Kashmir Shaivism

1. Introduction

Version followed: the Sanskrit Vijñānabhairava Tantra (a text the tradition places within the Rudrayāmala Tantra), with verse numbers and the āṇava/śākta/śāmbhava grading as set out in Christopher Wallis's (Hareesh) published translation concordance, which compares Jaideva Singh, Dyczkowski, Bäumer, Dubois, Silburn and others (verses 24–50 and 81–111); remaining practices follow Mike Magee's numbered summary of the 112 practices (shown here as "M1–M112"); the living-lineage framing follows the Lakshmanjoo Academy (Swami Lakshmanjoo's teaching, Universal Shaiva Fellowship); pratyabhijñā ("recognition") philosophy follows the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry by David Peter Lawrence. Verse numbering differs between editions, so a client's book may number practices differently. [source: Wallis concordance Parts 1–2; Magee; Lakshmanjoo Academy; Lawrence/IEP]

What it is. Kashmir Shaivism is the modern umbrella name for the non-dual Shaiva traditions of medieval Kashmir (Trika, Spanda, Pratyabhijñā). It is a living religious and philosophical tradition, not a therapy. Two strands concern this guide:

The Vijñānabhairava's dhāraṇās. The text is framed as a dialogue in which the goddess Bhairavī asks Bhairava (Śiva) about the nature of ultimate reality [uncertain: not verified], and he answers with 112 "ways" (dhāraṇā or yukti): short contemplative methods using breath, the body's centre, sound, space, the senses, emotion, delight and identity, each said to open onto the state of Bhairava. Swami Lakshmanjoo called the text a purely monistic "Bhairava śāstra" and describes it as a training guide to be taught by a master. [source: Lakshmanjoo Academy; Wallis concordance]
Pratyabhijñā (recognition). Developed by Utpaladeva (c. 925–975) after Somānanda (c. 900–950), elaborated by Abhinavagupta (c. 975–1025) and condensed by Kṣemarāja (c. 1000–1050) in the Pratyabhijñāhṛdayam. Its central claim, as the tradition holds it, is that the practitioner does not acquire something new but recognises an identity that was always there: in the tradition's phrase, "I am Shiva". [source: Lawrence/IEP]

How change happens (as the tradition holds it). Bondage is understood as Śiva's self-concealment or forgetting, liberation as self-recognition. The Vijñānabhairava teaches that "Shakti is the door": any vivid moment of experience (the pause in a breath, the end of a sound, a surge of emotion, an instant of delight) can, if attention rests in it, open onto the underlying consciousness. These are religious claims of a living tradition, reported here as its texts and teachers state them, neither asserted nor dismissed. [source: Lawrence/IEP; Wallis concordance]

The psychotherapist's role. The therapist does not teach the dhāraṇās or confer initiation. The therapist supports a client who already practises, or wishes to explore their own tradition, in integrating it into therapy with consent, refers to qualified teachers, adapts for trauma and watches for adverse effects. Initiation (dīkṣā), guru-given mantras and grace (śaktipāta) belong to the lineage and are not reproduced here. [source: Lakshmanjoo Academy; APA Ethics Code 2.01] [synthesis]

2. Framework

There is no clinical protocol for this practice, and no source gives session counts or durations. The framework has two layers. [synthesis]

Layer A: the tradition's own gradation (the upāyas). Swami Lakshmanjoo ranks three means. [source: Lakshmanjoo Academy]

Āṇavopāya (the "inferior" or individual means): awareness held in the "elementary" world: breath, mantra recitation, worship (pūjā), visualisation of points in the body. Goal: steady one-pointed attention.
Śāktopāya (medium, the means of energy): awareness held in the "organic" world of the senses and mind, without mantra or breath exercises: contemplating thoughts, desires, emotions and identity. Goal: seeing mental activity as the play of consciousness.
Śāmbhavopāya (superior, Śiva's means): awareness maintained in thoughtlessness; the mind's functioning is set aside. Goal: resting in the state the text calls Bhairava.
Movement between them. Lakshmanjoo advises staying attached to one's own practice, which will itself carry the practitioner to the higher means, and treats the path chosen by one's master as the right one for that person. The 112 ways are spoken of while teaching but are ultimately to be crossed. Wallis grades each verse as āṇava (A), śākta (B) or śāmbhava (C) with a difficulty level 1–3 (his own estimate, following Abhinavagupta's scheme rather than Lakshmanjoo's). Criteria for moving on are set by the teacher, not the therapist. [source: Lakshmanjoo Academy; Wallis concordance]

Layer B: the therapist's work alongside the practice [synthesis]

Phase 1 — Assessment and consent. Goals: learn whether the client practises, which text, translation, teacher and lineage they follow, why they want it in therapy, and their mental-health, trauma and dissociation history. Obtain informed consent that names this as an approach without established clinical technique, its potential risks and alternatives, and that participation is voluntary [source: APA Ethics Code 10.01]. Move on when the client's aims, tradition and risks are clear and consent is documented.
Phase 2 — Selection and safety planning. Goals: the client (with their teacher where they have one) chooses one practice; the therapist screens it against the client's vulnerabilities (Section 4, risk families) and agrees an early-warning plan. Move on when one practice is chosen and grounding options are rehearsed.
Phase 3 — Integration. Goals: the client practises at home in their tradition's way; in session the therapist explores meaning, reactions and links to therapy goals; brief in-session practice only at the client's request and in a low-risk form. Continue while it helps the therapy goals and no adverse signs emerge.
Phase 4 — Review, adjustment or referral. Goals: review benefit and harm at agreed intervals; reduce dose, change practice (with the teacher), pause, or refer for psychiatric, medical or spiritual guidance when warning signs appear (Section 5).

3. Guiding principles

Tradition-side principles (as the sources state them):

Recognition, not acquisition [source: Lawrence/IEP]: practical meaning — frame the practice in the client's own terms as noticing, not achieving; avoid performance language.
"Shakti is the door" [source: Lawrence/IEP]: practical meaning — the tradition treats ordinary experience (breath, sound, emotion) as the entry point; the therapist can explore the client's ordinary moments without importing exotic goals.
The centre (madhya) and the junction [source: Wallis concordance; Magee]: many dhāraṇās target a gap, pause, beginning or end (between breaths, between thoughts, the fading of a sound, the edge of sleep); practical meaning — expect clients to describe "gaps" and help them describe these concretely rather than interpret them for them.
One practice, chosen by or with the teacher [source: Lakshmanjoo Academy]: practical meaning — discourage collecting techniques in therapy; ask what the client's teacher has assigned.
The methods are taught by a master [source: Lakshmanjoo Academy]: practical meaning — the therapist is not that master; refer technique questions to a qualified teacher.
The 112 ways are crossed, not clung to [source: Lakshmanjoo Academy]: practical meaning — technique is a means; rigid, anxious adherence is a clinical cue (Section 5, scrupulosity).
Restricted content stays restricted [synthesis]: initiation, guru-given mantras and empowerment content are not taught, elicited or reproduced by the therapist.

Therapist-side principles:

Client-led integration in the client's own tradition and language [synthesis]: use the client's terms (Bhairava, Śiva, Śakti, dhāraṇā) with a short gloss; do not introduce the practice to clients outside the tradition as a religious teaching.
Competence and consultation [source: APA Ethics Code 2.01]: where religion is essential to effective services, obtain training or consultation, or refer.
Informed consent for an unestablished approach [source: APA Ethics Code 10.01]: explain its developing nature, potential risks, alternatives and voluntariness.
Avoid harm [source: APA Ethics Code 3.04]: screen out high-risk practices (Section 4) for vulnerable clients.
No dual role [source: APA Ethics Code 3.05, 3.06]: do not become the client's guru, initiator or spiritual director; do not attend the same practice community as a teacher figure.
Respect and non-discrimination [source: APA Ethics Code Principle E, 3.01]: respect religion as a dimension of identity; keep your own religious or secular views out of the work.
Cooperate with other professionals [source: APA Ethics Code 3.09]: with the client's consent, liaise with their teacher, physician or psychiatrist.
Adverse effects are expected, not rare [source: Farias et al. 2020; Lindahl et al. 2017]: monitor routinely, including in clients without a psychiatric history.
Attribute, do not endorse [synthesis]: concepts such as kuṇḍalinī, cakras, Śiva-consciousness and grace are described as the tradition holds them.
No health claims [synthesis]: no dhāraṇā is presented as treatment for a physical disease; clinical evidence for these specific practices is lacking [uncertain: not verified].
Trauma sensitivity [synthesis; Treleaven 2018 not verified]: choice, open eyes, external anchors and permission to stop are always available.

4. Intervention inventory

The inventory has two parts. Part A is the psychotherapist's own work. Part B covers every dhāraṇā in the Vijñānabhairava, grouped into families with verse numbers ("v.", from Wallis) or Magee practice numbers ("M"), plus pratyabhijñā recognition. In Part B, "Steps" are the publicly taught method in plain words, for understanding what the client does; the therapist does not teach them as a religious instructor. Families marked Not for clinical use are described only. [source: Wallis concordance; Magee] [synthesis for all therapist steps]

Part A — The therapist's work

A1. Spiritual history and informed consent

Purpose / when: first sessions with any client who mentions Kashmir Shaivism, the Vijñānabhairava, a Shaiva guru, or "the 112 meditations".
Steps: (1) Ask what the practice means to them and how it fits their life. (2) Ask which book or translation, which teacher or lineage (e.g. a Lakshmanjoo-line teacher, another Shaiva guru, a yoga-studio course, or self-taught from a book), and whether they received initiation (do not ask what was given). (3) Ask what they practise, how often and how intensely, including retreats. (4) Take a mental-health, trauma, dissociation, psychosis, mania and substance history. (5) Ask about previous unusual or difficult experiences in practice. (6) Optionally use the DSM-5-TR Cultural Formulation Interview with its spirituality, religion and moral traditions supplementary module [uncertain: not verified]. (7) Explain consent: this is not an established clinical technique; benefits and risks; alternatives; they can stop at any time [source: APA Ethics Code 10.01]. Document it.
Example language (illustrative): "You mentioned the Vijñānabhairava. Could you tell me what that practice means for you, and who you learned it from?" / "I'm not a teacher in your tradition, but I'm glad to help you bring what matters to you into our work, if you want that."
Watch for: reluctance to name a teacher (may be self-taught, or may signal a difficult group); grand or urgent goals; reports of prior adverse experiences; a wish for the therapist to become a guide. Working: the client can describe practice and meaning concretely and agrees a shared plan.

A2. Mapping version, lineage and authority

Purpose / when: before integrating any specific dhāraṇā; translations number and render verses differently, and some popular books are free renderings rather than translations (Wallis classes Reps's and Odier's books as renderings) [source: Wallis concordance].
Steps: (1) Ask the client to bring the verse in their own book. (2) Note who holds authority for them (a living teacher, a lineage, the text alone). (3) Record which practice their teacher has assigned; Lakshmanjoo's teaching is that the master's chosen path is the right one for that student [source: Lakshmanjoo Academy]. (4) Agree that technique questions go to the teacher.
Example language (illustrative): "Different books translate this differently. Can we use the wording from your own copy, so we're talking about the practice you actually do?"
Watch for: the client using therapy to sidestep their teacher; contradictions between teacher and book causing distress. Working: a clear, named version and source of authority.

A3. Client-led integration in session

Purpose / when: a practising client wants their dhāraṇā to support therapy goals (e.g. emotional regulation, relating to thoughts, meaning).
Steps: (1) Let the client choose the practice and the goal. (2) Screen the practice against Part B risk notes. (3) If they wish to practise briefly in session, keep it short, eyes open or half-open, with an agreed stop signal, and choose low-intensity forms (e.g. listening to a sound fade, B4; noticing an emotion, B11). (4) Afterwards, ask what happened in sensation, emotion and thought, and what it means to them. (5) Link to therapy goals in their language. (6) Agree home practice in their tradition's way, not the therapist's prescription.
Example language (illustrative): "When you rest in that pause, what do you notice, and what does it tell you about the anger we were talking about?" / "Would it help to try your practice here for a minute or two, with eyes open, and stop whenever you like?"
Watch for: the practice used to avoid feelings ("it's all Śiva, so it doesn't matter"), dissociation, mood elevation. Working: the client reports more steadiness or perspective and stays emotionally present in session.

A4. Secular and clinical adaptations (cross-references)

Purpose / when: the client wants contemplative help without religious content, or practises in another tradition.
Steps: (1) Do not secularise the Vijñānabhairava yourself and present it as a clinical method; a published clinical adaptation of this text is not known [uncertain: not verified]. (2) Offer established programmes instead: Domain II (MBSR, MBCT, MSC, CFT). (3) For contemplative or spiritually integrated psychotherapy, see Domain VII; for trauma-sensitive yoga, Domain IV. (4) Where a client notices that a mindfulness exercise resembles a dhāraṇā (e.g. sound or emotion awareness), let them make the link. [synthesis]
Example language (illustrative): "There are well-studied secular programmes built on similar attention skills. I can tell you about those, and you can keep your own practice separate, or not."
Watch for: the client feeling their tradition has been taken over or stripped of meaning. Working: the client chooses freely and the boundary between religious practice and clinical method stays clear.

A5. Trauma-sensitive adaptation

Purpose / when: clients with trauma, dissociation or panic history who wish to practise.
Steps: (1) Offer choice at every point: eyes open, posture, length, stopping. (2) Prefer external anchors (a sound fading, sky or space seen with eyes open) over inner-body voids or breath focus if those trigger. (3) Avoid, for these clients, practices of sensory blocking, darkness, burning or dissolution imagery, disorientation and "no body / no mind" contemplations (Part B, B3, B6, B9, B10, B12). (4) Keep it short and titrated; finish with orientation to the room. (5) Discuss with their teacher, with consent, if changes conflict with what was assigned. [synthesis; Treleaven 2018, Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness, describes trauma-sensitive principles for mindfulness, not verified here: uncertain]
Example language (illustrative): "You're in charge of this. Keep your eyes open if you like, and if anything gets too much, just look around the room and tell me."
Watch for: flashbacks, numbing, freezing, shallow fast breathing, loss of time. Working: the client stays within a tolerable range and can return to the room at will.

A6. Adverse-effects screening and monitoring

Purpose / when: every client who practises, and especially before retreats or intensive practice.
Steps: (1) Explain that difficulties are documented: a systematic review of 83 studies (6,703 participants) found an overall adverse-event prevalence of 8.3%, most often anxiety, depression and cognitive anomalies, and noted they may occur in people with no previous mental-health history [source: Farias et al. 2020]. The Varieties of Contemplative Experience study described 59 kinds of challenging experience in seven domains (cognitive, perceptual, affective, somatic, conative, sense of self, social), lasting from days to more than a decade in some cases, and 26 influencing factors; practice intensity, psychiatric or trauma history and quality of supervision mattered for some meditators [source: Lindahl et al. 2017 via ScienceDaily]. (2) Before a retreat, screen for current psychosis, mania, severe depression, suicidality, active trauma symptoms, recent major loss and poor sleep [synthesis]. (3) At review, ask about sleep, anxiety, perceptual changes (light or sound sensitivity), involuntary movements, changes in sense of self, and social functioning.
Example language (illustrative): "Most people find practice helpful, but some have hard experiences: anxiety, sleep problems, feeling unreal. If anything like that shows up, I'd want to hear about it."
Watch for: insomnia, panic, depersonalisation or derealisation, perceptual hypersensitivity, energy sensations with distress, loss of functioning on return from retreat. Working: early reporting and adjustment before problems escalate.

A7. Grounding and dose reduction

Purpose / when: a client reports distressing or destabilising effects.
Steps: (1) Reduce practice length and intensity, or pause it. (2) Switch from inward, void or energy practices to outward, sensory, eyes-open activity. (3) Restore sleep, regular meals, exercise and social contact. (4) Use ordinary grounding: naming objects, feeling the feet, cool water on hands, walking. (5) With consent, involve the teacher; the VCE participants often found it helped to have someone familiar with such experiences to talk to [source: Lindahl et al. 2017 via ScienceDaily]. (6) Cheetah House offers resources on meditation-related difficulties [source: Cheetah House]. [synthesis for steps 1–4]
Example language (illustrative): "Let's turn the practice down for now, the way you'd rest a strained muscle. Your teacher can help you decide when to return."
Watch for: the client feeling they have failed spiritually; continued escalation despite reduction (refer). Working: symptoms settle within the agreed period.

A8. Telling spiritual crisis apart from illness

Purpose / when: unusual states: light, sound, energy rising along the spine (which the tradition may call kuṇḍalinī), loss of a sense of self, ecstatic or terrifying states.
Steps: (1) Take the experience seriously in the client's frame. (2) Assess for psychosis (fixed false beliefs beyond the tradition's shared beliefs, hallucinations, disorganisation), mania (reduced need for sleep, pressured speech, grandiosity, risky behaviour), depression, dissociation, substance use and medical causes. (3) Ask whether their community recognises the experience and how it is usually handled. (4) If it is distressing but not an illness, DSM-5-TR offers a code for a religious or spiritual problem (Z65.8) as a focus of clinical attention [source: ICD-10-CM Z65.8]. (5) If illness is possible, refer urgently to psychiatry or the GP; do not wait for it to "pass". [synthesis]
Example language (illustrative): "Your tradition has words for experiences like this. I also want to check your sleep and mood, because sometimes the body and brain need care at the same time."
Watch for: literal claims of omnipotence or omniscience acted on in daily life (compare the B12 affirmations), no sleep, inability to care for self. Working: an agreed shared understanding and the right care in place.

A9. Referral and collaboration with the teacher

Purpose / when: technique questions, initiation, interpretation of experiences, or wish to change practice.
Steps: (1) Refer technique and doctrine questions to a qualified teacher in the client's lineage (e.g. through the Lakshmanjoo Academy or Universal Shaiva Fellowship, for clients in that line, or their own guru). (2) With written consent, share only what is needed. (3) Agree roles: teacher for practice, therapist for mental health. (4) If no qualified teacher is available, help the client find one rather than filling the role. [source: APA Ethics Code 3.09; Lakshmanjoo Academy] [synthesis]
Example language (illustrative): "That's a question about the practice itself, and your teacher is the right person for it. Would you like me to speak with them, with your permission?"
Watch for: a teacher who discourages professional mental-health care, or demands secrecy about harm. Working: complementary roles and the client feeling supported by both.

A10. Teacher relationship, power and group dynamics

Purpose / when: the tradition stresses the master's guidance; clients may have intense relationships with a guru.
Steps: (1) Explore the relationship's meaning respectfully. (2) Ask about money, time, isolation from family, secrecy, sexual contact, and punishment for questioning; these are signs of coercive control as commonly described in the high-control-group literature [uncertain: not verified]. (3) Do not name or imply wrongdoing by any teacher without an independent investigation, court or regulator finding (no such finding concerning this tradition was found in the sources consulted). (4) Support leaving, if the client chooses, and treat religious trauma with standard trauma-informed care. [synthesis]
Example language (illustrative): "How do you feel when you disagree with your teacher? What happens?"
Watch for: fear, secrecy, financial exploitation, sexual boundary violations (follow safeguarding and reporting duties). Working: the client can reflect freely on the relationship.

A11. The therapist's own commitments

Purpose / when: whenever the therapist practises, rejects or is curious about this or another tradition.
Steps: (1) Examine your own reactions in supervision. (2) Self-disclose religious views only when it serves the client. (3) Do not join the client's practice community in a teaching role, and avoid overlapping roles [source: APA Ethics Code 3.05]. (4) Build religious and spiritual competence through training or consultation [source: APA Ethics Code 2.01]; published spiritual and religious competencies for psychologists (Vieten et al. 2013) [uncertain: not verified]. [synthesis]
Example language (illustrative): "My own beliefs aren't what matters here. I want to understand what this means to you."
Watch for: enthusiasm for the tradition leading you to teach; scepticism leading you to pathologise. Working: the client's frame stays central.

Part B — The dhāraṇās as the text teaches them

Verse paraphrases follow Wallis's concordance (v.24–50, v.81–111) and Magee's practice list (M1–M112); wording below is a paraphrase, and where the two numberings overlap both are given. Items covered only by Magee's list (v.51–80 and v.112–138) are paraphrased from that list alone [uncertain: not checked against a scholarly translation]. All therapist steps are [synthesis].

B1. Breath: the natural turning points and the centre

Covers: v.24 (attend to the turning points of out-breath and in-breath and fill them with awareness; M1–M2); M41 (in-breath and out-breath merging into emptiness). Also in this group, named only and not described: the breath-retention dhāraṇās (v.25, v.26, v.27, M3, M4 and M8). They are not suitable for therapist use and belong with a qualified teacher. Wallis grades v.24–27 as āṇava. [source: Wallis concordance; Magee]
Purpose / when: in the tradition, to find the "centre" (madhya) at the junction of breaths. In therapy, only when the client already practises it and finds breath focus calming.
Steps (public outline, natural breath only): sit comfortably; let the breath move without control; notice where the out-breath turns into the in-breath and the in-breath into the out-breath; rest attention lightly at those turns without lengthening or holding them; return to ordinary breathing whenever wished.
Example language (illustrative): "Let your breath do whatever it does. Just notice the moment it turns, without making that moment longer."
Watch for: air hunger, breath-holding creeping in, panic, dizziness, heart-focused anxiety; clients with panic disorder or trauma may find breath focus triggering (switch to B4 sound or an eyes-open anchor). Working: breath stays easy and the client reports calm or spaciousness.

B2. Rising energy, the central channel and points in the body

Covers: v.28 (subtle light rising from the base of the spine to the crown; M5); v.29 (kuṇḍalinī pictured as lightning rising centre by centre; M6); v.30 (twelve centres linked to twelve vowels, gross to subtle; M7); v.34 (attention inside the skull with eyes closed; M11); v.35 (the central channel pictured as a fine lotus fibre, meditating on its inner space; M12); v.50 (dissolving the mind at the dvādaśānta, a point above the head; M27–M28); M32 (making the vital energy subtle at crown or heart); M44 (attending to tingling as energy rises); M45 (attention between the lower and upper kuṇḍalinī, which Magee's summary describes as an inner union). [source: Wallis concordance; Magee]
Purpose / when: in the tradition, to awaken and follow Śakti through the subtle body (kuṇḍalinī and the centres are described as the tradition holds them). In therapy: discuss only; do not lead.
Steps: not given here. These subtle-body and energy visualisations, with their vowel or seed-syllable assignments, are taught by teachers, and the therapist does not lead them. [synthesis]
Example language (illustrative): "When you do this practice, what do you feel in your body, and what does your teacher say about it?"
Watch for: energy sensations, heat, involuntary movements, insomnia, headaches, and fear about "kuṇḍalinī" (VCE found somatic challenges such as involuntary movement and insomnia [source: Lindahl et al. 2017 via ScienceDaily]); preoccupation with energy states; psychosis or mania risk in vulnerable clients. Refer to the teacher and assess (A8). Working: the client reports steadiness without distress.

B3. Sense doors, seals and the heart

Covers: v.32 (the five sense-voids pictured as the eye-spots of a peacock feather, then entering the heart-void; M9); v.36 (the "six-part seal": closing the sense openings with the hands and attending to a point at the brow; M13); v.37 (a spark of light produced by pressing the eyes, held at crown or heart; M14); v.89 (blocking a sense to turn attention inward; M66); v.49 (withdrawing the senses into the heart-space, centred in the heart lotus; M26). v.31, a breath-filling dhāraṇā related to the retention group in B1, is named only. [source: Wallis concordance; Magee]
Purpose / when: in the tradition, withdrawing attention from the senses into the centre. In therapy: v.49 only, gently, if the client practises it.
Not for clinical use: pressing the eyes (v.37), closing the sense openings with the fingers (v.36) and sense-blocking (v.89) carry physical and dissociation risks; describe, do not lead. [synthesis]
Steps (v.49, public outline): eyes closed or lowered, the practitioner draws attention from sights and sounds toward the centre of the chest and rests it there single-pointedly.
Example language (illustrative): "If closing your eyes doesn't feel safe, you can rest your gaze on the floor and feel the middle of your chest."
Watch for: eye pain or pressure, visual phenomena, panic when senses are reduced, derealisation. Working: settled attention, no physical discomfort.

B4. Sound, syllable and mantra

Covers: v.38 (inner "unstruck" sound, like a rushing river, heard by closing the ears; M15); v.39 (chanting Oṃ and resting in the void as its sound ends; M16); v.40 (the void before and after any syllable; M17); v.41 (a sustained instrument tone listened to until it fades; M18); v.42 (a mantra followed from its spoken letters through subtler stages into silence; M19); v.81 (mouth open, tongue centred, the sound "ha" uttered mentally; M58); v.90 (the sound "a" recited; M67); v.91 (attention at the end of the breathy final sound of a syllable; M68); M89 (merging with sound-Brahman while looking outward); M105 (continuous repetition of the name Bhairava); M107 (contemplating the meaning of sacred words). [source: Wallis concordance; Magee]
Restricted content: mantras received in initiation from a guru are restricted and are not elicited or reproduced; only sounds the public text names are mentioned here.
Purpose / when: in the tradition, following sound into silence opens onto the void or Śiva. In therapy: v.41 is the lowest-risk member of the whole text for in-session use (an external, eyes-open anchor).
Steps (v.41, public outline): strike or play a long sustained tone (the text names a stringed instrument; a bell or recorded tone is a modern substitute [synthesis]); listen with undivided attention as it fades; rest in the quiet after it; repeat a few times.
Example language (illustrative): "I'll sound the bell. Follow the sound until you can't hear it any more, then notice what's left."
Watch for: tinnitus distress with the inner-sound practice (v.38); jaw or throat strain (v.81); compulsive or perfectionistic recitation (Section 5, scrupulosity); auditory hypersensitivity. Working: calm, absorbed attention and an easy return.

B5. Space and void

Covers: v.33 (focusing on any object, even space or a wall, until awareness merges into it; M10); v.43 (space in all directions within the body at once; M20); v.44 (void above the head and at the base together; M21); v.45 (adding the heart-void; M22); v.46 (any body part as empty, for a moment; M23); v.47 (space pervading the tissues; M24); v.48 (the skin as a wall enclosing nothing; M25); M34–M37 (consciousness pervading everything; the universe as empty; the space inside a jar; a deserted place); M53 (space shimmering with sun and moon light); v.84 (steady, unblinking gaze at a clear sky with the body still; M61); v.85 (the whole sky dissolving into the head; M62); v.92 (oneself as unbounded sky; M69); M103 (space as unbounded). [source: Wallis concordance; Magee]
Purpose / when: in the tradition, loosening identification with a bounded body into open awareness. In therapy: outward space (open sky, an empty room, the space in a vessel) is lower risk than emptying the body.
Steps (public outline, outward form): look at open sky or a wide space with soft eyes (blinking normally; the text's unblinking gaze is not recommended [synthesis]); notice the sense of openness; let thoughts pass without following them.
Example language (illustrative): "Look out at the sky for a moment. Notice how much room there is, and whether any of that roominess shows up inside you."
Watch for: the body-emptying forms (v.46–48) can provoke depersonalisation, fear of disappearing, or dissociation in trauma survivors; eye strain from fixed gazing. Working: openness with intact sense of self and easy return.

B6. Dissolution and fire imagery

Covers: M29 and M30, the burning-imagery dhāraṇās (named only, not described here); M31 (the elements dissolving into their causes); M33 (the cosmos dissolving from gross to subtle to supreme). [source: Magee]
Purpose / when: in the tradition, imaginatively dissolving body and world back into consciousness. In therapy: not for clinical use; discuss meaning only.
Steps: not given here; these dhāraṇās are taught by teachers. [synthesis]
Example language (illustrative): "What is it like for you to imagine your body dissolving? Does it feel freeing, frightening, or both?"
Watch for: contraindicated for burn, fire or body-trauma survivors, self-harm histories, eating disorders and body-image distress; intrusive imagery; dissociation. Working (if the client practises with a teacher): no intrusive after-effects.

B7. Gaps, thresholds and states of consciousness

Covers: M38 (the gap between two thoughts); M39 (the gap that opens as one thought is let go); M52 (the drowsy threshold between waking and sleep); v.86 (waking, dreaming and deep sleep contemplated as Bhairava's form; M63); M57 (gazing at an object while turning attention inward); M95 (observing an object, then withdrawing and dissolving the knowledge of it); M97 (while perceiving one object, attending to the emptiness of the others); M104 (withdrawing attention from distractions back to the object). [source: Wallis concordance; Magee]
Purpose / when: in the tradition, the gaps reveal the awareness underneath activity. In therapy: useful with clients who already practise and want a different relationship to rumination.
Steps (gap between thoughts, public outline): sit quietly; notice a thought end; before the next begins, rest in the interval; when the next thought comes, let it pass and wait for the next gap.
Example language (illustrative): "Between one thought and the next there may be a tiny pause. You don't need to make it bigger; just notice it."
Watch for: straining to stop thinking (counterproductive in OCD or anxiety); hypnagogic imagery and sleep disruption with the sleep-threshold practice (M52); derealisation. Working: less fusion with thoughts, unforced calm.

B8. Delight and contentment

Covers: M42 (the universe or body contemplated as filled with bliss); M43 (the delight of a magical display); M48 (any moment of great joy); M49 (the pleasure of taste); M50 (the delight of song or music); M51 (dwelling on contentment); M55 (sitting at ease). M46–M47 concern sexual delight: the text includes them, and the tradition frames such delight as a doorway to the bliss of the absolute; they are not described here, and the therapist does not advise on them. Lawrence notes that Kashmiri Shaiva ritual also included a sexual rite, which the Pratyabhijñā thinkers reframed as internalised contemplation. [source: Magee; Lawrence/IEP]
Purpose / when: in the tradition, delight itself is a door to the absolute. In therapy: savouring ordinary pleasures (music, food, a happy memory) with the client's own spiritual meaning can support clients with depression or anhedonia, if the client wishes. [synthesis]
Steps (music, public outline): listen to a piece the client loves; let attention rest wholly in the enjoyment; notice where the delight is felt and what remains as it fades.
Example language (illustrative): "Your tradition sees joy itself as a doorway. When you listen to that song, where does the joy live in you?"
Watch for: eating-disorder clients and taste practice (avoid or adapt; no food rules); hypomanic elevation; questions about sexual practice (refer to the teacher, and assess for boundary violations or coercion if a teacher is involved; see A10). Working: real, unforced moments of pleasure.

B9. Darkness and the fearsome

Covers: v.87 (meditating at length on the darkness of a moonless night; M64); v.88 (seeing darkness with eyes closed, then contemplating that dark form with eyes open); M65 (imagining a terrible darkness, then Bhairava's fearsome form). [source: Wallis concordance; Magee]
Purpose / when: in the tradition, darkness and the fearsome as forms of Bhairava. In therapy: not for clinical use with trauma, psychosis, panic or night-time fear; discussion of meaning only.
Steps: not given for in-session use. [synthesis]
Example language (illustrative): "What does the fearsome form of Bhairava mean to you, and how do you feel after that practice?"
Watch for: terror, intrusive images, hallucination-like experiences, sleep disruption. Working (with a teacher): fear transforms rather than lingers.

B10. Movement, disorientation, pain and shock

Covers: v.82 (imagining the body floating without support; M59); v.83 (gentle rocking, or the swaying of a vehicle; M60); M56 (sitting relaxed with the arms arched overhead); v.111 (whirling the body and falling; M87); M88 (inducing mental dizziness); M90 (imagining a bottomless well or standing at a great height); v.93 and M70, the pain-focus dhāraṇās (named only, not described here); M93 (moments of shock: sneezing, terror, grief, the start or end of anger). [source: Wallis concordance; Magee]
Purpose / when: in the tradition, sudden interruption of ordinary mind reveals the underlying state. In therapy: gentle rocking or the felt sense of being supported (v.82–83) may be explored if the client finds them soothing; the rest are not for clinical use.
Not for clinical use: whirling and falling (injury, especially for older or medically unwell clients), induced dizziness, height or abyss imagery (phobia, suicidal ideation), and piercing or pain focus (self-harm risk; never encourage with clients who self-injure). The therapist does not suggest these in any form. [synthesis]
Example language (illustrative): "Some of the practices in that text use shock or pain. Given what you've told me about self-harm, I'd like us to keep well away from those, and to talk with your teacher about that if you want."
Watch for: self-harm framed as spiritual practice, injuries, vertigo, panic. Working: the client chooses safe forms and can explain the risk in their own words.

B11. Emotion, desire and thought as doorway

Covers: v.96 (when a desire arises, observe it and let it settle back into its source; M73); v.98 (when desire or knowing arises, attend to it as the Self; M75); v.101 (in strong emotion, such as desire, anger, greed, delusion, pride or envy, make the mind still and find what remains; M78); v.103 (not clinging to pain or pleasure, knowing what lies between them; M80); M94 (letting go of a memory and returning to the experience behind it); M98 (purity beyond shifting associations); M111 (detaching the senses to withdraw from pleasure and pain). Wallis grades most of these as śākta or śāmbhava. [source: Wallis concordance; Magee]
Purpose / when: in the tradition, the surge of emotion is itself a door. In therapy: a natural bridge to emotion regulation, urge-surfing and acceptance work for practising clients. [synthesis]
Steps (strong emotion, public outline): when anger or desire is strong, pause; feel it fully in the body without acting or suppressing; rest attention in the energy of it until it changes; notice what is present as it settles.
Example language (illustrative): "Your text says to stay still inside a strong feeling. Let's try that with the anger now: where is it, and what happens if you neither push it away nor act on it?"
Watch for: using the practice to suppress grief or anger, or to stay in harmful situations ("it's all consciousness"); M94 can surface traumatic memory, so pace it as in A5. Working: emotions are felt and move through, with fewer impulsive actions.

B12. Identity contemplations (no-mind, "I am everywhere", "I am Śiva")

Covers: v.94 (affirming the inner mental organs do not exist in oneself; M71); v.95 (reflecting on māyā and kalā as limiting powers; M72; Wallis notes this is not a technique as such); M74 (will, knowledge and action not the essential self); v.97 (asking who one is when desire and thought are absent, and abiding in that); v.99 (cognition belongs to no one; M76); v.100 and M83 (one consciousness in all bodies; M77); v.104 (releasing body-identification and affirming "I am everywhere"; M81); v.105 (knowledge and desire found in objects too; M82); v.106 (attending to the subject–object relation); v.107 (feeling consciousness in others' bodies as in one's own); v.108 (unsupported mind, no constructs; M84); v.109 (affirming Śiva's qualities as one's own; M85, "I am Śiva"); v.110 (the universe arising from oneself like waves from water; M86); M40 (one's body as the universe); M54 (a composite of gestures in Magee's summary, including savouring the cosmos as "I"); M91–M92, M99, M102, M106, M109–M110, M112 (Śiva everywhere; sensation as consciousness; Bhairava in the sense of "I"; neither bondage nor liberation; knower and known as one). [source: Wallis concordance; Magee]
Purpose / when: in the tradition, these directly express pratyabhijñā: recognising one's identity with Śiva. In therapy: explore their meaning; useful for self-compassion and connectedness when held in the client's frame.
Steps (v.100, public outline): reflect that the same awareness that is present in you is present in every being; let that recognition soften the sense of separateness.
Example language (illustrative): "When you hold the thought that the same awareness is in everyone, how do you feel toward the people you've been struggling with?"
Watch for: depersonalisation ("I have no mind", "I am not my body"); grandiosity in mania or psychosis risk, if affirmations of omniscience or omnipotence are taken literally and acted on (A8); spiritual bypassing of responsibility. Working: humility and warmth, intact everyday functioning.

B13. Equanimity and the world as display

Covers: v.102 (viewing the world as a magic show or painting, or as constant flux; M79, M108); M100–M101 (equanimity to all; releasing aversion and attachment). [source: Wallis concordance; Magee]
Purpose / when: in the tradition, loosening attachment and aversion. In therapy: perspective-taking during distress, for practising clients.
Steps (public outline): in a difficult moment, view events as a passing show or a moving picture; let go of grasping and pushing away; rest in evenness.
Example language (illustrative): "If you watched this week as if it were a film, what would you notice that you can't see from inside it?"
Watch for: derealisation; emotional detachment from real problems (abuse, debt, health) that need action. Working: calmer, clearer decisions, not withdrawal.

B14. Devotion and the divine name

Covers: M96 (insight arising from intense devotion); M105 (continuous repetition of the name Bhairava). [source: Magee]
Purpose / when: in the tradition, devotion (bhakti) as a means; also the context of worship (pūjā), which Lakshmanjoo places under āṇavopāya [source: Lakshmanjoo Academy]. In therapy: devotion can be a resource for meaning, comfort and community.
Steps: the client practises as their community and teacher teach; the therapist explores what devotion gives them. [synthesis]
Example language (illustrative): "What happens in you when you sing or repeat the name? Is that something you'd like to lean on more this month?"
Watch for: compulsive repetition driven by fear of punishment or impurity (Section 5, scrupulosity). Working: comfort, connection and meaning.

B15. Pratyabhijñā: recognition in daily life

Covers: the recognition teaching of Utpaladeva, Abhinavagupta and Kṣemarāja: that the aspirant comes to recognise "I am Shiva", and that recognising awareness (vimarśa) is part of all experience [source: Lawrence/IEP]. A newspaper column describes the core practice as anusandhāna, the continual turning of awareness back on itself in each perception [uncertain: secondary, not verified in primary sources]. Kṣemarāja's Pratyabhijñāhṛdayam sets out the teaching in twenty aphorisms; its specific methods are not summarised here [uncertain: not verified].
Purpose / when: in the tradition, recognition itself is liberation. In therapy: a framework of meaning many practitioners live by; explore how it shapes self-worth, suffering and relationships.
Steps (public outline): in ordinary moments of seeing, hearing or acting, the practitioner briefly turns attention back to the awareness doing the seeing, hearing or acting, and recalls the teaching of identity with Śiva.
Example language (illustrative): "In your tradition, freedom is remembering who you already are. When you feel worthless, what does that teaching say back to you?"
Watch for: the teaching used to deny suffering; harsh self-judgement for "failing to recognise". Working: the teaching becomes a source of steadiness and self-respect.

5. Handling problems

The tradition's sources do not address therapy problems with this practice directly. Everything in this section is [synthesis] unless a source tag is given.

"Nothing is happening" / striving. The client treats recognition as a goal to achieve and feels a failure. Response: return to the tradition's own framing that recognition reveals what is already there [source: Lawrence/IEP]; ask what their teacher says; reduce effort, not increase it. Illustrative: "Your tradition says this isn't something you get, it's something you notice. What if you practised trying less?"
Technique-collecting. The client jumps between the 112 ways, reading new ones each week. Response: reflect Lakshmanjoo's counsel to stay with one's own practice and the one the master chose [source: Lakshmanjoo Academy]; explore what the switching is about (restlessness, avoidance, perfectionism); refer the choice to the teacher.
Overwhelm or adverse experiences (panic, insomnia, perceptual hypersensitivity, energy sensations, depersonalisation). Response: A7 grounding and dose reduction now; A8 assessment; involve the teacher with consent; urgent psychiatric referral if psychosis, mania or suicidality is possible. Remind the client that such experiences are documented and can occur without prior mental-health problems [source: Farias et al. 2020; Lindahl et al. 2017 via ScienceDaily].
Persistent depersonalisation or derealisation after void or no-self contemplations (B5, B12, B13). Response: stop those forms; switch to outward, sensory, relational activity; treat as a dissociative symptom with standard care while respecting the client's spiritual reading; consult the teacher about a gentler practice.
Grandiosity or elation around affirmations of being Śiva, all-pervasive or omnipotent (B12). Response: check sleep, speech, spending and risk; distinguish shared religious belief held with humility from mania or psychosis; refer urgently if indicated. Illustrative: "In your tradition, how does someone who has truly recognised this usually behave day to day?"
Kuṇḍalinī-type experiences (heat, rising energy, involuntary movement). Response: respect the tradition's frame; rule out medical and psychiatric causes with the GP; reduce B2 practices; teacher guidance on what the tradition advises. Do not offer energy techniques yourself.
Self-harm presented as practice (pain or piercing, v.93; height imagery, M90). Response: name the risk plainly; follow standard suicide and self-harm risk assessment and safety planning; agree with the client (and, with consent, the teacher) that these practices are off the table. Never debate the scripture; focus on safety.
Scrupulosity. Fear of reciting wrongly, of impure thoughts during practice, of displeasing the guru, of "wasting" an initiation; repeated re-doing of practices; reassurance seeking. Response: assess for OCD; use exposure and response prevention adapted with the client's consent and, where the client wishes, in consultation with their teacher about what the tradition actually requires, so that exposure targets go no further than religious obligation; the IOCDF describes this approach for religious OCD [uncertain: not verified]. Illustrative: "Let's ask your teacher what counts as a complete practice, so we can tell the difference between devotion and the OCD's rules."
Spiritual bypassing. The client uses non-dual teaching to avoid grief, anger, conflict or responsibility ("it's all consciousness"). Response: affirm the teaching; ask how it applies to the concrete situation; note the text itself asks the practitioner to stay with emotion, not avoid it (B11).
Non-adherence. The client says they want to practise but does not. Response: explore ambivalence and meaning; reduce to a very short daily form; link to values; accept that not practising is their choice and not a therapy failure.
Rupture: "you don't take my tradition seriously" or "you're pushing religion". Response: acknowledge, apologise for any slight, re-check consent and goals, return to client-led integration; seek consultation or refer if religious competence is lacking [source: APA Ethics Code 2.01].
The client wants the therapist as guru (asking for teaching, initiation, blessing or interpretation of experiences). Response: decline warmly; name roles; refer to a teacher [source: APA Ethics Code 3.05]. Illustrative: "I can help you with what this brings up in your life, but I'm not the right person to teach it. Your teacher is."
Conflict with the teacher, coercion or misconduct. Response: explore safely; look for signs of coercive control (A10); if the client discloses sexual misconduct or exploitation by a teacher, support them, follow safeguarding and mandatory-reporting duties, and do not contact the teacher without consent. This guide names no teacher as a wrongdoer.
Health and medication. A client hopes a practice will cure a physical illness, or wants to stop medication to deepen practice. Response: no practice here is presented as a treatment for physical disease; refer health and medication questions to their doctor or prescriber; do not advise on medicines.
Retreats. The client plans an intensive retreat. Response: A6 screening; plan sleep, contact and a return plan; agree warning signs and who they will call; ask whether retreat staff can respond to psychological crises.
Young people. A teenager practises from books or online videos. Response: involve parents or guardians as appropriate; obtain consent and the young person's assent; discourage intensive, isolating or high-risk practices (B3, B6, B9, B10); follow safeguarding procedures if a teacher or group is involved in harmful practices.
Clients born into the tradition. Practice may be bound up with family, ancestry and community identity. Response: explore family and community meaning, not only technique; use the Cultural Formulation Interview's spirituality module if helpful [uncertain: not verified].

Sources

Web pages:

Articles and books cited:

Lindahl, J. R., Fisher, N. E., Cooper, D. J., Rosen, R. K., & Britton, W. B. (2017). The varieties of contemplative experience: A mixed-methods study of meditation-related challenges in Western Buddhists. PLOS ONE, 12(5), e0176239. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0176239 (findings as summarised by ScienceDaily and Cheetah House).
Farias, M., et al. (2020). Adverse events in meditation practices and meditation-based therapies: a systematic review. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 142(5), 374–393. https://doi.org/10.1111/acps.13225
Lakshmanjoo, Swami. The Manual for Self Realization: 112 Meditations of the Vijnana Bhairava. Lakshmanjoo Academy [uncertain: year and editor not verified].
Lakshmanjoo, Swami. Vijnana Bhairava: The Practice of Centring Awareness. Indica Books [uncertain: not verified; year not verified].
Singh, Jaideva (trans.). Vijñānabhairava or Divine Consciousness. Motilal Banarsidass [uncertain: not verified; year not verified].
Treleaven, D. A. (2018). Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness [uncertain: not verified].
Vieten, C., et al. (2013). Spiritual and religious competencies for psychologists [uncertain: not verified].
American Psychiatric Association. DSM-5-TR: Cultural Formulation Interview [uncertain: not verified].
ICD-10-CM Z65.8, Other specified problems related to psychosocial circumstances (includes 'Religious or spiritual problem'), https://www.unboundmedicine.com/icd/view/ICD-10-CM/945432/all/Z65_8___Other_specified_problems_related_to_psychosocial_circumstances

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