All contact with pleasure, pain and the rest comes through the doors of the senses; knowing this, letting go of the senses, one abides at ease in one's own Self.
School paraphrase drawing on Jaideva Singh (1979), Christopher Wallis and Bettina Bäumer (as printed in Wallis's concordance); not a quotation.
Commentary
Singh: pleasure and pain received through the senses belong not to the essential Self but to the psycho-physical complex; this is achieved mainly by śakti-saṃkoca, which the Pratyabhijñāhṛdaya defines as turning back toward the Self the consciousness spreading outward through the senses. One becomes poised in oneself (svastha), free of the opposites. He cites the Yogavāsiṣṭha. Singh classes it as śāktopāya. Wallis: 'abide in oneself'; let go of attachment to the senses and be at ease in the natural state.
How to sit with it
Notice that every pleasant or unpleasant experience arrives through a sense: seeing, hearing, touch, taste, smell. Without closing anything off, let attention stop reaching out through those doors and turn back. Rest, at ease, in yourself.
Where attention rests
The recognition that pleasure and pain arrive through the senses
Attention resting at ease in oneself, not reaching out through them
Not a body shape. The map is the senses as doors through which pleasure and pain arrive, and attention turning back from the doors to rest at home.
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 136 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. This is not ignoring pain that needs care, and it is not cutting off from the world; it is resting attention within for a while. 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 111 follows Vijñāna Bhairava Tantra dharana 111 (verse 136) 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 111 is dharana 111, verse 136. 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.
Name the door. This is Door 111: pleasure and pain come through the senses. Vijñāna Bhairava Tantra dharana 111, verse 136.
Geometry. No shape to make. Sit or lie down. The map is the senses as doors, and attention coming home from them.
Orientation. Let the floor or the chair carry you. Eyes closed or soft.
Breath. Natural breath. Count about four in and four out only if it helps. No forced hold.
Attention. Pleasant and unpleasant both arrive through the senses. Let attention stop reaching out through the doors. Turn back. Rest at ease within.
Reaction cue. School image: coming home through the doors. A metaphor, not medicine.
Adiyogi thread. Verse 136: all contact with pleasure and pain comes through the senses; letting go of the senses, one abides at ease in one's own Self.
Exit / integrate. Drop the exercise. Notice the room: its sounds, its light. Carry the quiet into what comes next.
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.