#61 Sky Meditation

Look continuously at a clear sky, without moving oneself. From that moment 0 Goddess, one will obtain the form of God.

Verse 84, Vigyan Bhairava tantra

Our true nature is infinity. We are one with God, who is infinite. It is our identification with our ego, or our mind and body, that limits us. This meditation tries to break the limitations imposed by the mind and the body. It does this by looking at something infinite. It is similar to Verse 60, where one has to look at a vast open space, with no mountains, trees, walls, etc.

How to do this technique

• This is easier to practice because it is difficult to find a vast open place with no trees or mountains.
• It is easier to find a clear sky with no clouds. It is best to practice this meditation lying down, looking up at the sky.
• Look continuously. This is also a looking technique. Like all looking techniques, it should be done without blinking or moving the eyes. That is what the verse means when it says, look continuously. It means do not blink your eyes.

When we stop the movement of the eyes, we stop all thoughts. This by itself is sufficient for enlightenment. Yet this meditation works at two other levels. at a clear sky. This is important. A clear blue sky gives a sense of infinity. If there are clouds, then something finite, something with a boundary has come into the picture. The sense of infinity is lost. When you are looking at a pure blue sky, you are looking at something infinite. The mind cannot coexist with infinity. The longer you look at something infinite, the weaker the mind becomes.

Ultimately, the mind disappears altogether. Looking at something infinite is important for another reason also. We need another object by which to define ourselves. We cannot exist in a vacuum. Our sense of separateness, our identity is obtained about something else. We see a bird, a table, mountains, trees, a house, another human being, and we define ourselves as being different from that. We (the subject) see ourselves as separate and different from that particular object. When we look at a clear sky, there is no object there by which we can compare and define ourselves. {That is also why a clear sky is important. When there are clouds, there is a definable object that we can compare ourselves to). When there is no object, there is also no subject. Our ego collapses. Our separate identity disappears. We become one with the Whole. In Verse 33, and in Zen Buddhism, one practices a similar technique. A person is asked to sit in front of a plain white wall. That person has to look at the wall continuously. The effect is the same. There is no object in the wall by which one can define oneself. There is nothing separate from us because there is nothing else. When there is nothing separate, we no longer remain separate. We become one with God. without moving oneself. In all looking meditations, one should not move the body. In looking meditations, one is stopping the eyes from moving or even blinking. When the body moves, the eyes automatically move, and the effect of the meditation is lost. From that moment 0 Goddess, one will obtain the form of God. Results are achieved in this meditation very quickly. That is because three factors are working here – it is a looking technique, and by not moving the eyes, all thoughts stop. By looking at something infinite, we become infinite. And by not having an object to look at, our ego, our separate identity, disappears.