In the pursuit of yoga, the wise are instructed to seek out a place that is both secluded and auspicious. This might be a tranquil field, a well-concealed spot, a delightful forest, or a sanctified area within one's own home—always somewhere solitary and free from the disturbance of creatures. The chosen place should be absolutely pure, its surface well-plastered and beautifully adorned, gleaming like the interior of a polished mirror, and fragrant with the scent of black aloe wood. The surroundings are to be decorated with a variety of fresh flowers, shaded by splendid canopies above, and enriched at the base with tender leaves, fruits, and sacred grass. Once the space is prepared, the practitioner should seat themselves properly, with reverence and care. Before beginning, it is customary to bow first to the teacher, then to Bhava, the Goddess, and to Vinayaka, invoking their blessings. In the presence of the lords of yogis and their disciples, the knower of yoga should unite with the practice, assuming one of the sacred postures: svastika, bound, lotus, or half-lotus. The body must be steady and firm, with both knees even or one knee as appropriate, and the feet drawn together. The mouth is to be kept closed, the eyes restrained, and the chest upright. The practitioner should protect the vital organs with the heels, ensuring that the generative organ is likewise safeguarded. The head is held slightly raised, the teeth not touching, and the gaze fixed steadily at the tip of the nose, avoiding any distraction in other directions. In this posture, the yogi covers darkness with rajas, and then rajas with sattva, thus becoming established in sattva. It is in this pure state that one should meditate upon Shiva. With deep concentration, the mind is directed to the supreme, pure form represented by Om, which shines like the flame of a lamp within the pericarp of the lotus. Alternatively, the wise may meditate below the navel on the supreme lotus, visualizing it as three fingers in size, with either eight or five petals. There, too, are to be contemplated the triangular figure of the fire region, as well as the lunar and solar regions, each with their respective powers—solar, lunar, and fiery, arranged in their proper order below the fire region, along with the fourfold group of dharma and related qualities. Above the mandala, the three gunas are contemplated in succession, and, established in sattva, the yogi meditates on Rudra, encircled by his own shakti. Meditation may be practiced at various places within the body: at the navel, the throat, between the eyebrows, at the center of the forehead, or at the crown of the head. Shiva is to be visualized within lotuses of various forms: two-petalled, sixteen-spoked, twelve-spoked, ten-spoked, six-sided, or four-sided, as appropriate. The appearance of these inner abodes may be golden, palace-like, pure white, radiant as twelve suns, or shining like the disc of the moon. Sometimes, it may resemble a flash of lightning, a fiery hue, or a circle like lightning itself. The yogi may also meditate in a place shining like the tip of a diamond, resembling a ruby, or within a blue-red disc. In these sacred centers, the practitioner meditates on Maheshvara in the heart, Sadashiva in the lotus of the navel, the moon-crested Lord at the forehead, and Shankara between the eyebrows. In the divine, eternal space within, the yogi contemplates Shiva as the pure, partless Brahman: supremely peaceful and the very essence of knowledge—without attributes, indescribable, subtler than the subtlest, auspicious, unsupported, inconceivable, and free from both origin and destruction. This is liberation itself, nirvana, the highest and unsurpassed good—immortal, imperishable Brahman, wondrous and beyond rebirth. It is the great bliss, the supreme bliss, the bliss of yoga, free from affliction, beyond acceptance or rejection, subtler than the subtle—this is Shiva. He is both self-known and unknowable, supreme, beyond the senses, without form, the highest reality, transcending even the highest. Shiva is free from all limitations, attainable through meditation and inquiry, nondual, and established beyond all darkness. Thus, one should contemplate Mahadeva in the mind or in the lotus of the heart, or Sadashiva at the navel, the all-pervading Lord who is the essence of all the gods. Within the body, meditation is directed toward Shiva, the Lord who is pure knowledge and all-pervading. This may be accomplished by the path of Kanyasā, by the method of upward movement, or by the middle path—step by step, with the aid of kumbhaka (breath retention). The wise, concentrating at the heart or navel, should exhale thirty-two times, abandoning both inhalation and exhalation, and thus practice kumbhaka. With steady and equal absorption, one contemplates Shiva within the body, attaining unity and whatever essence arises there. Established in this state, the wise know the bliss of Brahman. Concentration is measured in twelve counts, and meditation is twelve such concentrations. Meditation up to twelve stages is called samadhi; for the wise, it may also arise simply through association with the realized. Whether attained through effort, over a long time or quickly, both methods yield the same result. Yet, even for one engaged in diligent practice, obstacles to yoga may arise repeatedly. These obstacles are overcome by perseverance and by devotion to the teacher. At the outset, laziness may appear, followed by affliction from disease, negligence, doubt, and instability of mind. Lack of faith, non-perception, confusion, and threefold suffering may follow, along with dejection, unfitness for unsuitable things, and fitness for what is suitable. For the sage, obstacles to yoga manifest in ten ways: laziness, inactivity, heaviness of body and mind; diseases arising from imbalance of bodily elements, from actions, or from faults; and negligence, which is the absence of contemplation on the means to samadhi. Doubt may arise regarding the place of practice, and instability of mind is the lack of established focus for yogis. Yet, with steadfast practice and devotion, these obstacles too are overcome, and the path to union with the supreme Shiva is made clear.