Mantra Dissolution into Silence
Bhairava
Take a mantra and notice how it changes from a spoken sound into subtler and subtler levels. First hear the clearer parts, then the faint inner point, then the ringing tone, and finally the silence behind it. The practice is to follow the mantra inward until only stillness remains.
वपण्डमन्त्रस्य सिधस्य स्थूलिणधक्रमेण तु । अधेन्दुविन्दुनादान्त् शून्योच्चाराद्भिेवच्छि् ॥ ४२ ॥
piṇḍamantrasya sidhasya sthūliṇadhakrameṇa tu | adhendu vindu nādāntāt śūnyoccārādbhivecchit || 42 ||
Translation
For the perfected embodied mantra, by the क्रम of gross articulation, from half-moon, bindu, and nāda up to the end, one should dissolve into the utterance of emptiness.
Trace mantra from articulated sound back into subtler stages until it disappears into silence and emptiness.