Practices focused on open spaciousness (śūnya) or emptiness (śūnyatā) are a dominant theme of the VBT, equalled only by the number of practices focused on energy. The six verses we now encounter give several interrelated techniques, all having spacious emptiness as their dominant theme. The scripture implicitly suggests that these (and the yuktis that follow) must be mastered before proceeding to the sensual and blissful practices that come later in the text.
Vijñāna-bhairava-tantra verse 43, Yukti #17 (a śāmbhava-upāya practice suitable for intermediate practitioners)
निजदेहे सर्वदिक्कं युगपद् भावयेद् वियत् ।
निर्विकल्पमनास् तस्य वियत् सर्वम् प्रवर्तते ॥ ४३ ॥
nija-dehe sarva-dikkaṃ yugapad bhāvayed viyat |
nirvikalpa-manās tasya viyat sarvaṃ pravartate || 43 ||
One should imagine spacious openness in all directions within one’s own body [and continuous with the surrounding space] simultaneously. [Through this meditation,] the mind becomes free of dichotomizing beliefs and everything becomes spacious.
Word-by-word breakdown: nija-dehe = in one’s own body; sarva-dikkaṃ = all directions; yugapat = simultaneously; bhāvayet = one should contemplate or imagine; viyat = sky, space, openness; nirvikalpa-manās = having a mind free of concepts or dichotomizing beliefs; tasya = for such a one; sarvam = everything; pravartate = is, becomes, proceeds, turns into.
Practice instructions from the forthcoming VBT card set:
ALTERNATE TRANSLATIONS:
a) If in one's body, one contemplates over śūnya (spatial vacuity) in all directions simultaneously (i.e. without succession) without any thought-construct, he experiences vacuity all around (and is identified with the vast expanse of consciousness). (SINGH)
b) (The yogi) should meditate on the Void within his own body in all directions (at once) simultaneously. (When his) mind (has thus become) free of thought, everything becomes void for him. (DYCZKOWSKI)
c) One should meditate on the void in one's own body on all sides simultaneously. When the mind has become free from thoughts, one experiences everything as the Void. (BÄUMER)
d) One should feel the sky in one's body, in all directions and all at once. Having undivided attention, all becomes alive as sky. (DUBOIS)
e) All the directions should be contemplated upon simultaneously in one’s own body as space or void. The mind (too) being free from all thoughts becomes dissolved (in the vacuous space of consciousness). (SATSANGI)
f) With mind free of thoughts, concentrate on one’s body. Imagine space simultaneously pervading in all directions. One will then become all pervasive. (CHAUDHRI)
g) If one were to contemplate on the vacuum of space simultaneously in all respects, one has the possibility of entering into the state of stoppage of all kinds of mentation with the consequence of experiencing himself as a sheer void. (Singh & Maheśvarānanda)
h) Qu’on évoque l’espace vide en son propre corps dans toutes les directions à la fois. (Alors) pour qui jouit d’une pensée libre de dualité, tout devient espace vide. (SILBURN)
i) On doit évoquer le ciel dans notre corps et dans toutes les directions à la fois. Pour celui qui est sans concept, tout se déploiera comme ciel. (DUBOIS)
j) Wenn man über den eigenen Körper so meditiert, daß in allen Richtungen gleichzeitig nichts als Leere ist, dann wird man frei von Vorstellungen und erfährt alles als leeren Raum. (BÄUMER)
k) Quien en su propio cuerpo concibe espacio abierto en todas las direcciones al mismo tiempo, libre de representaciones mentales, ante él todo deviene espacio abierto. (FIGUEROA)
l) When you contemplate the luminous spatiality of your own body radiating in every direction, you free yourself from duality and you merge into space. (ODIER)
m) Imagine spirit simultaneously within and around you until the entire universe spiritualizes. (REPS)
Note: SEMENOV suggests feeling space in all six directions like strings gently pulling in opposite directions, and he links this to pairs of opposite ideas (vikalpas).
Ānandabhaṭṭa’s ‘Moonlight’ commentary (c. 1650), translated from the Sanskrit into French by David Dubois, and from his French into English by DaleAnn Gray:
If one has a mind without dichotomizing thoughts, if one has a mind single focused in meditating on space in all directions – if one evokes vacuity in all parts without asking, “What is that?” – without conceptualizing the object as when one says, “It’s mother-of-pearl taken for silver” – then comes the ultimate space, (and not simply a void of objects), since for this (adept) the void and other (forms of non-being) are only concepts, imaginary dualistic constructions. It is exactly this that The [Stanzas on] Recognition explain:
Having forgotten the being of consciousness (as) by magic,
It manifests itself as absolutely delimited
In the body, in the intellect, in sensation
And in an imagined void in the image of space.
The subjective “I” that is awareness
(of the self) by negation of the other
Is assuredly an imaginary construction,
Because it appears relative to an opposite.
* * *
Verse 44, Yukti #18 (an āṇava-upāya practice suitable for beginning to intermediate practitioners)
पृष्टशून्यं मूलशून्यं युगपद् भावयेच् च यः ।
शरीरनिरपेक्षिण्या शक्त्या शून्यमना भवेत् ॥ ४४ ॥
pṛṣṭa-śūnyaṃ mūla-śūnyaṃ yugapad bhāvayec ca yaḥ |
śarīra-nirapekṣiṇyā śaktyā śūnyamanā bhavet || 44 ||
One should contemplate the space above [at the crown of the head] and the space in the root [of the body] simultaneously. Through the Power that is independent of the body, one’s mind will become spacious openness.
Word-by-word breakdown: pṛṣṭa-śūnya = upper space; mūla-śūnya = space at the root; yugapat = simultaneously; bhāvayet = one should contemplate, meditate on, or imagine; ca = and; yaḥ = one who; śarīra = physical body; nirapekṣiṇī = not reliant or dependent on, not looking to; śaktyā = by means of that power (instrumental case of śakti); śūnyamanā = one who has a mind that is spacious, open, and empty; bhavet = becomes.
Practice instructions from the forthcoming VBT card set:
ALTERNATE TRANSLATIONS:
a) He who contemplates simultaneously on the void above and the void at the base becomes, with the aid of the energy that is independent of the body, void-minded (i.e. completely free of all vikalpas or thought-constructs). (SINGH)
b) He who simultaneously contemplates the void above and the void in the root (foundation below) is, by the power (of consciousness) which is independent of the body, devoid of mind. (DYCZKOWSKI)
c) Meditating simultaneously on the void above and the void at the base; by the power of the energy which does not depend on the body, one's mind attains the state of Void. (BÄUMER)
d) One should feel the empty (space) above and the empty (space) below, all at once. Through the energy of not depending on the body, one’s attention shall become empty. (DUBOIS)
e) One who contemplates simultaneously on the void of the back (spinal column) and the void of the root becomes void-minded (completely free of all thought constructs or Vikalpas) by that energy which is independent of the body. (SATSANGI)
f) Meditate simultaneously, on the above as void and the base as void. The Energy that is independent of the body will make one devoid of thoughts. (CHAUDHRI)
g) If one were to contemplate on all-round vacuity simultaneously with the help of the power, which is independent of the body, one has the possibility of becoming free of all mental constructs. (Singh & Maheśvarānanda)
h) On doit évoquer en même temps le vide du sommet et le vide à la base. Du fait que l’Énergie est indépendante du corps, la pensée deviendra vide. (SILBURN)
i) On doit évoquer simultanément le vide au-dessus (de soi) et le vide en dessous. Grâce à la Puissance qui ne dépend pas du corps, on deviendra vide d’esprit. (DUBOIS)
j) Wenn man gleichzeitig über die Leere oben und die Leere an der Basis meditiert, dann erlangt man durch die vom Körper unabhängige Energie die Leere des Denkens. (BÄUMER)
k) Quien concibe al mismo tiempo el vacío arriba y el vacío en la base se libera de representaciones mentales; gracias a la independencia de la energía respecto al cuerpo, logra vaciar su mente. (FIGUEROA)
l) If you contemplate simultaneously spatially above and at the base, then bodiless energy will carry you beyond dualistic thought. (ODIER)
m) Kind Devi, enter etheric presence pervading far above and below your form. (REPS)
* * *
Verse 45, Yukti #19 (an āṇava-upāya practice suitable for experienced practitioners)
पृष्टशून्यं मूलशून्यं हृच्छून्यम् भावयेत् स्थिरम् ।
युगपन् निर्विकल्पत्वान् निर्विकल्पोदयस् ततः ॥ ४५ ॥
pṛṣṭa-śūnyaṃ mūla-śūnyaṃ hṛcchūnyam bhāvayet sthiram |
yugapan nirvikalpatvān nirvikalpodayas tataḥ || 45 ||
One may steadily contemplate the space above, the space in the root, and the space in the heart simultaneously. [In this process,] one becomes free of mental constructs & dichotomizing beliefs, due to which the unconstructed state arises.
Word-by-word breakdown as above, plus: hṛcchūnya = the space in the heart region; sthiram = steadily; nirvikalpatvāt = due to being free of mental constructs & dichotomizing beliefs; nirvikalpa-udayaḥ = the nonconceptual & unconstructed state arises; tataḥ = then.
Note: the commentator Śivopādhyāya says that the three spaces are associated with knower, knowing, and known respectively, all of which should be contemplated as purely empty.
Practice video for Yuktis 18 and 19:
ALTERNATIVE TRANSLATIONS:
a) In him who firmly contemplates over the void above, the void at the base and the void in the heart, there arises at the same time, because of his being free of all vikalpas, the state of Śiva who is above all vikalpas. (SINGH)
b) One should meditate firmly simultaneously on the void above, the void in the root (foundation below) and the void in the heart, thus being free of thought, (the liberated state) free of thought dawns. (DYCZKOWSKI)
c) If one meditates firmly on the void above, the void below, and the void in the heart, thus being free from all thoughts, then there arises simultaneously the thought-free state. (BÄUMER)
d) One should feel clearly (sthiram) the empty (space) above, below, in the heart, all at once. Because one is undivided, undivided (awareness) will rise. (DUBOIS)
e) By steady contemplation on the void of the back (sushumna), the void of the root and the void of the heart simultaneously, there arises the state of nirvikalpa, which is free from thought constructs. (SATSANGI)
f) Meditate firmly and simultaneously on the above as void, the base as void and the heart as void. Then, by being free of thoughts, will arise the state that is permanently free of thoughts. (CHAUDHRI)
g) If one were to contemplate firmly on void above, below and in the heart simultaneously, one has the prospect of becoming rid of all mental modifications culminating in the emergence of what lies beyond all mental constructs, that is, Śiva. (Singh & Maheśvarānanda)
h) Qu’on évoque avec fermeté et de façon simultanée le vide du sommet, le vide à la base et le vide du cœur. Grâce à l’absence de toute pensée dualisante, alors se lève (la Conscience) non-dualisante. (SILBURN)
i) On doit évoquer en toute quiétude et simultanément le vide au-dessus (de soi), le vide (comme) soi et le vide au cœur (du corps). Parce que l’on est sans concept, la (conscience) sans concept se manifeste alors. (DUBOIS)
j) Man soll mit Festigkeit gleichzeitig über die Leere oben, die Leere unten und die Leere im Herzen meditieren. Durch einen solchen Zustand frei von Vorstellungen erwacht das vorstellungsfreie Bewußtsein. (BÄUMER)
k) Quien firmemente concibe el vacío arriba, el vacío en la base y el vacío en el corazón se libera de representaciones mentales; debido a ello surge entonces, al mismo tiempo, el [estado] libre de representaciones.(FIGUEROA)
l) Reside simultaneously in the spatiality at the base, in your heart, and above your head. Thus, in the absence of dualistic thought, divine consciousness blossoms. (ODIER)
m) Put mindstuff in such inexpressible fineness above, below, and in your heart. (REPS)
* * *
Verse 46, Yukti #20 (a śāmbhava-upāya practice suitable for all levels)
तनूदेशे शून्यतैव क्षणमात्रं विभावयेत् ।
निर्विकल्पं निर्विकल्पो निर्विकल्पस्वरूपभाक् ॥ ४६ ॥
tanūdeśe śūnyataiva kṣaṇa-mātraṃ vibhāvayet |
nirvikalpaṃ nirvikalpo nirvikalpa-svarūpa-bhāk || 46 ||
In any given moment, one may contemplate any part of the body as if it were pure Emptiness, without thinking about it. One who is free of dichotomizing beliefs [in this way] directly senses & participates in their unconstructed essence-nature.
Word-by-word breakdown: tanūdeśa = a part or region of the body; śūnyatā = emptiness, spaciousness, openness; eva = merely, simply, purely; kṣaṇa-mātram = for a moment, in any given moment, suddenly; vibhāvayet = one may contemplate, one should meditate on, one may imagine; nirvikalpam (adv.) = nonconceptually; nirvikalpaḥ = one who is free from concept; nirvikalpa-svarūpa-bhāk = one who experiences/ participates in/ abides in/ is devotedly attentive to (-bhāk) their unconstructed/nonconceptual (nirvikalpa-) essence-nature/ real form (svarūpa).
Notes: though I translated “in any given moment,” which rightly suggests the practice can be done at any moment in the day when your attention lands on a body part, kṣaṇa-mātram may also mean “for a moment,” meaning the practice can be done as a micro-meditation, for just a minute here and a minute there. In the latter case, frequency is important to have an effect.
In the verse, śūnyatā is in the nominative case of the grammatical subject. The commentator adds an ‘iti’ to suggest that it should be taken in the direct object case instead. But if we took the nominative seriously, the verse would actually mean “Emptiness causes one to contemplate the nonconceptual in any part of the body for a moment”—an intriguing if unlikely possibility.
Finally, the commentator Śivopādhyāya says that “one who is free from concepts” connotes also “one who is free from any fear arising from the realization of objectlessness.”
Reflection: the practice here entails that when you contemplate any body part, you should see that it is, in reality, empty of all your conceptions of it. We have ideas and judgements about nearly every part of the body, and here we’re invited to consider each part of the body as it really is: completely empty of our ideas about it. What is left, then? Just a sensation. If I bring my attention to my right foot, and if I have an experience of it that is nonconceptual, then it’s simple, raw sensation. It’s always already free of any notions imposed on it, even ‘mine’.
Practice instructions from the forthcoming VBT card set:
ALTERNATIVE TRANSLATIONS:
a) If a yogi contemplates over his body believed to be the limited empirical subject as void even for a while with an attention freed of all vikalpas (thought-constructs), he becomes liberated from vikalpas and finaIly acquires the state of Bhairava who is above all vikalpas. (SINGH)
b) If one reflects (and perceives) in a manner free of thought (even) for just a moment that within (any) place in the body there is only emptiness, the one who is (thus) free of thought possesses the nature of (that reality) free of thought. (DYCZKOWSKI)
c) If one contemplates in a thoughtfree {sic} way on any point in the body as mere void even for a moment, then, being free from thoughts one attains the nature of the Thought-free (Siva). (BÄUMER)
d) One should feel, just for a moment, that very emptiness within the body, in an undivided manner (nirvikalpam). Undivided shall enjoy one’s undivided essence. (DUBOIS)
e) If one concentrates on the body as a void, even for a moment, with the mind free from thought, then one attains thoughtlessness and verily becomes that form of void [known as Bhairava]. (SATSANGI)
f) Free from thoughts, consider for a short while, any part of one’s body as only void. One becomes permanently free of thoughts. Then, one’s own form attains the splendor of the state that is free of thoughts. (CHAUDHRI)
g) If one were to think of complete void in the place of one’s body even for a moment, and thus were to become free of all mental constructs, one has the possibility of realising one’s oneness with what lies above all mental constructs. (Singh & Maheśvarānanda)
h) Si l’on évoque, rien qu’un instant, l’absence de dualité en un point quelconque du corps; voilà la Vacuité même. Libéré de toute pensée dualisante, on accédera à l’essence non-dualisante. (SILBURN)
i) On doit évoquer sans concept, (ne serait-ce que le temps d’) un seul instant, une pure vacuité en un endroit du corps. Celui qui est alors sans concept en vient à goûter sa vraie nature sans concepts. (DUBOIS)
j) Wenn man auch nur für einen Augenblick seine Aufmerksamkeit frei von Gedanken auf irgendeinen Punkt des Körpers richtet und dort die Leere betrachtet, dann wird man frei von Gedanken und erlangt das Wesen des gedankenfreien (göttlichen) Bewußtseins. (BÄUMER)
k) En el espacio corporal, vacuidad y nada más: quien esto concibe incluso por un instante [con una mente] libre de representaciones, libre de representaciones participa en el estado libre de representaciones. (FIGUEROA)
l) In one moment, perceive non-duality in one spot of your body, penetrate this limitless space and reach the essence freed from duality. (ODIER)
m) Consider any area of your present form as limitlessly spacious. (REPS)
* * *
Verse 47, Yukti #21 (a śāmbhava-upāya practice suitable for all levels)
सर्वं देहगतं द्रव्यं वियद्व्याप्तं मृगेक्षणे ।
विभावयेत् ततस् तस्य भावना सा स्थिरा भवेत् ॥ ४७ ॥
sarvaṃ dehagataṃ dravyaṃ viyad-vyāptaṃ mṛgekṣaṇe |
vibhāvayet tatas tasya bhāvanā sā sthirā bhavet || 47 ||
O doe-eyed woman, one may imagine that all the tissues of the body are pervaded by Space; through this [practice], one’s meditation will become stable & steady.
Word-by-word breakdown: sarvam = all; dravyam = tissues, substances; deha-gatam = in the body; viyad-vyāptam = pervaded by space or sky; mṛgekṣaṇā = doe-eyed one (f.); vibhāvayet = one should contemplate, one may imagine; tataḥ = from that, due to that; tasya = one’s; bhāvanā = meditation; sā = it, that; sthirā = steady, firm, stable; bhavet = becomes, will become.
Poetic (yet still accurate) translation by DaleAnn Gray: Consider every body-abiding substance as sky-filled, O Beautiful One, then creative contemplation may stand steadfast.
Discussion: The first thing that catches the reader by surprise with this verse is the vocative, “O doe-eyed woman,” because by this point, you may have forgotten the frame story, which is that this whole text is a dialogue between Śiva and Śakti—Bhairava and Bhairavī. Here, we get a reminder of that fact with mṛgekṣaṇe, which literally means, “O woman whose eyes are beautiful like those of a doe.” There’s no philosophical point there other than to remind us that these practices emerge in the context of consciousness relating to its own energy. What’s interesting is that almost all of the other translators (see below) have the phrase “gazelle-eyed woman” or “gazelle-eyed goddess”—which makes me think that nearly all of them are relying too much on the earliest translation, that by Jaidev Singh, because in fact there’s no real reason to prefer ‘gazelle’ to ‘deer’ or ‘antelope’, because a mṛga is any four-footed cloven-hooved herbivorous forest animal.
Since the word dravya is very general and can mean many things, the commentator helps us out and tells us that the dravyas here are the dhātus of Ayurveda, namely hair, skin, muscle, blood, fat, bone, and marrow. One should imagine that the tissues of the body are pervaded by space or have the nature of the sky (viyat), one by one, from the outermost (hair) to the innermost (marrow). Though this practice, we are told, one’s meditation will become stable and steady. In that phrase, we get the same word found in that famous sūtra from the Yogasūtra that describes āsana—sthirasukham āsanam—that one’s posture should be sthira, stable and steady, as well as sukha, pleasant and easeful. The word sthira is related to asthi, ‘bone’, for it is the bones that allow for physical stability.
Practice instructions from the forthcoming VBT card set:
ALTERNATIVE TRANSLATIONS:
a) O gazelle-eyed one, (if the aspirant is incapable of śūnya-bhāva immediately), let him contemplate over the constituents of his body like bone, flesh, etc. as pervaded with mere vacuity. (After this practice), his bhāvanā (contemplation) of vacuity will become steady, (and at last he will experience the light of consciousness). (SINGH)
b) O gazelle-eyed one! If (one is unable to do this), one should reflect that all the substance present in the body is pervaded by the Void; then one’s contemplation (of the Void) will be firm. (DYCZKOWSKI)
c) O gazelle-eyed Goddess, if one contemplates on all the elements constituting the body as pervaded by void, then one's contemplation (of the Void) will become firm. (BÄUMER)
d) O gazelle-eyed-one! One should feel all the substance of one's body as being pervaded by space. Then one's feeling shall become stable. (DUBOIS)
e) O gazelle-eyed one, concentrate upon all the constituents of the body pervaded by space, so that the thought becomes steady. (SATSANGI)
f) O deer-eyed one, consider all the constituents of one’s body to be pervaded by empty space. Then, one will permanently become settled in that conception. (CHAUDHRI)
g) Even if one were to contemplate on the basic stuff, that is, the space our body is made of, O gazelle-eyed Bhairavi, one has the possibility of getting established in this idea with the consequence of experiencing sheer vacuity in place of the body followed by realisation of Śiva. (Singh & Maheśvarānanda)
h) O Belle aux yeux de gazelle! Qu’on évoque intensément toute la substance qui forme le corps comme pénétrée d’éther. Et cette évocation deviendra alors permanente. (SILBURN)
i) On doit en particulier évoquer toute la substance dans le corps comme imbibée d’espace, ô belle aux yeux de gazelle! Alors, pour cet (adepte) cette évocation deviendra permanente. (DUBOIS)
j) O gazellenäugige Göttin! Man soll über alle Bestandteile des Körpers meditieren, daß sie von leerem Raum (Äther) durchdrungen sind, dann wird die Kontemplation beständig. (BÄUMER)
k) Quien se concibe intensamente que la materia corporal está por completo rodeada de espacio abierto, entonces, ¡oh, diosa, con mirada de gacela! esa bhaavanaa adquiere consistencia. (FIGUEROA)
l) O gazelle-eyed one, let ether pervade your body, merge in the indescribable spatiality of your own mind. (ODIER)
m) Feel your substance, bones, flesh, blood, saturated with cosmic essence. (REPS)
* * *
Verse 48, Yukti #22 (a śāmbhava-upāya practice suitable for all levels)
देहान्तरे त्वग्विभागम् भित्तिभूतं विचिन्तयेत् ।
न किंचिद् अन्तरे तस्य ध्यायन्न् अध्येयभाग् भवेत् ॥ ४८ ॥
dehāntare tvag-vibhāgam bhitti-bhūtaṃ vicintayet |
na kiṃcid antare tasya dhyāyann adhyeya-bhāg bhavet || 48 ||
With respect to the body, one may imagine that the ‘dividing wall’ of skin is [merely] a screen, within which there is nothing; meditating [in this way], one directly senses that which can never be an object of meditation.
Word-by-word breakdown: dehāntare = within the body, with respect to what is within the body; tvag-vibhāgam = lit., the skin-division, the portion that is skin; bhitti-bhūtam = which has the form or nature of a screen or wall; vicintayet = one may imagine, one should contemplate; na kiñcit = nothing; antare = inside; tasya = on this; dhyāyan = meditating; bhavet = one becomes; adhyeya-bhāg = one who senses/participates in that which is not an ‘object’ of meditation.
Note: the commentator Śivopādhyāya tells us that this practice helps lay to rest the sense that the psyche (puryaṣṭaka) is the perceiver/knower/agent of experience, as a result of which one experiences one’s non-locality.
Reflection: If we give credence to the commentator’s statement, perhaps the verse is specifically suggesting we replace the usual Tantrik visualization of a complex network of cakras and nāḍīs with nothing whatever: utter mystery, not even space. That would be quite radical, and might effectively counteract “spiritual materialism,” in this case attachment to those metaphysical ideas or experiences.
The final phrase of the verse is very interesting: “…one directly senses that which can never be an object of meditation.” Anything can be an object of meditation, but only the true source of all perception, the pure being-awareness-presence that we call “essence-nature” can never be an object of meditation. The only ‘thing’ that cannot be made an object of perception is that which is doing the perceiving. There’s no such thing as contemplating your true self because you are that self. So here we’re presented with a meditation that can lead you to the intuitive experience of already being that which can never become an object of focus—essence nature. This must be accomplished by a sort of trick, a bait-and-switch. Imagining that inside the skin there is nothing whatever is a way of acknowledging that our embodied forms are utterly mysterious to us. Virtually everything we know about our insides we know only by hearsay. In our direct experience, the heart-mind and the body are almost completely mysterious. So by meditating there’s nothing inside the skin, we’re closer to the truth of our direct experience. From there it’s a shorter leap to the intuitive realization that whatever you do perceive is appearing within the space of awareness and is pervaded by presence—and you are that awareness-presence, that which is not an experience per se but is the necessary condition for all experiences. You are precisely that which is the necessary condition for all experience but is not experienceable! It is that which is simultaneously the most subtle and the most obvious.
See below for a practice video.
ALTERNATIVE TRANSLATIONS:
a) The yogi should contemplate over the skin-part in his body like a wall. “There is nothing substantial inside it”; meditating like this, he reaches a state which transcends all things meditate-able. (SINGH)
b) One should think that the skin part of the body is (only an insentient) wall within which there is nothing at all. Meditating in this way, one participates in that which cannot be an object of meditation. (DYCZKOWSKI)
c) One should meditate on the body as only enclosed by the skin with nothing inside. Meditating in this way, one attains the One who cannot be meditated upon (i.e. Śiva). (BÄUMER)
d) One should evoke clearly that there is nothing inside the body, the skin being like a wall. Seeing thus, one shall enjoy that which cannot be seen. (DUBOIS)
e) One should contemplate on the skin of the body as a mere wall or partition with nothing inside it. By meditating thus, he becomes like the void, which cannot be meditated upon. (SATSANGI)
f) Consider the skin to be the wall of an empty body with nothing inside. By meditating like this, one reaches a place beyond meditation. (CHADHRI)
g) Through the contemplation on what lies inside, as walled by the skin, as nothing worthwhile, one has the possibility of becoming one with what lies above all contemplation. (Singh & Maheśvarānanda)
h) On doit considérer la différenciation de la peau du corps comme un mur. Celui qui médite (ainsi) comme s’il ne contenait rien à l’intérieur adhère (bientôt) à l’au-delà du méditable. (SILBURN)
i) On doit considérer la peau de notre corps comme formant une (simple) paroi. En visualisant qu’il n’y a rien à l’intérieur, on en viendra à savourer ce qui ne peut être visualisé. (DUBOIS)
j) Man meditiere über den eigenen Körper, der von der Haut wie von einer Wand umgeben ist, daß in seinem Innern nur Leere ist. Dann erlangt man einen Zustand, der alle Gegenstände der Meditation übersteigt. (BÄUMER)
k) Quien imagina intensamente que la piel que cubre el cuerpo es un muro, al contemplar que no hay nada dentro participa de lo que no puede contemplarse. (FIGUEROA)
l) Suppose your body to be pure radiant spatiality contained by your skin and reach the limitless. (ODIER)
m) Suppose your passive form to be an empty room with walls of skin—empty. (REPS)
Practice video for Yuktis #20-22: