Consciousness and Meditation: In Indian Philosophy with Special Reference to the Text Vijñānabhairava and Mahāmudrā

The text Vijñānabhairava is a significant tantra-related treatise in Kaśmīra Śaivism that focuses on depicting the nature of ultimate reality and achieving it through upāyas while as Mahamudra a well-known tantric practice in Vajrayana Buddhism focuses on meditation practices and the benefits in detail. The book provides a detailed analysis on meditation and consciousness in context of both the schools of Philosophy. The concept and nature of consciousness in both Indian philosophical traditions in general are explored in the first chapter. The second chapter is devoted to a thorough analysis of Kaśmīra Śaivism and Vajrayāna Buddhism. The texts Vijñānabhairava and Mahāmudrā which extensively cover consciousness and meditation are featured in Chapters 3 and 4 respectively. Chapter 5 of the book talks about the meditationalapproaches in both the systems. Key terms with their explanations have been provided in the Appendix 1.