Conversations With The Void: 112 Non-dual Tantric Meditation Hacks for Altering Your Consciousness and Experiencing The Void  Raja Choudhury (A Thousand Suns Academy LLC, Phoenix, AZ )   C23

I want to stand as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all the kinds of things you can't see from the center. ~Kurt Vonnegut. Imagine, what it would be like to stand at the precipice of the void, the edge of all known reality, absolute nothingness? Shunya. Limitless consciousness. What would you feel? Fear? Terror? Curiosity? Excitement? Fear and terror at the thought of complete annihilation? No more you. Curiosity and excitement at what might actually lie beyond - A deep feeling that it is where you really came from. The non-dual Tantrics of Kashmir in the 11th century explored this inner dialogue between the subjective self in the cells, neurons, and microtubules of every living being with death or the void and, the vast consciousness behind everything. They called the energy seeking answers Bhairavi or Kundalini Shakti and the vast nothingness of consciousness and the universal mind Bhairav or Shiva. What does Bhairav mean? To scream in fear at the point of death in the presence of the vast intelligent Void. That is to experience Bhairav. At that moment when you are curious and want to understand, you will be reborn and become Bhairav (Verse 103 of the Vijnana Bhairav Tantra) But why would Bhairavi want to dissolve into Bhairav? Why would Shakti or energy and the body want to dance with Shiva or pure consciousness? This was the profound question at the root of all Tantra and it seems that our natural human urge is for the subjective ego to surrender to and dissolve into "Spinoza's God" or the pan-psychic mind behind everything. Is it possible to have a conversation with the Void and with pure consciousness? Can an embodied subjective consciousness in the body, senses, and brain engage in a dialogue with the vast consciousness that seems to surround everything and even precedes space-time? In the past 2 years, I have taken more than 2,500 students on The Shift Network and at live retreats into deep states of altered consciousness, trance, and meditation using advanced techniques from Trika and Sri and Kali Vidya Tantra and hundreds have experienced deep states of altered consciousness, inner transformations, healing and what can only be described as magical new manifestations and realities by exploring the energetic body and the void in this work. While many of these could be replicated in hypnotic trance states, a magical dimension seemed to open up beyond the subconscious mind. A state I can only describe as a super-conscious mind. In our exploration of consciousness, it seems essential we devote new energy and research to scientifically study this deep way of playing with consciousness as Tantrics, alchemists and artists, rather than just scientists or passive mindful beings trying to detach from suffering and the illusion of reality. To Tantrics our purpose is to live fully embodied and at the same time fully in consciousness. Pure magic!