Abhava-Yoga is the yoga of nonbeing, found in some of the Purânas. In the Kurma-Purana, it is understood as the method “in which one contemplates one’s essence as void yet all-illuminating, and by which one beholds the Self.”

In Linga-Purana this type of yoga is said to be the “mind’s extinction” (citta-nirvana). For those of us whose minds boggle at the mere idea of extinction of any facet of self, perhaps the Shiva-Purâna’s take will shed some light.

The Shiva-Purana describes Abhava Yoga as a state in which one contemplates the world without any perception of objects. In this way, Abhâva Yoga can be seen as a form of supraconscious (super ego) meditation.