Meditation on the Void 0: Introduction
Channel: Consciousness Research Centre
Date: 2019-03-26

This series is classified Vivartha-vāda | Rāja-yoga | Suśupti | Ājñā-cakra
Followers of Essence of Dharma know that these videos are not mere doctrine or speculation, but a record of a living quest for enlightenment over many years. I always practice a teaching before I present it, talk only based on my experience, and authentically walk the Path.
After doing the Śrī Vidyā and Śrī Devī-Kālottara practices and completing the series, I felt a substantial improvement in my consciousness and quality of life. Observing my consciousness closely, however, revealed that it was still unstable, based on the senses and mind. There was still some sense of ‘I’ and ‘mine’, and due to that conditioned consciousness there was some unnecessary suffering. 
Further investigation and research into the Buddha’s teaching brought me to the conclusion that there still existed some saṅkhārā, ontic commitments and intentions creating this conditioned consciousness, abhisakhata-viññāna. I decided to seek an environment suitable for deep meditation to root out these undesirable saṅkhārā and attain a consciousness unestablished in name-and-form, appatitthita-cetana. 
The Buddha said,
tatra p’ahaṃ, bhikkhave, n’eva āgatiṃ vadāmi na gatiṃ na thitiṃ na cutiṃ na upapattiṃ, appatitthaṃ appavattaṃ anārammanaṃ eva taṃ, es’ev’anto dukkhassa.
“I say, monks, there is neither a coming, nor a going, nor a standing, nor a passing away, nor a being reborn; that state which is unestablished, non-continuing and objectless, is itself the end of suffering.” — Udāna 80, Pātaligāmiya-vagga
We talked about objectless absolute consciousness in several series, beginning with Rāmana Mahārshi’s teaching of Advaita. And of course, ‘the end of suffering’ is itself nibbāna. But to actually experience this state requires special conditions: a peaceful, sattvik place and supportive community. As destiny would have it, I found and was accepted by a traditional forest monastery. There I began to establish my practice at the level it was when I was a Buddhist monk.
In the previous series on Śrī Devī-Kālottara, Lord Śiva briefly gives the instruction to “Meditate on the Void.” But other than a few indications of the way of life best suited for that sādhana, he doesn’t really tell us how. 
Meditation on the Void is difficult for us. Our current consciousness is viññāna: conditioned by the temporary, perishable body and its imperfect senses and mind. The mind is so busy, confused and self-contradictory, we are beset with doubts about how to proceed. We are deeply attached and habituated to being someone, in a world full of things. The Void seems as far away as it possibly can be. 
Fortunately, the Buddha’s teaching offers a practical approach to the Void—śuññatā or emptiness. The key is in the Buddha’s definition of nibbāna.

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