Part one of a further series of seminars on
the Vigyana Bhairava Tantra
given to the Sheffield School of Yoga
by Swami Nishchalananda.
The session starts with Dharana number 72 from the text Vigyana Bhairava Tantra.
‘Maya, or cosmic delusion, deludes us by means of the five Kanchukas. Consider and reflect on these functions. In this way you will lose your sense of separation.’
Bhairava
What is Maya? It means that we are not able to see things as they are. What are the Kanchukas, the means by which Maya deludes us?
The first Kanchuka is Kala, which is the function in Maya that gives us a sense of division, a sense of separation.
The second is Vidya, which means knowledge, but here it means being limited or bound by our intellectual understanding of things.
The third is Raga which means attachment and desire.
The fourth is Kaala, which is Time.
And the fifth is Niyati, which is the dimension of Space, and also the binding of Karma or causality.
A meditation follows, reflecting on the five Kanchukas, then there is a return to the basic practice of Buchari mudra which is locating the dwadashanta, or pranamaya kosha; that space around the body where the ‘energy field’ is found. This practice was introduced in several of the seminars in the earlier series on the Vigyana Bhairava Tantra.
Swamiji reads out verse 138 from the text, the first of the verse after the dharanas (practices). With delightful simplicity this verse says
‘Oh beloved, when the four constituents of the personality, being the individual mind, ego, vital energy, and (sense of individual) Awareness are dissolved, one identifies with consciousness.’
Bhairava, v 138 from the Vigyana Bhairava Tantra
Please enjoy the satsang and guided meditation, below.
Swami Nishchalananda 