: he remains in the subjective mood. (81/106)
Feel yourself pervading all directions, far, near. (67/92)
Realize, I am everywhere. One who is everywhere is joyous. (79/104)
This consciousness exists as each being, and nothing else exists. (99/124)
Feel the consciousness of each person as your own consciousness, and so become each being. (82/107)
Arresting Impulses
Just as you have the impulse to do something, stop! (64/89)
When some desire comes, consider it. Then, suddenly, quit it. (71/96)
When a mood against someone or for someone arises, do not place it on the person, but remain centered. (101/126)
In and Beyond the Body
When on a bed or a seat, let yourself become weightless, beyond mind. (57/82)
Roam about until exhausted and then, dropping to the ground, in this dropping be whole. (86/111)
At the beginning and end of sneezing, during terror, during sorrow, after a deep sigh, when standing above a chasm, when fleeing from battle, during keen curiosity, in wonder, at the beginning or the end of hunger, in those states find the state you seek. (93/118)
Fixing Attention through the Senses
When vividly aware through some sense, keep in the awareness. (92/117)
See as if for the first time a beautiful person or an ordinary object. (55/)
Look lovingly on some object. Do not go on to another object. Here, in the middle of this object — the blessing. (37/62)
Wherever your mind is wandering, internally or externally, at this very place, this. (91/116)
Wherever your attention alights, at that very point, experience. (104/129)
Wherever satisfaction is found, in whatever act, actualize this. (49/74)
On joyously seeing a long-absent friend, permeate this joy. (46/71)
When eating or drinking, become the taste of the food or drink, and be filled. (47/72)
When singing, seeing, tasting, become that and transcend your limits. (48/73)
Remembering some impression, let your mind be absorbed in that — and, losing its present features, even your form is transformed. (94/119)
Watching the Breath
This experience may dawn between two breaths. As the breath comes in and just before turning up — the beneficence. (1/24)
As breath turns from down to up, and again from up to down, through both of these turns, realize. (2/25)
Or when the breath is all out and stopped by itself, or all in and stopped, in such a universal pause, one’s small self vanishes. (4/27)
When absorbed in worldly activity, keep attentive between the two breaths, and in so doing, in a few days be born anew. (27/51)
Reabsorption into the Center
At the point of sleep when sleep has not yet come but external wakefulness vanishes, at that point Being is revealed. (50/75)
With intangible breath in the center of the forehead, as this reaches the heart at the moment of sleep, regain your sovereign power. (31/56)
As the senses are reabsorbed into the heart, reach the center of the lotus. (25/49)
