Tantra Illuminated with Dr. Christopher Wallis The Real Vijñāna-Bhairava-Tantra (Revisited)
Mar 13, 2026
A deep dive into a radical nondual Shaiva scripture and its practical contemplations. They explore over a hundred gateways into direct awareness using breath, sound, senses, and emotional intensity. Historical survival, differences from classical Yoga, and the role of desire as transformative energy are discussed. The conversation also covers translation challenges and the reasoning behind a new app to present the practices.
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Early Sophisticated Nondual Manual
- The VBT is an early, mature nondual practice text teaching fusion with objects of meditation and asserting all phenomena can be contemplated as one consciousness.
- Wallis emphasizes its sophistication despite early historical placement.
Diverse Methods Guided By Skillful Means
- The VBT preserves elements of earlier Yogic teaching but reconciles them with tantric methods via upaya (skillful means).
- Wallis explains the text offers both introversive and extroversive techniques so teachers can choose what works.
Use Mind To Dissolve The Mind
- The VBT uses the mind to negate the mind: contemplate the absence of mental constructs to short-circuit identification and reveal pure awareness.
- Wallis likens this to a Zen-like technique that denies mind as noun rather than process.
