Bhairava- ferocity of nonduality

Photo: Barbie Robinson

There is remarkable magic about these times, and I don't mean to "bypass" the chaos, sadness and division that deeply affect each one of us. I am saying this because I witness how connection happens in ways that the mind cannot control and divide—and this is through embodied consciousness. And Bhairava, that wild, raw and primeval of deities, has a role to play in this bringing together of consciousness!

These are times of strong mental consciousness—fear, separation and control. And the very same energies move towards its vitality and dynamism in the practice of the Divine Masculine in Siva, Bhairava and Rudra. There is a continuum between these deities as all of them straddle the cosmos of existential terror, storm energy, wild ferocity and what emerges in the flow.

Yesterday, in the midst of a week of Bhairava practice, some of us witnessed a spectacular storm. And with great precision this brought to us the teaching of Bhairava—ferocious, destructive, breathtakingly beautiful, nourishing and terrifying. There is no story of the mind that can bring these so called dualities in the same moment. Bhairava is that movement of consciousness towards unity, even through fear and sadness.

I do not mean to romanticize the unease and fear in these times. And Bhairava is not romantic in any way. He is the wild dog that guards His territory with snarls, ready to tear to pieces anyone who threatens. There is neither bypass nor catharsis in Bhairava, but an invitation to experience the connection of our sensation to the elemental sensations.

In elemental flow there is a fluidity, just like the storm. In this fluidity there is Truth beyond the simplistic duality of the mind. This brings to us the teaching that what we feel is shared in the consciousness of the world and that we are not alone. This sense of community is beyond the community of the mind—it descends like a visceral truth about which there is no doubt. Then birdsong brings teachings, and a humble blue tongue lizard in your garden will share her restlessness at an impending storm.

That for me is the gift of Bhairava. The sensation that the movement of these times holds in its heart a divinity that is offered to us as teaching all the time. And we neither reject nor accept suffering, but we move it towards its elemental constellation where there are infinite connections that allow for compassionate flow rather than contraction.

(As I post this, another storm is raging—Bhairava continues His dance!)