When one casts into the fire of supreme reality the five elements, the senses and their objects, the dualistic mind and even vacuity, then there is true offering to the Gods.

~ Vijnanabhairava Tantra, verse 149

Daniel Odier, in the introduction to his presentation of this Tantra, tells us:

The Vijnanabhairava Tantra, a text written by the Shaivite School of Kashmir around the first century A.D., represents "the quintessence of all the tantras.” It stands first and foremost on the plane of absolute reality, where it touches the deepest roots of the spirit. This "tantra of supreme consciousness” is probably the most extraordinary sum total of yogic methods ever brought together. It offers an extremely original approach that utilizes the complete spectrum of thought, emotion, and sensation as a mystical path. Far from impelling the devotee to renounce the world, on the contrary, it urges him or her to touch the world so profoundly that he or she discovers the absolute at the very heart of reality.

So what might be the relevance of this verse ~ one strand from a fabric of "extraordinary” yogic wisdom ~ to an asana practice? Is there a way for us to "touch the world” of our bodies (as they move into and out of various asanas) "so profoundly that [we] discover the absolute at the very heart of reality”? Let's explore …

What, in the context of an asana practice, might be the "fire of supreme reality” into which we cast the five elements, etc.? One way to see this is as a reference to the energy of the Shushumna Nadi, the radiant core of the yogic body, which is visualized and then experienced as flowing along the vertical axis of our body, just in front of the spine, from the center-point of the pelvic floor (Muladhara Chakra, or ~ in terms of the acupuncture system ~ Hui Yin) to the crown of the head (Sahasrara Chakra, or Bai Hui). The action of "casting into the fire of supreme reality” can be understood, then, to be the continuous return of our (habitually dualistic) awareness into this channel of (nondual) energy/awareness. In terms of the yogic body, this corresponds to the merging of the energy of the Ida and Pingala ~ the channels through which awareness flows when we're operating within dualistic, samsaric patterns ~ into the Shushumna Nadi. The Shushumna Nadi, then, is the field within which our awareness functions, and out of which our asanas can express, when we've transcended (or "sacrificed”) those dualistic patterns.

So what is it that we "cast into” this "fire of supreme reality”? The verse advises us to offer "the five elements, the senses and their objects, the dualistic mind and even vacuity.” So basically … everything (!) within our phenomenal experience, or ~ in Buddhist terms ~ all of the five skandhas (form, feeling, perception, mental formation, consciousness). So as we're moving through our asana practice, we "offer” into this "fire” of the Shushumna Nadi the "five elements” of which our physical bodies are composed; we offer our "senses and their objects,” i.e. everything we're s

eeing, hearing, tasting, smelling or feeling; we offer our "dualistic mind,” i.e. all of the mental commentary that's happening; and, finally, we offer "even vacuity,” even our experience of spaciousness, of witness consciousness … All of it is tossed ~ like ghee and rice into a sacrificial fire ~ into the radiant core of our Being, whose yogic metaphor is the Shushumna Nadi.

And what does it mean to "offer” the elements of our experience into this "fire”? In terms of an asana practice, this is a gesture accessed, for one, by simply saying (internally or out loud) "aaaah” … a physical/emotional/mental gesture which releases the soft palate, releases us from the binds of emotional and mental pre-conceptions … places us back at square one (or square zero, which is a circle), at not-knowing. It engenders a gentle smile, a feeling of deep relief and boundless gratitude (simply for the journey, which is always now). It is an attitude which offers its "opinions” continuously into the bliss of the central channel, where they are annihilated … So we let our energy flow "outward” into our limbs and organs, into whatever shape we are exploring, into whatever asana we are manifesting … yet return, again and again, to the Source of that expression, which is the nondual energy of the Shushumna Nadi, the source of our inherent perfection, boundless wisdom, ever-deepening compassion.

And how, then, is this way of practicing asana a "true offering to the Gods”? It is this because practicing in this way represents the dissolution of the polarity between sacred & profane, between mortal & divine, between "me” (as a lowly asana practitioner) and "God” (as the one "out there” who I'm trying to please). It's the kind of offering "God” likes best, because what we're offering are all those (illusory) aspects of our egoic self still "caught” in the illusion of separateness, still caught in the wrong view which sees our self as something less than Divine. It allows us to actualize ~ in the field of our human body ~ the "marriage” of Shiva (the unmanifest) and Shakti (the awakened energy of manifestation). And out of this divination, this dissolution, grows a deep humility: we re-cognize ourselves as being, simultaneously (!), infinitely small and infinitely large … we know ourselves as a spark of the Divine, as Love itself, taking one form and then another … one asana and then the next … from Samasthiti to Shavasana.

And this is the "discovery of the absolute at the very heart of reality,” this is True Offering to the Gods …

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