Swami Lakshmanjoo - The Manual for Self Realization: 112 Meditations of the Vijnana Bhairava Tantra

VIJNA BHAIRAVA

The Manual for Self Realization

REVEALED BY

Swami Lakshmanjoo

EDITED BY

John Hughes

Lakshmanjoo Academy

Published by:

Lakshmanjoo Academy

Copyright 2015 John Hughes

All rights reserved. No part of this book or the associated MP3 audio may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.

First Edition 2007 (Universal Shaiva Fellowship)

First printing 2012 (Universal Shaiva Fellowship)

Second Edition 2015 (Lakshmanjoo Academy)

Printed in the United States of America

For information, address

Lakshmanjoo Academy

Telephone: 1 (310) 837-0402

Email:

http://www.lakshmanjooacademy.org

ISBN 13: 978-0-9966365-0-6 (ebook)

This pursuit is dedicated to Swamiji
to whom I owe everything.

CONTENTS

GUIDE TO PRONUNCIATION

The following English words exemplify the pronunciation of selected Sanskit vowels and consonants. The Romanized Sanskit vowel or consonant is first listed and then a English word is given to aid you in its proper pronunciation.

Preface to the Second Edition

It has been eight years since the Lakshmanjoo Academys last publication of Swamijis translation of the Vijna Bhairava The Manual for Self-Realization. I am pleased to introduce our latest edition, which now includes additional footnotes, an elaborate appendix, an index, and free downloadable audio. In this edition, footnotes within quotation marks are Swamiji's own words from published texts and/or the USF archives. All other footnotes are the editor's notes. I am confident that this edition will afford the reader more clarity and understanding of the 112 contemplative practices of the Vijna Bhairava.

May Swamijis blessing continue to shine upon you!

John Hughes

Lakshmanjoo Academy

Culver City, California

August 14, 2015

Preface to the First Edition

In this audio study set, the fully Self-realized master, Swami Lakshmanjoo, translates and elucidates 112 paths towards Self-realization, which are revealed by God (Bhairava) to His beloved consort (Bhairav) in the seminal Kashmir Shaiva text, the Vijna Bhairava. Having dedicated his whole life to the philosophy and practice of Kashmir Shaivism, Swamiji was uniquely qualified to reveal this oft misinterpreted and misunderstood text.

For more than half a century, scholars and aspirants from all over the world came to study the Vijna Bhairava under Swamijis guidance. All have acknowledged Swamijis invaluable contribution to the clarification of this esoteric text. In his classic, Zen Flesh, Zen Bones (1959), Paul Reps dedicated the fourth chapter on Centering to Swami Lakshmanjoo

In 2002, Vijna Bhairava The Practice of Centering Awareness found its way into the market place. This book was compiled from my preliminary transcript of Swamijis lectures, which was unedited and incomplete. This transcript was unfortunately misappropriated and given to two independent authors for publishing without my consent. Any intelligent reader will see that, by comparison with the present publication it is incomplete and fraught with mistakes.

These revelations of the Vijna Bhairava were recorded at various times between 1973 and 1984. The recordings include Swami Lakshmanjoos initial rendering of the verses and the practices they prescribe along with further clarifications and explanations. These additional clarifications were given at the request of some of Swamijis devotees, who continued to have difficulty understanding certain verses and associated practices. It is because these recordings were made at different times and with different equipment that the audio quality varies throughout.

I have chosen to publish Swamijis translation and commentary on the Vijna Bhairava as an audio study set because I am convinced that the subtletites of this divine revelation will be better conveyed by directly listening to the voice of a realized master. The accompanying transcript has been edited for the purposes of clarifying technical terms and concepts as well as for the purposes of making Swamijis revelation more accessible to the native-English speaker.

The transcript itself has been kept as close as possible to the original spoken word. On a few occasions, where deemed necessary for clarity, I have added additional words within square brackets. Words within rounded brackets are Swamijis own words. Also, very occasionally a word here or there has been amended for the sake of the flow of the English. Numerous footnotes have been added to help in the study of this text, all of which are Swamijis own words unless specified as an editors note or simply a text reference or a literal translation of a Sanskrit word.

To further assist the adept in the comprehension of this text, each dhra, or meditation, has been separated into individual audio tracks. At the behest of Swamiji, each verse has been presented in the transcript in the original Devanagari followed by the Romanized transliteration.

The original Sanskrit text used by Swamiji was the Vijna Bhairava, published in 1918 as Volume 8 in the Kashmir Series of Texts and Studies (KSTS). Even though this particular volume contains a commentary, partly by Khemarja and partly by Shivopdhyya, Swamiji chose to use it only as a reference for the original verses.

I am sure you will find Swamiji's revelation of the Vijna Bhairava to be profoundly inspiring and illuminating.

May Swamijis blessing shine upon you!

John Hughes

Universal Shaiva Fellowship

Culver City, California

September 29, 2007

Zen Flesh, Zen Bones: A Collection of Zen and Pre-Zen Writings, Paul Reps, Anchor Books, New York, 1957.

Le Vijna Bhairava, Lilian Silburn, Publications de IInstitut de Civilisation Indienne, Editions E. de Boccard, Paris, 1961.

Vijnabhairava or Divine Consciousness, Jaideva Singh, Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi, 1979.

Vijna Bhairava The Practice of Centering