The Embrace Of Space: Radiance Sutras Verse 36

So today we are reading from the Radiant Sutras by Lauren Roche.

This is a beautiful translation,

Interpretation of the Vijnana Bhairava Tantra,

Which is an ancient tantric text.

There's a lot of different tantras in the world and not just the Neo-tantra that's sort of become very popular,

But even the ancient tantric paths,

There were many schools.

There were those that followed Shakti and Shiva and just all kinds of different schools of tantra,

Even thousands of years ago.

But this one,

This Vijnana Bhairava Tantra comes out of the Kashmir Shaivism Tantric school.

And if I have past lives as a tantric scholar,

Tantrica,

Something,

I'm sure it's this one.

It really resonates and when I hear it,

It just lines me up.

And it also shows me sometimes how far off my path I am.

Sometimes I'll read a passage and it feels so far away.

It feels so impossible to hold this in my consciousness and still get everything done,

To still accomplish everything I want to accomplish.

And that really intrigues me.

Like it intrigues me that I have such a mental program running that must accomplish so many things.

Like for example right now,

I'm winding a few things up before I go camping for a week,

And then I have a few days before my sabbatical.

So my mind is like,

Oh man,

There's this and this and this and this and this.

And so the idea of say embracing one of these these concepts of allowing ourselves to dissolve into nothingness,

It feels so far away from my life.

Like it feels so far away from where I'm living in this moment.

But that interests me.

It interests me how we can bring them back together.

Is there some kind of system I can put into place in my life that creates a strong enough structure so that I can release into chaos.

I can release into the unknown and the void.

And everything will still get done.

So if you are new,

What we're gonna do is I'm gonna read a passage.

Today we are reading verse 36,

Page 71,

If you have the book.

And then we're gonna discuss it.

And then at the end we'll do a meditation.

And I will reread the passage in Sanskrit and in English.

So let's close our eyes.

Let's come into our breath,

Expanding the belly as we inhale.

Contracting as we exhale,

Relaxing your shoulders,

Letting your chin tuck in a little bit.

Just breathing deeply,

Relaxing the nervous system.

Really letting ourselves come into this moment.

Space is worthy of worship and wonder.

It is the field within which everything exists.

Rest your eyes in emptiness,

Inside a room,

A temple,

Even a little jar,

Any contained space.

Throw the one who is seeing into the center.

Entrust your mind to embrace the space and in a flash all boundaries dissolve.

What comes up for you when you hear that?

What feelings come in or what thoughts come in?

Bliss.

Freedom.

Container becoming part of the space.

Relief.

I'm attached to my boundaries.

Love.

It's the stillness we just talked about,

Soothing and freeing.

Ah,

That we think we are contained but are really infinite.

Space is not outside but inside.

Freedom.

This feeling isn't that easy to dissolve boundaries.

There's something intimidating about it but wonderful.

Containment is illusion that we are infinite.

I'm going to read to you the literal translation from this book,

The Sri Vijnanavairava Tantra,

The Ascent.

One should fix his sight on the empty space inside the pot,

Leaving aside the enclosing structure.

Thus,

The pot being gone,

The mind will at once be dissolved into the space,

And through this laya the mind becomes completely absorbed in the void.

So it's just like what you guys have been saying.

If you picture a pot,

A mud clay pot,

And you look inside the pot,

We look inside and we say,

Ah,

This is the space in the pot.

And in many ways the space defines the pot.

The space is the point.

That's why we have a pot,

Is to contain,

So that we can contain things in it.

If you build a house,

The point of building the house is the space inside.

So that we can put things in the space,

Or we can live in the space.

The house is irrelevant.

It's the space that matters.

If you design a room,

If you organize your living room in a way that feels comfortable,

It isn't the couch that matters,

It's the space that we sit in that matters.

So there's something very magical about space.

So imagine you're sitting there and you're gazing at the pot,

You're gazing at the space inside the pot,

And you let yourself get lost in it.

And as he says,

To throw yourself,

Throw your attention into that space,

And kind of swim around in that.

That's what I always picture.

You're kind of swimming around in the space.

Your consciousness is kind of just flowing around in the space.

And then all of a sudden,

The walls of the pot disappear.

Well now you're just flowing in space.

So the idea that the space inside is exactly the same as the space outside.

If you even imagine this within ourselves,

This body,

These lungs,

It's just a container for space.

And it's what's happening inside that really matters.

And at the same time,

The space inside that holds all of this stuff that really matters is exactly the same as the space outside.

If you put your hand in front of your face a few inches away,

This space is exactly the same as the space inside.

And one thing that really struck me when I was researching this,

Is there's a word,

This is out of the Sri Vijnana Bhairava Tantra,

So they're talking about the word Kumbha.

K-U-M-B-H-A Kumbha is an important concept of Tantra from which the word kumbhaka,

Or retention,

Arose.

This term was used earlier in relation to the Dharanas on Pranayama,

Which Dharana is just the focus on the breath.

The word kumbha literally means that which retains something.

Thus the word kumbhaka signifies the process whereby the vayus and breath are retained,

Either inside or outside the body.

In the same way in this Dharana,

A Dharana,

A focus or a meditation,

In the same way in this Dharana,

You are asked to focus on the space retained within the kumbha,

Then experience the walls of the kumbha have broken to allow the inside space to merge with the space outside.

What intrigues me about that is I always teach breath retention.

There's many meditations that we've done where you inhale and you just retain the breath.

You don't hold the breath,

You just stop breathing.

There's a big difference between,

Say for example,

Let's try this,

And we inhale deeply and imagine holding the breath like you've just jumped into a pool or something and you're like,

And you can feel there's tension in the chest as you're like holding the breath.

Okay,

Then release that.

And so this time,

If we inhale,

Let's just inhale retaining the breath in the body.

We're not holding,

We're just retaining.

So we take a deep breath in,

And we just retain.

There's no holding,

We just stop breathing.

And then we exhale all the air out.

And again,

Now we retain the breath out.

So then release that.

And I don't know why this is so striking me today.

I've just,

You know how you just hear something said something just slightly different.

So imagine,

This is how I interpret this or what's tickling me right now,

Is that we have breath inside of us right now that is flowing through our lungs,

Oxygenating our blood,

Like all these wonderful things.

So when we inhale,

We basically just retain the breath inside.

We retain the space inside the clay pot.

And we allow it to kind of circulate.

Now when we exhale,

Now all that breath is now outside the pot,

Right?

It's now outside the room.

And all we're doing is holding it out.

I don't know why this is so different than how I've ever,

You know,

When I think of holding the breath out,

It feels like an internal thing.

Like I am efforting to hold the breath out and I don't like it.

I'm holding the breath out.

There's this tension or something.

But instead,

The space that is inside the pot and outside the pot are the same.

And when I retain it in,

I simply keep it within.

I simply keep it within.

When I exhale,

It's just simply outside of me.

I just wanted to share that with you because I just,

There's something significant about that,

That I need to sleep on a lot.

That's when I think magical things happen.

That's when magical things happen.

You have to have an idea and let it kind of turn you sideways a little bit.

And then you have a few good sleeps.

And all of a sudden it's just part of you or something.

I like that difference.

Not holding,

But just allowing the cessation.

Big difference.

Again,

I can't quite put my finger on why that's so intriguing to me.

But I find it so interesting.

And so then the idea of this meditation is that,

Well,

Let's say for example,

Let's say the room that you're sitting in right now.

Assuming you're sitting in a room.

If you're sitting outside,

Then close your eyes and visualize yourself in a room.

But just right now,

Just gaze around the room that you're in.

Be aware of the space.

Be aware of the space.

Be really aware of the space in the room.

The space between all the furniture,

The things that are on the floor,

Whatever.

This is your space and you feel comfortable in this space and you're walking around this space.

But now imagine that the walls disappeared.

And it was almost just an illusion.

The walls were just pretend.

Or maybe you have x-ray vision and you can just see through the walls because it's really just vibrating particles anyway.

And you feel how different that feels?

Do you know what I mean?

Like it feels so different.

Like for me,

My first thought,

Well actually,

How does that make you feel?

If you imagine the walls of where you are suddenly are gone.

And the space you're in right now is continuous with all the space around you.

What does that feel like?

And there's no right answer.

I'm comfortable.

That's what I was going to say too.

Expansive.

Free.

Free on one side because it's a wall of windows.

Maybe it gives an equilibrium between the inside and the outside.

Maybe it gives an equilibrium between the inside and outside that breaks down the barriers.

Exposed and connected.

Exposed.

Isn't that interesting?

Because it's all of those things.

It's expansive.

It's free.

It's scary.

It's uncomfortable.

It's a feeling of exposed.

Wonderful.

I have done that when having an MRI.

That's genius.

How genius is that?

I keep my office door open to let the outside in even if it's super hot.

The funny thing is,

When I was sitting here and I first thought of this,

I thought,

Okay,

So what if the walls disappeared?

My first thought was,

No,

No,

No,

I'm inside because I like the containment.

I like being inside.

I'm choosing to be inside.

Next week when I'm camping,

I'll be outside in a tent.

Very obvious that I am only a tiny bit of canvas between me and the world.

But right now I like the containment.

You wonder if that's the joy of having a body.

Imagine the joy of the containment inside of our bodies.

That although we are all the universe and everything,

The fact that we have a body creates a very comfortable containment or retaining of the energy.

Imagine being able to rest inside our own body,

Just like you would rest inside a home that you are comfortable in.

Within this body are my thoughts,

My energy,

My soul,

My choice.

My voices.

And then even if you do walk outside,

You have your body.

You have your home always with you.

Even though you know that you are also infinite,

You know that you are everything also,

You can enjoy being in the body.

It is really that tantric perspective that we know that we are fully infinite,

But we also get to play inside this interesting body.

It's like having our own little apartment that we get to decorate however we want,

Instead of feeling like the shell is not my soul.

Like what a gift!

And you know,

And the truth is,

Even our limitations are such a gift.

Sometimes it's like,

Oh,

But I wish I could be all of this,

But it's like,

Most people here probably have done some kind of renovation before,

That in many ways it's easier to renovate a house room by room than it is to build a brand new house.

Like there's something more contained about it,

That it's like,

Well I can look at my bathroom and I can imagine what I want in there.

And I can renovate that.

And then maybe I'll fix up a porch.

There's something about the limitation that creates an interesting set of possibilities.

Whereas if someone just says,

Here's all the money you want,

And just build a house,

Whatever.

Or maybe you don't have all the money you want,

But you just build a house.

Just do it.

You're like,

I don't even know where to start.

It gets so overwhelming.

And so even in our own lives,

Our own experiences,

Everything,

What gender we are,

What country we live in,

What family we grew up in,

Whatever,

All of those things sort of give us a definition,

A container for us to wander around the world in.

So let's do a meditation.

Let's close our eyes.

Sit nice and tall.

Interlace your fingers.

Let your thumbs touch together.

Really press your sit bones down into the earth.

Let your shoulders relax.

Let your chin tuck in just a little bit,

Allowing the spine to be straight all the way up the neck.

And then focusing on your breath.

Focusing on the belly,

Expanding as we inhale.

Contracting as we exhale.

On your next inhale,

Expanding the belly and expanding the ribs.

And just releasing as we exhale.

And then on the next inhale,

Expanding the belly,

The ribs,

And the upper chest,

Rising.

And as you exhale,

Releasing it all.

And when you're inhaling this way,

Almost feeling like as that lower belly expands,

The middle expands,

And the upper chest rises,

Like you're actually stretching from below your belly button to the upper chest as you inhale.

Then we're going to play with kumbhaka,

This breath retention.

And in your own time,

As you inhale,

When you get to the top of the breath,

Just stop breathing.

Retain this breath within your body,

Within the container.

And then exhale.

And keep the breath out.

No pressure,

No stress.

The breath is now outside of your body.

And again,

Inhale.

Bringing the outside space inside the body and retain the breath.

And then sharing our inside breath with the outside by exhaling.

And holding the breath out.

And just continue doing this a couple times.

Really bringing your awareness of this breath or this space that you are transferring from the inside and experiencing,

And then to the outside of your body and experiencing.

And then allow your breath to be natural.

Feeling this easy flow from inside to outside.

And let's do a visualization.

I want you to imagine a cabin that is perfectly for you.

It's so comfortable.

It has the exact kind of chair you love to sit in to relax or read.

The bed is so comfortable.

It has everything you need.

So imagine yourself walking up towards the cabin,

Opening the door,

And going inside.

And maybe you just sit on the chair.

And you enjoy this lovely cabin.

Maybe you have music playing.

Maybe it smells like muffins baking in the oven.

Maybe it smells like muffins baking in the oven.

And you're enjoying this wonderful space inside.

And you do that for an hour or so.

And you decide,

You know,

I'm going to go for a walk.

So in your vision,

You get up and you put your shoes on and you walk outside.

Or maybe you don't put your shoes on.

You walk outside,

And there's this beautiful wide open space.

Wide open space beside a lake or whatever is comfortable for you.

And as you're walking,

You lift your arms out to the side,

And you feel the wind flowing by your body.

And you feel yourself held by the blue sky and the sunshine.

And you feel your fingertips pointing out into infinite direction all around you.

Maybe even you spin a little bit,

Skipping along the path or the open grass.

And you feel yourself a part of nature.

And then you find yourself back at the cabin.

And you go inside and you wash up a little and maybe pour a cup of water.

And you have a cup of tea and you sit down again.

And you enjoy this lovely container of the cabin.

And then as you're sitting in your chair,

You remember walking outside and feeling part of nature.

And suddenly you become aware of the birdsong outside.

Maybe the sound of critters wandering around outside the cabin.

And even sitting in the cabin,

You feel a part of nature.

You feel a part of that expansiveness.

And I'd love for you to just breathe that in,

Long deep breaths.

The oneness of the space inside and the space outside.

Maya Bhavet Space is worthy of worship and wonder.

It is a field within which everything exists.

Rest your eyes in emptiness.

Inside a room,

A temple,

Even a little jar.

Any contained space.

Throw the one who is seeing into the center.

Entrust your mind to the embrace of space.

In a flash,

All boundaries dissolve.

Let's take a few more breaths together.

Let's take one last deep breath in together.

Exhale.

Let's open our eyes and come back.

So thank you so much for being here.

I hope you have a wonderful day.