Vajrasana - The Diamond

       

Introduction

Vajra वज्र : thunderbolt and diamond.

In the tantric traditions of both Hinduism and Buddhism, the vajra is a symbol for the nature of reality, or sunyata, indicating endless creativity, potency, and skillful activity. The term is employed extensively in tantric literature: the term for the spiritual teacher is the vajracarya; instead of bodhisattva, we have vajrasattva, and so on. The practice of prefixing terms, names, places, and so on by vajra represents the conscious attempt to recognize the transcendental aspect of all phenomena; it became part of the process of "sacramentalizing" the activities of the spiritual practitioner and encouraged him to engage all his psychophysical energies in the spiritual life.

Presentation

This is a sitting posture where the body rests on the feet forming a more or less open 'V'. The body rests in the center of this V. This posture is particularly comfortable and with time, one can remains in it the time of a Gathika without problems. In addition, it permits to remain straight and to have the trunk forward without having to arch the lower back.

This posture is a gem as it permits verticality and horizontality to join. Their meeting point is located at the level of the center of the root. The horizontality represents our terrestrial condition and our roaming in a closed world where all ends up repeating itself. The verticality represents the depth of the feelings that animate us and lead us to move forward. However, this depth can also be represented as being that of the inner world, and of the energy that rules there.

This energy is purely affective. It is said to be of Shakti, which has all power on Shiva’s heart (consciousness). This energy governs not only our affectivity but the universe as a whole, and all cycles of nature. This energy shows us the unfathomable depth and the vertical dimension of our being. When the practitioner engages deeply in this inner space, and perceives the energy associated with it, his or her body straightens up and the energy in him or her ascends to the summit.

As the energy is churned, the person perceives some light interplays while his vision remains inward. As the lightness inscribes itself throughout the body, the light manifests itself in his or her inner vision. These interplays of light can take various intensity and colors. It can be about scintillations or sparks; it can be accompanied by colors or be of a dark hue, and even but more rarely of an intense and bright white. This last color is paradoxical because it is both blinding and soft. It exclusively produces energies of beauty and ecstasy.

The awareness is not inert: it reacts and knows it is affected. The consciousness being affected is the true life of consciousness. It is in this inner act that it accomplishes the act that does not distinguishes from itself, thus the generated energy is aware at the pure state, a divine freedom of consciousness.

"If the free activity (Vimarsha) would not create the essence of consciousness (Prakasha), this one would not be able to rise above the unconscious and the universe would reflect in it as items in an inanimate crystal, without having the consciousness offering any reaction. Now, this reaction of knowing that we are expresses the consciousness in its 'I' form, the consciousness considering itself as a knowing subject, known object and mean of knowing without needing the support of an external object. The supreme 'I' expresses itself at the level of Shiva-Shakti as the expression of this Self awareness."