Vijñāna Bhairava Tantra

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The Vijñāna-bhairava-tantra (Sanskrit: विज्ञान भैरव तंत्र) (VBT, sometimes spelled in a Hindicised way as Vigyan Bhairav Tantra) is a Shiva Tantra of the Kaula Trika tradition of Kashmir Shaivism. Singh notes that it is difficult to establish an exact date for the text, and it could have been written at some time from the 7th to the 8th century CE. It is also called the Śiva-jñāna-upaniṣad by Abhinavagupta. The VBT is framed as a discourse between Bhairava (the "fearsome one", or "the dark matter") and the goddess Bhairavi in 163 Sanskrit anuṣṭubh stanzas. It briefly presents around 112 Tantric meditation methods (yuktis) or centering techniques (dhāraṇās) in very compressed form. These practices are supposed to lead to the recognition of the true nature of Reality, the "tremendous" or "awesome" consciousness (i.e. vijñāna-bhairava). These include several variants of breath awareness, concentration on various centers in the body, non-dual awareness, mantra practice, visualizations and contemplations...

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