The Sutra
"In rain during a dark night, enter that blackness as the form of forms."
Paul Reps translation, Zen Flesh, Zen Bones (1957)
Understanding
A rainy dark night - no moon, no stars, just darkness and the sound and feeling of rain. Nothing is visible. This total blackness is not mere absence of light. It is the "form of forms" - the womb from which all forms emerge. Enter this blackness completely. Let it surround you, pervade you, become you. In the deepest darkness, the formless source of all forms is encountered.
Original Sanskrit
अस्य सर्वस्य विश्वस्य परियन्तेषु संस्थितः ॥
asya sarvasya vishvasya pariyanteshu samsthitah ||
Vijnanabhairava Verse 98 (Technique 75 of 112)
How to Practice
Wait for a dark rainy night, or create the conditions - complete darkness with the sound of rain (natural or recorded).
Sit where you can feel the darkness completely enveloping you. Close your eyes if needed, though the darkness is the same eyes open or closed.
Listen to the rain. Feel the moisture in the air. Let the sensory experience be complete.
Do not resist the darkness. Enter it. Let it be inside you as well as outside.
Feel this darkness as something positive, not mere absence - it is the womb of creation, the form of all forms.
Rest in this primordial darkness. Before light existed, this darkness was. It is the source of everything.
Duration
30-45 minutes
Best Time
Rainy dark night
Related Techniques
Begin Your Meditation Journey
Receive a 7-day dharana practice guide and weekly meditation teachings
Free 7-day practice guide delivered to your inbox
Discover Which Bhairava Guides Your Path
Take the free 2-minute Ashta Bhairava Quiz to find your guiding form
Take the Quiz