Stillness · “Stillness Reveals”
The Gap (madhya)
To rest attention in the naturally still gap (madhya) at the turn of the breath — and between two thoughts — until that gap opens into a spacious, thought-free awareness (the Bhairava-state).
The Gap in 4 lines: Let the breath be natural. At the top of the inhale and the bottom of the exhale there is a tiny, already-present pause — rest your attention there (do not hold the breath). Let the pause widen on its own into spacious, thought-free awareness. Then notice the same gap between two thoughts, and rest there. Don’t grasp — alert receptivity is the whole art.
What it is
Christopher Wallis (a.k.a. Hareesh), scholar-practitioner of nondual Śaiva Tantra, transmits one of the oldest and simplest contemplations in the Vijñāna Bhairava Tantra: rest your attention in the gap (madhya, “the centre/middle”) — the naturally still point where the inhale turns into the exhale, and the exhale turns into the inhale.
The same gap exists between two thoughts. Wallis calls madhya the “fundamental theme” of the whole text: wherever one movement ends and the next has not yet begun, there is a seam of stillness, and if you rest attention there without grasping, it dilates into a thought-free, spacious awareness the text names the Bhairava-state (an expanded state of consciousness).
You don’t manufacture the gap — it is already happening, dozens of times a minute. You simply notice it and let it widen on its own.
The Method
Wallis teaches the madhya dhāraṇā in plain, doable steps, following VBT vv. 24–27:
- Settle and let the breath be natural. Sit comfortably, eyes closed or softly open. Do not control the breath — just let it move on its own. The whole practice depends on a relaxed, unforced breath.
- Find the two turning points. Without altering anything, notice the brief, natural pause at the top of the inhale (before exhaling) and the brief pause at the bottom of the exhale (before inhaling). These are the two madhyas — the gaps.
- Rest attention in the gap — don’t hold the breath. As the breath naturally pauses, let your awareness settle into that little stillness. Crucially: you are not retaining or suppressing the breath by effort; you are simply being present in the pause that is already there. VBT v. 27 points to the tranquil power (śānti śakti) that arises in the still point after exhalation and inhalation.
- Let the gap “open.” With each turn, give the pause a feather-light, curious attention. Over minutes, the gaps tend to lengthen by themselves and the sense of a separate “watcher” softens. VBT v. 26: “When the Centre opens up. as thought-forms melt away by means of that [power], the Bhairava-state manifests.” 5. Extend it to the gap between thoughts. Once the breath-gap is familiar, notice the analogous gap between one thought and the next — the bare, contentless awareness in which thoughts arise and dissolve. Rest there the same way: not chasing the next thought, not pushing the last one out, just resting in the seam.
- Don’t grasp; let it be effortless. The instant you try to “make something happen,” the gap collapses. The posture is alert receptivity. When you notice you’ve been carried off by thought, gently return to the next turn of the breath. Wallis frames the result not as blanking out but as waking up inside the stillness — recognizing that the silent, spacious awareness in the gap is your own nature.
“When the Centre opens up. the Bhairava-state manifests.” — VBT v. 26 (Wallis trans.) (Sourcing note: steps follow Wallis’s teaching of VBT vv. 24–27. Verse renderings are short attributed quotes/paraphrases from his translation. “Bhairava-state = expanded consciousness” is Wallis’s gloss.)
Source & Lineage
The practice is from the Vijñāna Bhairava Tantra (the “Bhairava of/that is Consciousness”), a c. 9th-century Kashmiri Śaiva scripture cast as a dialogue between the Goddess (Devī/Bhairavī) and Bhairava, presenting 112 dhāraṇās (centring techniques).
The madhya / breath-gap contemplations are vv. 24–27. Christopher D. Wallis (1972–present) is the faithful translator and transmitter, not the originator: he produced a scholarly English translation of the VBT and teaches it within the living Trika / Kashmir Shaivism lineage, contextualized in his Tantra Illuminated (2012).
Cross-tradition kin: Zen’s shikantaza “just sitting,” the “gap” teachings in Dzogchen, and the pause-awareness of modern mindfulness all touch the same seam of stillness.
The Traditions' versions
Vijñāna Bhairava Tantra (source) — madhya, resting in the centre between any two states, breaths, or thoughts. The root practice.
- Ajapā-japa / so’ham — rides the same breath, adding the natural mantra; the gap is where “sa” turns to “ha.”
- Mindfulness of breathing (ānāpānasati / MBSR) — secular kin; attention on the breath, often noticing the pauses.
- Zen shikantaza — open, objectless resting awareness; structurally near the “gap between thoughts.”
- Dzogchen / Mahāmudrā “gap” — recognizing the bare awareness between thoughts as the nature of mind.
- Eckhart Tolle’s “gap” / “the Now” — popularized the gap-between-thoughts as a doorway to presence (The Inner Creates the Outer).
Common refinements
Holding the breath. The most common error. The gap is a natural pause you rest in — not breath retention by force. Strain defeats it.
- Hunting for the gap / trying too hard. Effort collapses the stillness. Adopt relaxed, curious attention; let the gap come to you.
- Expecting a “blank.” It’s not unconsciousness — it’s awake stillness. If you space out, you’ve drifted; gently return.
- Skipping the natural breath. Manipulating the breath turns this into a different (prāṇāyāma) practice. Keep it spontaneous.
- Refinement: once stable, drop the breath as anchor entirely and rest in the gap between thoughts directly — Wallis treats this as the same madhya in subtler form.