One of the basic premises of the Vigyana Bhairava Tantra is that we are not as substantial or material as we think we are; our individual nature is based on energy – in Sanskrit, ‘spandan’ – creative energy which exists everywhere and which has always existed; energy poised for creative expression and transformation. This concurs closely with the findings of modern science.
Tantra does not try to deny the world, or label it as mere illusion, but rather considers, and even worships, the world as a manifestation of Shakti, the dynamic expression of Shiva (the Fundamental Intelligence underlying all things). Nothing is rejected, and every situation has the potential to open our eyes to the wonder of existence.
However, on the deepest level, our nature is Consciousness – which is qualitatively different from matter and energy.
If we can refine our energy, then this can be the catalyst for an inner explosion of Awareness and Bliss and, in turn, an insight into the nature of Consciousness itself.
The 112 Techniques given in the Vigyana Bhairava Tantra are all means of centring Awareness even in the most mundane and seemingly worldly situations. In this sense, the text is unique in that it shows us how to be in a state of Yoga from moment to moment – how to live our lives more fully and how to celebrate and realise our Essential Nature, and that of all beings, in every situation.
All of the practices are designed to calm the turbulent mind and to bring it into the present moment, for it is only in the ‘NOW’ that transformation of perception is possible. It is only the present moment that is pregnant with promise – the promise of higher Awareness.
All of the techniques given in the text are non-moralistic and non-religious. Nor are they based on philosophical speculation, for the Vigyana Bhairava Tantra is not concerned with wordy descriptions and giving us intellectual answers but rather the means to attaining those answers. Here, Spiritual life is not about thinking and debate but Communion, existential contact with Consciousness. Some of the techniques are concerned with breathing; others with emotions such as love, frustration and anger. Some are concerned with our relationship with nature; others with relations with other humans and with animals; some others with natural sounds of nature; yet others, with visualisation. In each case, the practice points its finger to the Centre of your own Being, the Source of all perceptions. The other, the external, is not the Source of perception; the Source is always within us. Every situation is designed to bring us back to our own Centre.
Whatever emotion we are experiencing in the moment, can be the means of contacting our Centre.
In some techniques, we express; in others, we suppress. Whether you express or suppress is irrelevant. There is no difference, in a sense, for suppression is merely postponed expression and expression, but expressed suppression. In both cases, we are doing something and tending to forget the Source. The techniques of the Vigyana Bhairava Tantra direct our attention so that we focus spontaneously on the Centre within.
