kashmir shaivism · Vijnana Bhairava Tantra (Kashmir Shaivism), one of the 112 dharanas taught by Bhairava to Devi
Vijnana Bhairava: Wherever the Mind Goes
A dharana that redirects rather than restrains attention: whatever the mind is drawn to, inward or outward, is met directly and held as the object of meditation itself, on the premise that nothing the mind can land on is separate from the one consciousness.
The theory, briefly
This dharana starts from a simple observation: wherever the mind goes, whether outward toward some object or color, or inward toward a thought or emotion, that is where the state of Shiva already is — since Shiva is omnipresent, the mind cannot go anywhere to escape it.
The practical implication is that the aspirant does not need to fight distraction or search for one correct object of concentration. Whatever currently has the mind's attention — an external thing like a jar or a color, or something internal like an emotion or a passing thought — can be taken with full conviction as Shiva itself, and made the actual object of meditation in that moment.
The text describes the effect of this repeated recognition: the object or emotion being meditated on this way stops appearing as something separate, isolated from the universal stream of consciousness, and instead appears as that consciousness in one particular aspect. This is said to free the mind of selfish and sensuous grasping and of the thought-constructs (vikalpas) that ordinarily fragment attention.
The practice
Meeting Whatever Arises as Shiva
10–20 minutes · Seated wherever you are, or practiced informally through the day — no specific asana or setup is prescribed by the text.
- 1Notice where your mind is currently drawn — an object, color, or sensation outward, or a thought or emotion inward.
- 2If you find you can't hold attention on any single chosen point, don't treat that as failure — this dharana exists precisely for that: there's no need to strain toward one mysterious, correct object of meditation.
- 3Rather than treating whatever currently has your attention as a distraction to overcome, meet it directly with the conviction that it is itself an expression of the one consciousness.
- 4Hold that specific object, sensation, thought, or emotion as the actual object of your meditation, rather than looking past it for something else.
- 5Notice that whatever you're meditating on this way stops appearing as separate or isolated from the wider stream of consciousness — instead it starts to appear as that same consciousness, simply wearing this particular shape for now.
- 6When attention moves to something new, apply the same recognition there too, without needing to return to one fixed point.
- 7Let this repeated recognition loosen the mind's usual grasping and fragmentation, since nothing it encounters is treated as separate from the whole.
- 8Since this awareness is said to be everywhere already, there is nowhere your mind can wander that takes it out of reach — let that possibility rest quietly in the background of the whole practice.
None stated in the source.
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