Door 91Verse 116contemplationPracticeDraft · awaiting guardian review
Wherever the mind wanders, outside or inside, take that very place as the sacred and rest there.
The verse
yatra yatra mano yāti bāhye vābhyantare 'pi vā | tatra tatra śivāvasthā vyāpakatvāt kva yāsyati ||
Wherever the mind goes, outward or inward, there is the state of Śiva; since it pervades everything, where could the mind go?
School paraphrase drawing on Jaideva Singh (1979), Christopher Wallis and Bettina Bäumer (as printed in Wallis's concordance); not a quotation.
Commentary
Singh: metaphysically, everything subjective or objective is Śiva; in practice, the aspirant need not struggle to concentrate on some mysterious reality. Whatever attracts the mind, outer (a jar, a colour) or inner (an emotion, a thought), is taken with full conviction as Śiva and meditated on; it then appears as universal consciousness in that form. He links it to Spandakārikā 2.3–5. Wallis: 'wherever the mind goes'.
How to sit with it
Let the mind go where it goes: a sound, a colour, a memory, a feeling. Do not pull it back. Wherever it lands, take that as the state of Śiva and rest there, until it moves on, and do the same again.
Where attention rests
Wherever the mind lands, outer or inner
That very place taken as the state of Śiva
Not a body shape. The map is the mind wandering in every direction and finding the same reality wherever it lands.
Breath
Natural breath. Count about four in and four out only if it helps you settle, then let the count go. No forced hold.
The counts are an optional school pacing aid, not part of the verse. Hold is always 0: this school never adds a deliberate breath-hold.
Any steady, comfortable position (school addition)
Any steady, comfortable position: sitting on a chair, sitting on the floor with support under the hips, or lying on the back. Standing or walking slowly is also acceptable when that is easier. Choose the position in which the body needs the least effort.
School addition. Verse 116 does not specify a body position. The seat is a convenience so the dharana can be practised; it is not part of the technique and makes no claim of tradition.
Safety
Pain is information. Pause, regress, or exit. Never push through sharp pain.
General practice caution only; not medical advice. No effort to control the mind is needed here; if a difficult memory arises, you may open the eyes and rest on something neutral. If anything feels distressing (dizziness, agitation, strong emotion), stop, open the eyes and rest attention on the feet and the floor.
This door needs no particular posture: sit on a chair, sit on the floor with support, or lie down. Eyes may stay open.
Honesty
Door 091 follows Vijñāna Bhairava Tantra dharana 91 (verse 116) in Jaideva Singh's numbering. The door-to-dharana index is a School of 112 Doorways teaching device. Singh's sequence is one edition's count, not an ancient one-to-one canon. The seat, counts, reaction and beat scripts are school additions.
Door index = Jaideva Singh dharana number: Door 091 is dharana 91, verse 116. Other editions number differently (see dharana.numbering_variants).
The seat, breath counts, reaction metaphor, attention-map drawing and beat scripts are school devices, not part of the verse.
The English is a school paraphrase, not a quotation from any translator.
No medical claims. Reaction names are metaphors, not biochemistry.
New door researched on 2026-10-06 on branch research/vbt-houses-2-7; awaiting guardian review.
School of 112 Doorways: seat, breath counts, reaction metaphor, attention map drawing and beat scripts School devices, following the House 1 conventions (doors/HOUSE-1-REGISTRY.md, guardians/CHECKLIST.md). research/PROMPT_TEMPLATE.md is not present in the repository at 32e76c4.
Pain is information, never a badge. Never force the breath. Practice is not medical treatment. The door-to-dhāraṇā index is a School of 112 Doorways teaching device (school_device), not an ancient one-to-one canon.