At the Instant of Deprivation - Transcend
आधारेष्व् अथवा ऽशक्त्या ऽज्ञानाच् चित्तलयेन वा । जातशक्तिसमावेशक्षोभान्ते भैरवं वपुः ॥
ādhāreṣv athavā 'śaktyā 'jñānāc cittalayena vā | jātaśaktisamāveśakṣobhānte bhairavaṃ vapuḥ ||
VBT Verse 112
The Sutra
"Suppose you are gradually being deprived of strength or of knowledge. At the instant of deprivation, transcend."
Paul Reps translation, Zen Flesh, Zen Bones (1957)
Understanding
A technique for life's darkest moments. When you are losing something - strength fading in illness, knowledge failing in confusion, power being stripped away - there is an instant, a precise moment, where the deprivation hits its depth. AT THAT VERY INSTANT, transcend. Use the very energy of loss as a springboard. This is the deepest alchemy: turning defeat into liberation.
Original Sanskrit
आधारेष्व् अथवा ऽशक्त्या ऽज्ञानाच् चित्तलयेन वा । जातशक्तिसमावेशक्षोभान्ते भैरवं वपुः ॥
ādhāreṣv athavā 'śaktyā 'jñānāc cittalayena vā | jātaśaktisamāveśakṣobhānte bhairavaṃ vapuḥ ||
Vijnanabhairava Verse 112 (Technique 28 of 112)
How to Practice
This technique is practiced in real life situations of genuine loss - not imagined ones.
When you feel strength, knowledge, certainty, or power being taken away, do not resist.
Allow the deprivation to happen. Feel it fully. Do not run from the feeling of loss.
There comes an exact instant - a tipping point - where the deprivation is total.
AT THAT INSTANT, instead of collapsing into despair, leap inward. Use the momentum of the fall.
The ego expects you to crumble. Instead, you transcend. The falling becomes flying.
This is an advanced practice that requires courage and presence in real adversity.
Duration
Spontaneous - during moments of genuine loss
Best Time
When life presents the situation
Related Techniques
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