“It is an ancient teaching, copied and recopied countless times, and from it Lakshmanjoo has made the beginnings of an English version. I transcribe it eleven more times to get it into the form given here.”

Shiva first chanted it to his consort Devi in a language of love we have yet to learn. It is about the immanent experience. It presents 112 ways to open the invisible door of consciousness. I see Lakshmanjoo gives his life to its practicing.

Some of the ways may appear redundant, yet each differs from any other. Some may seem simple, yet any one requires constant dedication even to test it.

Machines, ledgers, dancers, athletes balance. Just as centering or balance augments various skills, so it may awareness. As an experiment, try standing equally on both feet; then imagine you are shifting your balance slightly from foot to foot: just as balance centers, do you.”

A Dharana is a focal point, a method of practice. We use a dharana to find our center, but our center is not in the dharana, our center is in our own state of being. That’s why the preface to the Vijnana Bhairava took so much time explain that techniques are just the doorway, not the destination.

It may be helpful to look at Patanjali’s explanation of the word Dharana as well, to see the transition we make from focal point to experience:

3.1-3.4

Dharana, or concentration, is the act of fixing the mind on one thing. Here there is a perceived separation between the object and the practitioner.

Dhyana, or meditation, is when the focus of dharana becomes a steady, uninterrupted flow of attention. Here the separation between the practitioner and the object dissolves.

Samadhi is when, in the practice of dhyana, both the practitioner and the object of focus dissolve into the Self. Then there is no such thing as practitioner or object, only absorption in the Self.

These three limbs are grouped together because the difference between them is very slight, they may not all happen in a clear sequence, and they may intermingle. Together they comprise a practice called sanyama (integration).

So once again we see the path we must tread, from an outer object of focus, to an uninterrupted flow of awareness, to our state of being. This recalls the original question from Shakti/Devi at the start of the preface, what is the path we must tread to our enlightenment? And after 8 classes together, Shiva answers quite simply— Energy is the path we must tread. These techniques are ways of helping us work with energy— they may begin on the horizontal level, but ultimately they exist to guide us on a vertical plane.

With this we can begin the Dharanas themselves, via Paul Reps translation:

“DEVI SAYS:

O Shiva, what is your reality?

What is this wonder-filled universe?

What constitutes seed?

Who centers the universal wheel?

What is this life beyond form pervading forms?

How may we enter it fully, above space and time, names and descriptions?

Let my doubts be cleared!

SHIVA REPLIES:

(Devi, though already enlightened, has asked the foregoing questions so others through the universe might receive Shiva’s instructions. Now follow Shiva’s reply, giving the 112 ways.)

1. Radiant one, this experience may dawn between two breaths. After breath comes in (down) and just before turning up (out)—the beneficence.”

Para devi or Highest Sakti who is of the nature of visarga

goes on (ceaselessly) expressing herself upward (ürdhve) (from the centre of the body to dvdasanta, or a distance of twelve fingers, in the form of exhalation (präna) and downward (adhah) (from dvadasanta to the centre of the body) in the form of inhalation (jiva or apâna). By steady fixation of the mind (bharanat) at the two places of their origin (viz., centre of the body in the case of prāna and dvadasänta in the case of apâna, there is the situation of plenitude (bharitästhitih which is the state of parasakti or nature of Bhairava).

This Dharana has points that we will unpack together:

Shakti is the nature of Visarga and expresses herself in two points, the center of the body and the dvadashanta

By steady fixation on these two points there is an experience of plentitude

This practice is known as Ham Sah

Para devi or Highest Sakti who is of the nature of visarga goes on (ceaselessly) expressing herself upward (ürdhve) (from the centre of the body to dvdasanta, or a distance of twelve fingers, in the form of exhalation (präna) and downward (adhah) (from dvadasanta to the centre of the body) in the form of inhalation (jiva or apâna).

We begin by seeing a term that may be new to you, ‘visarga’ which is used in the Dharana to describe the nature of Shakti, of manifestation, as well as the movement of our inhale and exhale. Visarga is a Sanskrit sounds, a breath that is inserted after certain vowels and before certain consonants. For example, when we repeat the mantra Om Namah Shivaya, you’ve probably been taught or have noticed that there is a breath after the Namah, which I sometimes pronounced Nam-aha. That breath is an example of a Visarga sound.

In Devanagari, this is represented by two dots, like a colon. These two dots are more than just a method of writing, but actually refer to the energetic destination points of the inhale and the exhale in our physical and subtle bodies. Yet another reason Sanskrit is such a profound language— it is born from the practice. The bottom dot represents the inhale, known as Apana, because it ends in the heart. The upper dot represents the exhale, known as Prana, because it ends outside the body, slightly above the heart.