Spanda: The Yoga of Vibration
-Experiencing the Pulsation of Divine Consciousness
by Christopher Tompkins, M.T.S., M.A.
According to the core Tantric philosophy of Spanda, the ‘Vibration’ of Divine
Consciousness manifests as the whole universe, including the physical and
subtle bodies of every human being. Tantra teaches us that there is a unifying
continuity between our physical bodies, the activities of our mind and emotions,
and all forms of interior awareness. All of these are manifestations of the one
source; thus, we are all microcosmic pulsations of the whole, expressions in
bodily form, within the illusory dimension of time and space, of Universal
Consciousness (Parama Śhiva).
According to the primary teaching on Spanda, the 9th century Kashmiri work
known as the ‘Teachings on Vibration,’ the supreme vibration (Spanda) unifies
and encompasses all that has emerged from it, and continually re-enfolds the
manifest totality of all that exists back into the supreme light of consciousness.
The very energy (Śhakti) of consciousness flows into condensed expressions of
itself in waves of contraction (nimeṣha) that we recognize as the constituents of
the world around us, including bodies, feelings, and thoughts. When Śhakti seeks to again expand (unmeṣha) into its infinite potential, to identify with more expansive levels of awareness ofitself through our own intention, we practice yoga.
Spanda is often called sphuratta, the ‘scintillating pulse’ of the Supreme Light
which continuously trembles within its own incandescence. This very vibration
makes up the totality of all beings. Thus the Universal Spanda blissfully vibrates
as all aspects of the Self. Even ‘negative’ feelings and thoughts are part of Spanda;
when it contracts (nimeṣha) into the form of negative thoughts and feelings, these
are used as a spring-board to move into an expanded (unmeṣha) state, thus
completing the dance of life. But the very doctrine of Spanda is based on the fact
that contraction-expansion is the pulsation of the divine. We can only discover
our true Being as one with the Universal source when we have balanced action
between these two. Then the ‘arising’ (udyama) of consciousness comes, in the
still point (bindu) when are breath, heart, and mind becomes one pulsation.
Lead inwards, the yogi discovers that the most delicate and powerful tendrils of
individuality merge with the infinitely vast vibration (Spanda) of Divine
Consciousness. Mantra recitation (especially ‘om namah śhivaya’) and meditation
serve as the inner beacon to light the path through the subtler vibrations of inner
awareness, leading to the experience of parispanda, which the tradition calls the
‘blissful pulsation of enlightenment.’ It is called the ecstatic throb that stirs the
stillness of the Absolute. To attend consciously to this inner pulse is to unfold
deeper and deeper experiences of meditative absorption (samāvesha) until the
experience of limitation of any kind is forever broken.
In this state, we have become spiritually awake to the illuminating light of
consciousness (prakāśha) that dawns as the source of our beings. It is experienced
as totally free, ever-expanding, completely new waves of bliss that continually
impact the consciousness of the awakened yogin. The ‘recognition’ of Supreme
Spanda within the Self, as the Self, uncovers the well-spring of the nectarean
consciousness which streams forth in waves of energy. These ‘waves’ are merely
the energies that cause the pulsation of consciousness. They are the dynamism,
the vimarśha, the ‘self-consciousness’ of inner light divine. This light is the light of
all beings. We are all deeply connected as sacred vibrations of one Eternal,
blissful, and Absolute Consciousness (Śhiva).
In Tantric Yoga, we do not seek, therefore, to ‘change’ ourselves; rather, through
practice we gradually begin to recognize that everything we have sought outside
of ourselves--peace, love, contentment, security, etc., vibrates as the heart energy
(hṛidayam) of the universe within our own hearts. Yoga simply unveils this reality
as your true nature at the moment that the Śhakti (Divine Energy-Consciousness)
begins to expand outward once again in the form of your own awakening. It cannot be otherwise. Our awakening is merely this: we recognize our own heart
to be one with the central point of Supreme Consciousness, the point from which
all things ebb and flow in the bliss-dance of the Universe.
-Experiencing the Pulsation of Divine Consciousness
by Christopher Tompkins, M.T.S., M.A.
According to the core Tantric philosophy of Spanda, the ‘Vibration’ of Divine
Consciousness manifests as the whole universe, including the physical and
subtle bodies of every human being. Tantra teaches us that there is a unifying
continuity between our physical bodies, the activities of our mind and emotions,
and all forms of interior awareness. All of these are manifestations of the one
source; thus, we are all microcosmic pulsations of the whole, expressions in
bodily form, within the illusory dimension of time and space, of Universal
Consciousness (Parama Śhiva).
According to the primary teaching on Spanda, the 9th century Kashmiri work
known as the ‘Teachings on Vibration,’ the supreme vibration (Spanda) unifies
and encompasses all that has emerged from it, and continually re-enfolds the
manifest totality of all that exists back into the supreme light of consciousness.
The very energy (Śhakti) of consciousness flows into condensed expressions of
itself in waves of contraction (nimeṣha) that we recognize as the constituents of
the world around us, including bodies, feelings, and thoughts. When Śhakti seeks to again expand (unmeṣha) into its infinite potential, to identify with more expansive levels of awareness ofitself through our own intention, we practice yoga.
Spanda is often called sphuratta, the ‘scintillating pulse’ of the Supreme Light
which continuously trembles within its own incandescence. This very vibration
makes up the totality of all beings. Thus the Universal Spanda blissfully vibrates
as all aspects of the Self. Even ‘negative’ feelings and thoughts are part of Spanda;
when it contracts (nimeṣha) into the form of negative thoughts and feelings, these
are used as a spring-board to move into an expanded (unmeṣha) state, thus
completing the dance of life. But the very doctrine of Spanda is based on the fact
that contraction-expansion is the pulsation of the divine. We can only discover
our true Being as one with the Universal source when we have balanced action
between these two. Then the ‘arising’ (udyama) of consciousness comes, in the
still point (bindu) when are breath, heart, and mind becomes one pulsation.
Lead inwards, the yogi discovers that the most delicate and powerful tendrils of
individuality merge with the infinitely vast vibration (Spanda) of Divine
Consciousness. Mantra recitation (especially ‘om namah śhivaya’) and meditation
serve as the inner beacon to light the path through the subtler vibrations of inner
awareness, leading to the experience of parispanda, which the tradition calls the
‘blissful pulsation of enlightenment.’ It is called the ecstatic throb that stirs the
stillness of the Absolute. To attend consciously to this inner pulse is to unfold
deeper and deeper experiences of meditative absorption (samāvesha) until the
experience of limitation of any kind is forever broken.
In this state, we have become spiritually awake to the illuminating light of
consciousness (prakāśha) that dawns as the source of our beings. It is experienced
as totally free, ever-expanding, completely new waves of bliss that continually
impact the consciousness of the awakened yogin. The ‘recognition’ of Supreme
Spanda within the Self, as the Self, uncovers the well-spring of the nectarean
consciousness which streams forth in waves of energy. These ‘waves’ are merely
the energies that cause the pulsation of consciousness. They are the dynamism,
the vimarśha, the ‘self-consciousness’ of inner light divine. This light is the light of
all beings. We are all deeply connected as sacred vibrations of one Eternal,
blissful, and Absolute Consciousness (Śhiva).
In Tantric Yoga, we do not seek, therefore, to ‘change’ ourselves; rather, through
practice we gradually begin to recognize that everything we have sought outside
of ourselves--peace, love, contentment, security, etc., vibrates as the heart energy
(hṛidayam) of the universe within our own hearts. Yoga simply unveils this reality
as your true nature at the moment that the Śhakti (Divine Energy-Consciousness)
begins to expand outward once again in the form of your own awakening. It cannot be otherwise. Our awakening is merely this: we recognize our own heart
to be one with the central point of Supreme Consciousness, the point from which
all things ebb and flow in the bliss-dance of the Universe.
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