Dharana 52 of 112 · verse 68

Attention Within Intimacy

The tantric teaching that attention placed on joy during intimacy reveals its source.

Recorded, not taught

Shoonyaka does not offer this one as a guided practice. It is here because the collection is of all one hundred and twelve, and leaving it out would misrepresent the text.

Before you try this

Recorded for study. Not offered as a guided practice, and not appropriate for anyone under 18.

The practice

The verse instructs that during sexual union attention be placed on the joy itself, held between the beginning and the end of the act, so that one is filled by it and comes through it to an understanding of one’s own nature.

What it works on

These are the verses the Vijnana Bhairava is best known for and most often misrepresented. In the text they are unremarkable — three or four dharanas among a hundred and twelve, making the same point as the ones about food and music: a strong joy is a legitimate doorway when attention rests on the joy rather than on its object.

Notes

  • Shoonyaka records these dharanas because the text contains them and omitting them would misrepresent it. They belong between consenting adults and are not something this site guides.
  • The teaching itself is the general one: turn towards the joy, not the cause of it. Dharanas 49, 53, 55 and 56 make the same point in settings this site can properly support.

Practise gently

Shoonyaka offers educational and contemplative material, not medical, psychological or religious authority. Nothing here diagnoses or treats any condition. Stop any practice that leaves you dizzy, frightened or unwell, and treat a strong reaction as a reason to rest rather than to push on.