A meditation on the rhythm of breathing
inspired by The Radiance Sutras, a new translation of the vijnana bhairava tantra
bharita: nourished, full, filled with
Beloved, show us how incarnate beings can know infinity. This is the request of Devi, The Goddess who is The Energy of Life, to Shiva, her eternal and inseparable partner.
Shiva – In case you have forgotten all those lifetimes you had in India – is short for The One in Whom We All Dwell. Devi is definitely Shiva’s better half. She loves bodies, and sometimes places herself in the position of a yogi, to evoke teachings from Shiva for the benefit of those of us in bodies. The songs they sing together, of love and of life, are always resonating in our hearts. The vijnana bhairava tantra is the lyrics to one of their songs.
Devi adds with a smile, “How can I know you, be filled with your nourishing essence?”
Shiva begins his reply:
“Your questions require the answers that come
Through direct living experience.
The way of experience begins with a breath
Such as the breath you are breathing now.
Awakening into luminous reality
May dawn in the momentary throb
Between any two breaths.
As the breath is released and flows out,
There is a pulse as it turns to flow in.
In that turn, you are empty.
Enter that emptiness as the source of all life.
The breath flows in and just as it turns
To flow out, there is a flash of pure joy —
Life is renewed.
Awaken into this.”
urdhve prano hy adho jivo visargatma paroccaret |
utpattidvitayasthane bharanad bharita sthitih |
There is always more to Sanskrit than the surface meaning of individual words: the resonance and cadence of the sounds, plus grammar, puns, and alliteration. The Bhairava Tantra is a manual of practices, so each word alludes to a series of meditation practices. You have to start somewhere, though, so here are shortened definitions from the Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English dictionary. Terms marked with an * asterisk are summarized from technique-oriented Tantric literature.
Urdhve – upward moving, rising or tending upwards; raised, elevated, erected, erect, upright, high, above, height, elevation; anything placed above or higher, to go upwards or into heaven.
Prana – the life-force, filled, full, the breath of life, respiration, spirit, vitality, life, a vital organ, vital air (three or five in number – prana, apana, vyana, samana, udana), breath (as a sign of strength), vigor, energy, power, (in Ved?nta) the spirit identified with the totality of dreaming spirits, poetical inspiration.
Adhah – downward movement.
Jiva – the principle of life, the breath, vital breath, living, alive, healthy, causing to live, vivifying; any living being, existence, individual soul, the living or personal soul (as distinguished from the universal soul; one of the eight Maruts (the storm gods, wind gods, children of the ocean), the earth; a bow-string, and in geometry, the chord of an arc.
Visarga – creation, birth, sending forth, letting go, liberation, emission, discharge, voiding, evacuation (of excrement), opening (of the closed hand), getting rid of, sending away, driving out the cows, dismissal, letting loose,, giving, granting, bestowal, scattering, hurling, throwing, shooting, casting glances, producing, creation (in the concrete sense), product, offspring, membrum virile (penis).
Atman – to breathe, to move, to blow; the breath, the soul, principle of life and sensation, the individual soul, self, essence, nature, character, peculiarity; the person or whole body considered as one and opposed to the separate members of the body.
Paroccharet – the manifestation of the Supreme Goddess, the transcendental utterance of the breath mantra, upward thrust of the breath, buoyancy, upward rising. *
Utpatti – origin, creation, generation.
Dvitayasthane – at the two places. *
Bharanat – attentive awareness, close observation, *
Bharita – nourished, full, filled with nourishment.
Sthitih – state, situation.
This sutra suggests hundreds of breath meditations. Here are a few ways in to practice:
“Exhale and release yourself into the ocean of air in which we live and breathe. As you become empty, savor that emptiness. Merge with it. When you breathe in, AH! What a wonder, a delight, to become filled again with the nourishing surge of life.”
“Revel in the flow of the exhalation up through the throat, and out into the infinity above. Dissolve into the vastness of prana. Then there is a turning, and as the breath flows in you condense again into individuality again, your jiva.”
– As you exhale, think prana, and just to add texture, tilt your head upwards slightly, turn your face to the sky and be grateful for the infinity of air above and all around you. As you inhale, tilt your head downward slightly and think jiva, I am a living soul.
– As you breathe out, think the word purifying. As you breathe in, think nourishing. In each of the turning points, think pulsation (or rhythm or turning). So through the four parts of breath it would be, “Purifying . . . pulsation . . . nourishing . . . pulsation.”
– Exhale with the inner sound sah. In the turning, mmm. Inhale with the sound ha, then mmm again in the turning.
Pick one of these practices, and for three to five minutes, be lightly aware of the technique Think the words gently in your inner world. Then let go and just enjoy the flow of breath. Feel the magic of it, as you are renewed and rejuvenated by the energy of prana, breath by breath. Meditation is not pranayama, so do not use any effort at all. Discover your love of breath and let that be the power source of your practice.
We breathe in and out every few seconds, an ever-present way for an individual to feel nourished by infinity. This is the ongoing rhythm of life. With each breath, we have the freedom to receive this ambrosia we call breath.
The Vijnana Bhairava Tantra describes 112 Yogas of wonder and delight touching the divine in the midst of daily life. Dr. Roche does one-to-one coaching with individuals wishing to evolve their daily meditation practice and trains Yoga teachers how to teach meditation. For more information call (310) 570-2803.
Dr. Lorin Roche has been practicing and teaching from the Vijnana Bhairava Tantra since 1968. He has a PhD from the University of California at Irvine, where his research focused on the language meditators generate to describe their inner experiences. The Radiance Sutras, a new version of the Vijnana Bhairava Tantra, is available from Lorin’s website: lorinroche.com or email questions/comments to: lorin@lorinroche.com.
Dr. Lorin Roche began practicing with the Vijnana Bhairava Tantra in 1968 as part of scientific research on the physiology of meditation. He has a PhD from the University of California at Irvine, where his research focused on the language meditators generate to describe their inner experiences. He is the author of The Radiance Sutras and Meditation Made Easy. With his wife, Camille Maurine, he wrote Meditation Secrets for Women. A teacher of meditation for 46 years, Lorin’s approach centers on how to customize the practices to suit one’s individual nature. Lorin leads the Radiance Sutras Meditation Teacher Training, a 200 hour certification program registered with Yoga Alliance. Lorin teaches regularly at the Esalen Institute and around the world.