essential yoga vasistha

Essential Yoga Vasistha 2

ESSENTIAL YOGA VASISTHA Swami Suryadevananda

An Ananda Kutir Publication 2013

suryadevananda.org

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Dedicated to

Swami Venkatesananda


INTRODUCTION

The Yoga Vasistha is a manual for the sincere spiritual seeker. Through the use of stories and illustrations, Vasistha brings out the most subtle points, not for theorizing but for practice. The way of bringing out these points inspires the seeker towards their actualization in practiceboth in life and on the matthese being one and the same. The opening story of the first chapter sets the stage for life, which includes all activity and meditation or practice and leads to the goal like two wings of a bird.

Vasistha makes it very clear that the problem is confusion of the real with the unreal, or change, due to the seeming reality of its appearance. Life is the field where this takes place and life must also be the field where this is corrected. Meditation or practice sharpens the instrument which allows for a life where we deal with things as they are, without the interference of thought. This thins the mind and the thinned mind is ready for deeper meditation so one's true nature can be seen.

Life or activity and meditation or practice feed on each other in a cycle of ridding the mind of its impurities so one's true nature can be seen. This is the task on hand and this mighty scripture is a blazing light on the path.

Last year I completed 'Yoga Vasistha in Poem' based on portions I felt important for the spiritual seeker. This work, 'Essential Yoga Vasistha' is a response to that feelinga fresh work that highlights Vasistha's teachings in a way that talks to the reader instead of indirectly. The framework of stories, characters and situations have been dropped and the important teachings conveyed have been brought out directly. I have tried to bring out those teachings that pertain to understanding, practice and lifethese three being inseparable.

Poetry is not bound by the grammatical rules of prose and can cut through and bring out subtle points better. With using selected portions, it is still a lengthy work and I felt another version, a fresh writing from the ground up highlighting the teachings directly may be further useful. I have made some changes in this version to relate to the time we live in. Kings were the authority in the past, today, we can bring authority down further to the employer.

I am most thankful to Sivananda-Usha for her masterful and tireless help with editing this work.

Life is practice and practice is life. Persevere relentlessly!

Swami Suryadevananda 2 February 2013


CONTENTS

Introduction .............................................................................. 4

Prayer Before Reading .................................................. 7

I. Dealing with Dispassion ......................................................... 8

Life, a field to evolve ..................................................... 8 The seeker ..................................................................... 8 Signs of awakening ........................................................ 8 Awakened observations ................................................ 8

II. The Behavior of the Seeker ................................................. 11

The problem and cure ................................................. 11 Self-effort .................................................................... 11 Four gate-keepers to liberation .................................. 11 Wisdom's rise .............................................................. 12

III. Dealing with Creation ........................................................ 13

Appearance and reality ............................................... 13 Consciousness and creation ........................................ 13 Resolving appearance and reality ............................... 14 Space ........................................................................... 14 Practice........................................................................ 15 Changing the flow of the mind ................................... 15 The nature of infinite consciousness .......................... 15 The relative and the unchanging ................................ 17 Light on the path ......................................................... 18 Raise the mind with the mind ..................................... 19

Seven Planes of Wisdom ............................................. 21 The Infinite .................................................................. 22

IV. Dealing With Existence ...................................................... 23

'I' is the problem ......................................................... 23 Lead an awakened life ................................................ 25 Parents' Duty ............................................................... 27 Real and Unreal ........................................................... 27 The Sage's Song ........................................................... 27 Closing Thoughts ......................................................... 28

V. Dealing with Dissolution ..................................................... 29

Consciousness and thought ........................................ 30 The abandonment of conditioning ............................. 31 Craving ........................................................................ 31 Living with purpose ..................................................... 31 A Seeker's Prayer ........................................................ 32 A Seeker's Realization ................................................. 33 Mastery of one's heart-mind ...................................... 34 Sages' view .................................................................. 38 Conditioning ................................................................ 39 Overcoming the mind ................................................. 39

VI. Dealing With Liberation, Part I .......................................... 40

Exhortation to practice ............................................... 41 Truth ............................................................................ 41


The yoga way .............................................................. 41 Pranayama and mind control ..................................... 42 Living without conditioning ........................................ 43 Supreme meditation ................................................... 44 Supreme worship ........................................................ 44 The Supreme ............................................................... 45 Proper action .............................................................. 48 Seeing through the illusion ......................................... 48 Renunciation ............................................................... 49 Delusion of world-appearance.................................... 50 Mind itself is self-destruction ..................................... 50 Do what needs to be done .......................................... 51 Attain self-knowledge ................................................. 52

VI. Dealing With Liberation, Part II ......................................... 54

World exists in the meaning of 'ego-sense' ................ 55 Advice to the seeker ................................................... 55 How experience arises ................................................ 57

Seeing through the illusion ......................................... 60 Stay free of notions ..................................................... 62 Avoid siddhis or psychic powers ................................. 63 Action is better than inaction ..................................... 63 Awakened realizations ................................................ 64 Earnest prayers are answered .................................... 66 Strange and wonderful is this maya ........................... 66 The only means to redemption .................................. 67 Be established in truth ................................................ 67 Repeated affirmation makes memory ........................ 69 Focus of main effort .................................................... 70 The greatness of freedom ........................................... 71 Yoga as life .................................................................. 71 The seeker's awakening .............................................. 72 Vasistha's final comments .......................................... 72

Prayer Before Reading

Salutations to that supreme reality In which all shine as if independently In which they exist for a short while And into which they merge eventually

Salutations to that consciousness Source of apparent threefold division Of knower, knowledge and known Seer, sight and seen; doer, doing and deed

Salutations to that bliss-absolute Which is the life of all beings Deriving happiness from the shower Of its ocean of supreme bliss


I. DEALING WITH DISPASSION

Life, a field to evolve

Life, work and activity Are not different from practice Life is practice and practice is life Together seamlessly they lead to the goal

All things are ever changing They are not the problem at all Our reactions to change or 'what is' Is what must be seen and abandoned

Though awake, we are mostly asleep Seeing, the mind assigns its own values These have nothing to do with 'what is' These springs of sorrow must be abandoned

The seeker

When one sees the problem lies within And tries to go beyond habit's grip Wishing to be free but not seeing the way One becomes a seekerworthy of wisdom

There must be this inner change of heart Outer change is strugglecosmetic at best

Inner change reorganizes the outer naturally It's not even change, just what's natural to it

The outer is the visible face of the inner Just like water beginning to boil Heat meeting water is not seen What is seen is water bubbling away

All beings have different natures Assigning good and bad doesn't matter Linking present with past doesn't matter Why not deal with each in the moment?

Signs of awakening

Hopes and desires arise from our values So do desires, attachments and dependency Seeing thisbe ready to go beyond And stay on the path that is freedom itself

Awakened observations

Happiness cannot be had from things People too are in the realm of change When they change, joy turns to sorrow The cycle of blind pursuit is samsara


Learning is a burden to the unwise Wisdom a burden to one with desires Mind is a burden to the restless Life is a burden without self-knowledge

Mind is the cause of all objects They are not seen when the mind is absent Or when the mind is distracted elsewhere Though objects be right in front of it

Craving increases fear, weakens courage Increases misery and lack of clarity Never allowing one to see 'what is' Insisting on seeing what it wants to see

Preoccupation with the body is bondage Bound to the body is bound to the world The body is usefulit is not the problem Self's identification with the body is

Childhood is a period of vulnerability Helplessnessunable to be expressed In this background of inner instability Rises craving from latent tendencies

Youth is springtime for passion's harvest Suppressing good qualities that do exist

Generating climate for wrong perception And wrong action with its consequences

Even those who have left world activity Are still subject to delusion's power Leaving things may not be letting go The inner grip is indeed hard to loosen

Staying hidden, time overpowers all Reversing the powerful and the weak Juggling wealth, fame and status Letting us believe we do these things

Even fools rise to power and affluence These are not accomplishments at all To rise above the mind and senses Is indeed a worthy accomplishment

Leading a fully awakened life is necessary To see the inherent defect in things Not that they are good or bad Our values make them appear as such

The mind is not capable of handling life It just cannot bring happiness and peace Awaken that which observes the mind Empower the inner intelligence

The mind is a powerful bundle of habits Not easy to extricate oneself from its grip Struggle is partly caught, partly freed It is here a reliable guide is most helpful


II. THE BEHAVIOR OF THE SEEKER

The problem and cure

Mental modifications is diversity The dividing mind projecting on things When the inner intelligence responds to life The mind's foolishness exhausts itself

Neither easy nor difficult is this Hopes, desires and craving must be unanswered They are how modifications perpetuate Appeasement solidifies ignorance's grip

Unless you are willing to lead an awakened life Rising above hopes, desires and cravings It is deception to indulge in high philosophy Knowing you're tight in foolishness's grip

Habit can be overcome by self-effort But first there must be change of heart It is futile to foolishly grind oneself While the heart still finds habit appeasing

Change of heart is wisdom's rise This inner change must bring outer change The old can never bring anything new An awakened life brings change of heart

Self-effort

Non-division is right understanding This is the basis for self-effort It manifests in heart when one is exposed To the teachings and conduct of holy ones

To divert the mind to the pure Towards that which is divisionless Persistently, without letting-up Is the essence of all teachings and scriptures

Action is non-different from latent tendencies Latent tendencies are non-different from the mind The mind is non-different from the person Latent tendencies are the springs of action

Four gate-keepers to liberation

Self-control, spirit of inquiry Contentment and good company These are the four gate-keepers Who guard the gates to liberation

When the mind's thought-waves subside There is an unbroken flow of peace within


The heart leaps to the supreme truth This very world becomes an abode of peace

Living amongst all and everything Unaffected by things in any way Free of likes and dislikes One is said to be self-controlled

Self-inquiry is natural to the self-controlled Self-knowledge arises from self-inquiry One discovers great tranquility and peace Understanding and freedom from sorrow

Contentment is the supreme gain Satsanga is the best journey's companion Spirit of enquiry is the greatest wisdom Self-control is supreme happiness

Wisdom's rise

Accept the words of a young boy If he indeed speaks words of wisdom Reject what is not of wisdom Even if they be by the creator

Till wisdom arises directly in you Take recourse in the knowledge Transmitted by the great teachers Who've trodden the path themselves


III. DEALING WITH CREATION

Appearance and reality

Objective perception happens naturally Just as fragrance exists in flowers Let it be, it is not the problem Why act on it and make it real?

The liberated one's actions Wisdom's responses to situations Never rising from conditioning Are ever free of karma's grasp

All these forms you see Are non-different from that which sees The formless itself freezes into forms Self-forgetfulness makes the unreal seem real

Consciousness and creation

Neither the objective universe Nor self, perception or void Nor inertness exists Cosmic consciousness alone is

From him emerges all and everything As countless rays emerge from the sun

As ripples arise from the ocean's surface Rising, subsiding and existing in him as him

In it rise the seer, sight and seen Perfectly synthesized as 'seeing' only Nothing but pure consciousness Knowing this directly is self-realization

The infinite emerges from the infinite Existing in it as the infinite only What emerges is the same as its source Creation is just a term, nothing else

Causeless is this creation Therefore it has no beginning How can it exist even now? How can it ever be destroyed?

Ever changing material appearances Animated by an unchanging reality Linked by infinite consciousness Unchanged and unchangeable it is

The elements are creation's seed Consciousness is the element's seed


As is the seed, so is the fruit All is Brahman the absolute

When the real rests in the unreal Which has the real as its substratum It becomes confused so to say The absolute believes it's an individual

But all this only appears to be The one, believing itself to be many All happening within its own bosom The absolute is the only reality

When the knowable is apprehended The knower arises as the individual Instantly it is involved in samsara Till it abandons standing apart completely

The false notion of the external knowable Has to be removed, root and branch These notions are the ignorance that binds The infinite only acts as finite individuals

Resolving appearance and reality

Let the subject-object tangle Be perfectly resolved in you This universe and creation you see Only appears to exist in truth

Free yourself of all conditioning Free yourself of latent tendencies Be awake, but not to this world And ever abide in the eternal

Self-knowledge arises within naturally When the self shines unhampered within Let this world beit's not the problem Knowing 'world' is a wordself alone is

Spiritual practice and disciplined life Can bestow what is possible in the world Physical immortality cannot be attained Strive for the immortal beyond this realm

Space

Three types of space there are Psychologicalwhen self is conscious of 'I' Physicalwhen self sees the elements Consciousnesswhen self rests in the self

A mountain is seen inside the mirror The mountain is seen outside too Creation too is seen within consciousness And outside too in the same way

Memory of the past stays hidden Death wakes you up to new conditions


Once again the world and wheel of time Appear very real though imaginary

All thought-forms or experience Are infinite consciousness alone Cause and effect are but words The absolute is the only reality

Practice

Thinking and speaking of that alone Never forgetting 'that' in midst of all Utter dedication to that one alone This is called practice by the wise

Let things appear as they do Oceans, mountains and skies above Different appearances are not the truth See no division, as none exists

Changing the flow of the mind

They who serve an unrighteous one Whoever takes advantage of others Comes to ruin sooner or later Even if they did not exploit others themselves

Understanding is what responds to life As is one's understanding so is one's mind

Understanding that is the mind itself Great effort is needed to change its flow

He is my father, this is my wealth Here I have done good, there I have sinned I have become a small child, and now a youth All these one sees within one's heart

One who has realized the truth That Brahman, the self and everything Is all one infinite consciousness Distinguishes not between family, friend or foe

The nature of infinite consciousness

In every atom of infinite consciousness Universes come and go endlessly Like particles of dust in a beam of light Shining through a hole in the roof

In a space the size of a thumb We imagine worlds and galaxies Stretching million of miles endlessly All in a space the size of a thumb

Due to the nature of infinite consciousness All these arise again and again Then return to tranquility once more Like the spontaneous play of a child


Though one sees all of this One does not see anything at all When infinite consciousness alone is Being no otherwho sees what?

This universe is but a long dream The ego-sense and all we see The fancy that there are others too All as real as dream-objects

Death and life contradict each other While living, death is notin death, life is not That which holds together either experience Is absent in the other's condition

We consider fruits a reward for prayer or worship But consciousness alone bestows everything It may appear fruit falls from the sky But, in reality, fruit falls from the tree

Just as cities exist within the dreamer Three worlds exist in a small atom There are atoms in those worlds too Each atom also contains the three worlds

Infinite consciousness is the substratum There is conviction in the order of creation

These two factors make things appear real The underlying reality recognizes itself

All that was ever conceived By consciousness during the first creation Has remained there in the same manner With the same characteristics even now

Who dies, when and in what way? To whom does consciousness belong and how? Even when millions of bodies die Consciousness exists undiminished

That atomic ethereal particle Possessed of memories and tendencies Is what is known as the jiva It remains where the dead body lies

The self of all exists in all bodies With motion in moving bodies Immovable as immovable bodies The self alone exists as all

The sentient and the insentient The inert and the intelligent No difference between them at all As the essence of all substance is one


Faith turns poison into nectar Fancy or the unreal to real substance The subject itself becomes the object If there is intense faith in things

Just as one assumes different bodies in dream One can assume different bodies awake Moving from the ethereal in the other body Without abandoning the previous one

The relative and the unchanging

When the intelligence is well established In the conviction of its ethereal nature The body is forgotten then and there As in youth one forgets life as a fetus

A night is an epoch when suffering A night is a moment in revelry In the experience of the dream state A moment and epoch are non-different

If one's intelligence is established In the truth concerning consciousness There is no doubt one reaches The supreme state of liberation

All things are equally indwelt By the infinite intelligence

At all times in every way The uncreated is all, the self of all

Nothing's created, nothing ends Anywhere, in any way or at any time The absolute Brahman is allsupreme peace Unborn, pure consciousness and permanent

There exists the power of consciousness Which is in motion all of the time The reality of all inevitable events For it penetrates all epochs in time

The individual is just a little agitation On the surface of the ocean of Brahman Or just like the little movement of flame Of a candle in a windless room

When one is firmly established In the oneness of the infinite consciousness Whether quiet or actively engaged in work He is considered to be at peace with himself

Just as the creator was willed into being A worm is brought into being the same way Because the latter is caught up in impurity Its action is trivial and has consequences


A selfish person's violent efforts To gain selfish ends often leads to other results Just as a person can't see his face When his own breath mists the mirror

The mind that is heading towards calamity First creates delusion and wickedness These themselves later expand Into misfortune and sorrow experienced

Only something that does exist Can undergo experiences How can a non-existent body Ever experience satisfaction?

Light on the path

You can gain direct knowledge Of the supreme causeless cause By your own examination Of the intelligence within

The direct enquiry of thought's movement Within one's own consciousness Is the supreme guru or preceptor None else can throw such light on your path

If you wish for unalloyed happiness Fame, prosperity and long life By all means honor and worship good men Giving them all they might wish to have

Even selfish ends are gained by the wise Using appropriate means, conduct or action After they give up anger and mental agitation And resort to equanimity and a clear mind

It is one and yet it is many at once In it millions of universes merge It is not a void or nothingness For it is the self of all and everything

As long as one sees the bracelet as bracelet It is not seen as goldwhat it really is When the world is assumed to be real The self is not seen and stays hidden away

The self can be attained in many ways Yet, when attained, nothing's been attained For it is the supreme self Yet it is nothing as it alone is

Within the atomic space of consciousness All the experiences do exist


Even as within a drop of honey Subtle essences of flowers do exist

Because of consciousness in the bracelet Gold realizes its goldness The subject manifesting as the object Realizes subjectivitypure consciousness

Having the company of the enlightened One does not suffer in this world Even as one holding a lighted candle Does not see darkness anywhere

All this discussion and argumentation Take place only in and because of ignorance When there is knowledge there is no duality When the truth is knownsilence alone remains

The mind alone that appears as all this Ceaseless and endless creative activity On account of nescience it deludes one Into thinking that it is real or unreal

Wise men do not desire action Seeking to do for some purpose At the same time they do not desire To either avoid or abandon action

The mind alone is the world's creator The mind alone is the supreme person What is done by the mind is action What is done by the body is not action

Whatever appears in one's consciousness Seems to come into being at once It gets establishedappearing as reality And bears fruits too in due course

When potentialities are most subtle It is individualized consciousness or soul When all potentialities within cease That itself shines as the supreme being

Raise the mind with the mind

Strive wholeheartedly with the mind To make the mind take to the pure path With the self make the self Tread the path of purity

This forest known as world-appearance Should be cut down at its very root With the sharp axe of enquiry To be free of it eternally

All beings have arisen in the absolute When there was the slightest disturbance


Withinin its equilibrium Just as waves rise on the ocean's surface

When all selfish action has ended The individual mind ceases to be This is seen in the liberated sage His action becomes no action

Concepts have arisen somehow It is accidental coincidence In a moment of self-forgetfulness Consciousness viewed itself as the object

When the mind is deeply observed It gets absorbed into its substratum When it is thus absorbed There is supreme felicity

Whatever be the mind's origin It matters not really at all Instead direct it towards liberation Through untiring, relentless self-effort

Behold the play of ignorance It makes one hurt oneself by oneself Making one run hither and thither In meaningless panic of no importance

The instruments of action, action and doer Birth, death, existence and phenomena All this and everything is Brahman Nothing else existseven in imagination

This world is nothing more than an idea All the objects seen are ideas too Reject all errors of ideation and be free Remain rooted in truth and attain peace

You are ever freeeven right now Why call yourself bound and grieve? The self is infinite and absolute Why, how and by whom is it bound?

Depending upon its intensity The size of the object influenced The mind does the needful in time It can do anything and everything

Only those who've not cultivated wisdom Are adversely affected by bad luck and fate But those in whom wisdom has blossomed Are unaffected by adversity and don't panic

When evil tendencies bind one tight It shows in one's conduct and words


Weeping silently and remorsefully later Does not help till one is ready to change

World-appearance is the play of the mind The mind a play of the supreme being Mind is the atmosphere, sky, earth and wind Mind is the whole worldmind is great

As one bound to a pillar does not move One bound to reality is fixed in it He alone is a human being Others fall short of the mark

When one severs the root of the mind With the weapon of non-conceptualization One reaches the absolute Brahman Omnipresent and supreme peace

When the mind is deprived of its restlessness It is referred to as the 'dead' mind That itself is penance or tapas Verification of the scriptures and liberation

Do not become inactive What is gained by doing nothing? What has to be done has to be done Rest in the self while being active

A life-size painting of a person Is unable to perform his duties Ignorance or mental conditioning Is incapable of intelligent function

The firm conviction 'I am this individual' Is the chain that binds the mind The mind is liberated by the firm conviction Everything is Brahmanthe absolute

Do not let your mind wander about Dwelling on thoughts and ideas Strive to be conscious of the self If you wish to enjoy lasting peace

In all experiences of joy and sorrow In all hallucinations and imaginations It is the mind that does everything The mind experiences allmind is man

Sevenfold is the delusion that veils Seed state of wakefulness, wakefulness Great wakefulness, wakeful dream Dream, dream wakefulness and sleep

Seven Planes of Wisdom

Knowing these seven states of wisdom Not intellectually but in the deepest way


You will not be caught in delusion And cross the shores to freedom's banks

Pure wish or intention is the first The spirit of inquiry is the second When the mind becomes subtle is the third Establishment in truth is the fourth

Total freedom from attachment is the fifth Cessation of objectivity is the sixth A state beyond all these is the seventh Try hard to climb to the uppermost rung

The Infinite

In the infinite self there is no creator No creation, no worlds, no heaven No humans, no demons, no bodies No elements, no time, no existence, no destruction

No 'you', no 'I', no self, no that, no this No truth, no falsehoodnone of these

No notion of diversity, no contemplation And there is no enjoyment either

The power of nescience is capable Of creating a total confusion Between the real and the unreal Life has to be lived most carefully

Nescience and the self are unrelated Only the similar can be related This is obvious in everyone's experience We know this from our daily lives

In the middle between sight and seen Is a relationship known as seer Abolish the division between seer, sight and seen That is supreme, the absoluteBrahman

As long as this illusion is grasped It generates this great delusion But once it is clearly understood It is seen as the infinite, and source of joy


IV. DEALING WITH EXISTENCE

It can be said a tree exists in the seed Because both have appropriate forms But, infinite consciousness is formless How can it be said the cosmic form exists?

In the eyes of the enlightened and ignorant The vision does not vanish as such The enlightened see Brahman at all times The ignorant always see the world

The mind alone is all this, you see Let it be there, it's not the problem Heal the mind of its sickness The world-appearance will also heal

Fire flames upward by its nature Water naturally flows down Food seeks the consumer Created objects seek their end

'I' is the problem

What has to be done has to be done This is the view of the wise Remain egoless and unselfish as in sleep Never let this be violated

Earthly events are not the problem Our reactions to events surely are We are moved to joy and sorrow by these What we consider good fortune and misfortune

There is neither bondage nor liberation Only that infinite being is seen Yet the eternal is veiled by the transient This is a great illusion indeed

All beings obtain only those actions Which spring from their own potentialities No one else is responsible for those actions No superhuman being or divinity

The very presence of holy ones Destroys delusion of the mind Not destroyed by study or practice By wisdom or even by knowledge

Whether one is wise or ignorant The body's functions continue while it lasts So do what is good in each condition Neither attached or unattached


The feeling of filial affection Rises even in those with wisdom Natural when there is body-consciousness But it does not have to eclipse wisdom

This world is in appearance or imagination Material substances do not change a thing It is like a long dream or juggler's trick A post to which the mind-elephant is tied

Inquire into the uncaused cause of all Which is yet beyond all such causation This alone is worth enquiring into Why inquire into the non-essential?

When the self is seen as an object The seer is not seen or realized Till the objective universe is perceived One does not realize the self

Just as a painted flame is not fire Mere wise words are ignorance, not wisdom Unless they are substantiated By the absence of desire and anger

Those devoted to the gods, reach the gods Those who adore other forms, attain to them

Those who meditate on the absolute, become Brahman Hence, strive to reach the unlimited, infinite

Approaching a lion's empty cage at dark Prompts fear, even though it is empty Even so, one ignorantly believes he is bound Imprisoned in this empty body

He sees the truth who sees all things Strung in the self as beads on a thread And knows full well 'I am not the mind' Demonstrating this naturally in his life

The ignorant see the body as suffering's source They see it susceptible to a host of ills The enlightened man see it as delight's source As it is the perfect vehicle for liberation

In the great empire known as dreadful hell Evil actions roam like mighty elephants in rut The senses responsible are hard to conquer Equipped with a formidable magazine of cravings

He who is bound by the ego-sense And by the conditioning of the mind Even if regarded as very learned Can be defeated even by a child


As a mirror reflects objects held close The ego-sense reflects in one's consciousness Abandon this ego-sense with all strength within Be established in: "'I' is nothing," and be happy

Pure consciousness entertains the impure notion Of 'I am', playfully as it were Without renouncing its essential nature Experiencing the image of itself within itself

Noble qualities blossom and attain fruition In one with good and pleasant conduct Devoted to seclusion and free of craving As craving leads to many ills and suffering

Every zealous effort meets success And is always crowned with fruition Hence, do not abandon right effort Right effort itself blossoms to the goal

When it is not rightly understood The 'I' appears to be an impure notion But, when the 'I' is rightly understood Its meaning is seen as infinite consciousness

The conditioning of the mind drops away When the truth is clearly seen and realized

And when the conditioning has finally ceased One's consciousness is made supremely peaceful

Lead an awakened life

Listen to the quintessence of all wisdom Let it perfume your whole life Bondage is the craving for pleasure Its abandonment is liberation

Render the intelligence within pure By the destruction of all inner impurities Illumine the heart by the light of self Through relentless self-inquiry

You must lead an awakened life To see the worthlessness of birth and death Dwells then without fear or anxiety In the city which is the body

Consciousness reflecting in consciousness Shines as consciousness existing in itself The ignorant, considering themselves learned Still see other and not infinite consciousness

This self, the supreme Brahman Permeates all and everything It enables you to experience Sound, taste, form and fragrance


The mind of the enlightened is neither In a state of bliss nor devoid of bliss In motion, nor static, real nor unreal But between these two propositions

Knowledge of Brahmanthe absolute Is never given to the ignorant Or to those who are half-awakened They must awaken and be qualified first

Consciousness is Brahman The mind and intellect are Brahman Brahman alone is the substance Brahman is the substratum of all

Do not waste your time inquiring 'How has this ignorance arisen?' Inquire instead relentlessly 'How shall I get rid of it?'

One not distressed by the impure state of mind Caused by alternating good and evil thoughts Still subjected to old age, death and despair Has not even risen to the human level

These deluded ones roam this universe Doing things they consider important

Sometimes uplifted, sometimes degraded Death plays with them as with a ball

This world-appearance is natural The individual conceives it at all times This duality ceases completely When the individual attains liberation

See all as unreal including me And you will be free of sorrow Or see all as real including me And you will be free of sorrow too

Do not desire those experiences Which do not come to you effortlessly Experience those which have arrived Such is the nature of the wise

All that has been described so far Is only an illustration of the truth However in this creation There is no order or resemblance

Those busy with affairs of this world In pursuit of pleasure and power Do not desire to know the truth Which they obviously do not see


Parents' Duty

It is the parents' foremost duty to insure Children are instructed in self-knowledge Else, though their children make it in the world Their ignorance and bondage increases

Understanding is the start of action And if this constantly misses the mark Though affluence may be attained and lauded The whole life would be lived in vain

Real and Unreal

The real, unreal and their mixture Are all but notions, nothing else Notions are neither real nor unreal What is then real in this universe?

Do not entertain any ideas Including the notion of your existence It is only by holding on to notions That the future comes into being

You may feel, 'I am not the doer, I do not exist' Or 'I am the doer, and I am everything' Or inquire into the nature of the self And realize none of this is attributed to me

Rest established in the self The highest state of consciousness In which the best among the holy men Who know of this state ever dwell

If you seek your self with the self By the dint of your own self-effort Then you will clearly find the answer To the main point of living and existence

The Sage's Song

What to do, where to go? What to hold, what to renounce? This universe is permeated by the self All is verily my own self

Unhappiness or sorrow is the self Happiness is the self as well All desires are but empty void Knowing that all this is the self

I am freed from all travail In this body, within and without Above and below and everywhere There is only the self and self alone

Nothing and no one is non-self The self alone is everywhere


Everything exists as the self All this is truly the self

I exist in the self as the self I exist as all this, in all this, everywhere I am the fullness and self-bliss I fill the entire universe

Closing Thoughts

This unreal world seems so very real Because of dwelling on it endlessly Consciousness alone shines in the sun And dwells as the little worm on the ground

Only a truly intelligent person One with good nature and equal vision Is entitled to the words of wisdom That have been described here


V. DEALING WITH DISSOLUTION

The wise differentiate between Enjoyment and pursuit of pleasure Pursuit is sorrow that brings more sorrow One can enjoy what comes unsought

Time spent in the company of sages Is most fruitful and should be cherished On other days resort to scriptural teachings And your own diligent practice to ascend

Ignorance of the self Is the cause of all sorrow Knowledge of the self Leads to delight and tranquility

Just as the sky is not affected By dust-particles floating in it The self is never affected By the body it journeys in

Enjoy the delight that flows from peace The self-controlled abide in it When the heart is established in peace Bliss of the self rises without delay

Those devoted to inaction Those who've suppressed all action Get caught up in themselves And experience sorrow and fear

To feel bound without a chord To feel tainted without impurity To feel fallen though always on top Is indeed a great mystery!

This world which appears created Is accidental coincidence only Sheer ignorance generates feelings Of wanting and rejecting anything

Establish the mind in desirelessness Avoid all seeking and rejecting The body will perform its functions naturally Action and inaction will have the same value

The unsteady mind has to see Worldly ways do not bring happiness A state of equanimity must be reached To experience peace, bliss and the truth


When the light of self-knowledge Arises and shines in the heart It burns all impurity and sorrow Just as the sun rises on the horizon

Through the inner light of wisdom The entire world is clearly seen as it is Neither good fortune nor misfortune Approach one with such clear vision

When the limited, conditioned feeling 'I am so-and-so' ceases There arises consciousness Of the all-pervading infinite

One should restrain the mind From its downward flow As the flow of a river is blocked By the construction of a dam

Consciousness and thought

Consciousness minus conceptualization Is the eternal Brahman the absolute Consciousness plus conceptualization Is what is known as thought

Thought only appears to be intelligent It is unable to comprehend anything really

Even as the granite figure of a dancer Cannot dance when requested to do so

By the control of the life-force The mind is also restrained As the shadow ceases without the object The mind ceases with life-force contained

This mind is inert and is not a real entity It is lifelessforever dead Yet, beings are killed by this dead, deadly thing How mysterious is this stupidity!

What foolish man will endeavor To show a colorful forest To one who refuses to see Hiding foolishness behind curiosity

In the middle between the self As the seer and the world as seen You are the seeingyou are the sight Always remain in this realization

Remaining unseen and subtle Craving is yet able to consume The very flesh, bone and blood Of the body that houses it


The abandonment of conditioning

The abandonment of conditioning Is said to be of two kinds Based on knowledge or direct realization The other is based on contemplation

Resort to non-duality For the truth is non-dual Action functions in apparent duality Let your nature partake of both

Do not try to understand the way Of fools with uncontrolled minds Those who are immersed in the mire Of sense-pleasure and gratification

Who is a relation to whom? Who is an enemy to whom? By the wish of the Lord of all beings All are all to all at all times

Why bring sorrow upon yourself? Ignorance is the only cause Of all the sorrow in your life That has plagued you for so long

The sages perceive the middle path They see what is at the moment

They are at peace and contented Established in witness consciousness

Craving

Craving is the root of all sorrow The only intelligent way out Is to renounce all cravings completely And never to indulge them again

The same disgusting pleasures Are experienced day after day How is it that even a wise man Is not ashamed of this?

Only one is there And that is the supreme light Omnipotent, omnipresenthe is all Remaining silent, as if inactive

The very best intelligent means By which the mind can be subdued Is complete freedom from all desires In regard to everything at all times

Living with purpose

When people speak of God They imply what is the inevitable


What is beyond their control And the events of natural order

Acquire a little wealth by honest means Seek the company of saints and adore them Dispassion should rise in their company Then begin inquiry for self-knowledge

If you are humble and sincere You will gain everything from what is said If not, an attempt at further explanation Will be like pouring oblations on ashes

Without notions and any division at all Meditation, meditator and meditated upon Enter the supreme state free of thought Like a lamp in a windless place

Nothing needs to be done By what is known as 'me' Then why should I not do Action which is natural to me?

Watch the mind's movement See what it tends to sink into Retrieve it by redirection Guiding it towards the truth

A timid deer taken to a strange place Is frightened at the sound of a falling leaf Even so one feels anxiety in meditation Perseverethis has to be gone beyond

You have to feel one With the deity you adore Or you will not derive any benefit From even the most elaborate ritual

It is meaningless and painful to hear A good person has turned bad It is excellent and good to hear One who's erred has turned to good

A Seeker's Prayer

I take refuge in the Lord Who alone is worth seeking Who is the supreme light Which destroys all darkness

Destroyer of ignorance and impurity Refuge of the helpless destitute The unborn, the surest security I take refuge in that Supreme Lord

May I be blessed by enquiry's spirit Till I rest in thy infinite Self


So all delusions might come to end On attaining to Theethe highest blessing

A Seeker's Realization

I now recollect the truth That I am the self of all Omnipresent, omnipotent Free of conceptualization

As butter exists in milk Liquidity exists in water Energy of consciousness I exist in all that exists

I salute my own self The indweller in all beings Consciousness without objectivity The intelligence in all beings

When the apparently transformed Resorts to or rests on that being Which has not undergone any modification The former is freed from sorrow

When what is, is seen by what is not Or by the mind free of thought's movement That which is abandons its wickedness And itself shines as the supreme

In this creation it exists as if It is an individual entity Appearing to enjoy pleasures Itself expanding as the enjoyed

What relationship can exist Between the self and cravings? Cravings spring from notions and sense reports The self is unbound and witness to these

The Lord who is the self Has been seen by me By sincere practice and prayer And unwavering disciplined living

The distinction between self and me Is like between the word and substance The distinction is unreal and imaginary Like wave and the water in the wave

The self destroys and protects Gives, roars and functions here Although completely free from ego-sense All this is indeed a great wonder

Expressions as 'This is you' and 'this is I' Are used when you adore yourself


Or describe yourself for your own delight They have no corresponding reality

They appear in the light of awareness Disappear when they are perceived Non-different from that awareness Who is the perceiver of all this mystery?

Though you find yourself in the body You are essentially bodiless You are the observerpure intelligence Unattachedfree from spatial limitation

'This is pleasure', 'this is pain' Or 'this is' and 'this is not' The mind of the ignorant swings like this But never the mind of the wise

By the attainment of self-knowledge The deity you adore is also realized By real adoration of the deity Self-realization is also attained

Adore the self by the self Worship the self by the self Behold the self by the self Be established by the self in the self

This fruition of worship mentioned Is derived from the self alone The worship of the deity Is but an excuse for it

Mastery of one's heart-mind

This cycle of birth and death Is an interminable one This maya will only cease when There is mastery of one's heart-mind

Men of highly evolved consciousness Can attain by appropriate self-effort Whatever they mentally visualize Such is the power of the mind

The mental illusions we see sometimes Are also the self onlynaught else But when perceived by the unpurified mind It appears as a sort of illusion

At times many people dream the same dream Others experience the same hallucination Oftentimes drunkards commonly experience That the world is spinning round them

Live completely in the present With consciousness slightly externalized


But without any effort or struggle It must come naturally

When the mind stops linking itself To the past and to the future It becomes what is 'no-mind' Soaring through space-time

Consciousness free from mind's limitations Is known as the inner intelligence It is the essential nature of no-mind Not tainted by conceptual impurities

Abandon craving for pleasures Anything that has been experienced Or those that have not been experienced As disuse gradually weakens the mind

A weapon is neutralized by another Tranquilize the mind by itself Abandon every form of mental agitation Remain at peace within, amidst outer noise

The quiet mind is tranquility Like a rockit is immovable Wide awake and fully aware of all But free of conditioning's icy grip

Beings with just one sense-craving Are pulled to ruin and destruction The mind is victim to five temptations How can it ever deliver happiness?

Investigate very carefully yourself From the toes to the top of the head See if you find anything that can say 'This I am'so just who is this 'I'?

The delusion known as ego-sense Is like the blueness of the sky Better not to think about it Best to abandon it ruthlessly

When thought and conditioning cease The mind and body cease as well Kill the mind beyond resurrection Or it will continue when the body dies

When the inner kundalini awakens You'll go beyond the realm of bliss Gradually attaining perfect quiescence Till you rise above birth and death

When all desires and hopes have ceased Concerning any aspect of the world


One is free from all fear and sorrow Supreme peace is had when the self rests in itself

The sky, the earth, air and space Mountains and the rivers Are all parts of the inner instrument They only appear to be outside

The crystal of infinite consciousness Reflects its own light of consciousness Which is present in every atomic particle Being self-consciousness and thinking 'I am'

Not till one renounces everything Is self-knowledge gained When all points of view are abandoned What remains is the self

What remains is the sentient jiva Involved in subject-object relationship The object of knowledge of comprehension Is not and can never be the self

A wise person lives his life masterfully He is compassionate, and not contemptuous Free of the play of opposites and jealousy Without personal motivation but motivated

Knowledge of truth is the fire That burns up hopes and desires A desireless mind is samadhi Not simply remaining silent

They alone are good company And moments very well spent That generate in one's heart True dispassion and self-knowledge

Until all hopes and desires Born of and in the mind Have been destroyed completely Happiness and peace cannot be had

The conditioned mind is itself bondage Liberation is freedom from conditioning This inner contact alone is the cause For both bondage and liberation

Conditioning is of two kinds Enslaving and useful Enslaving conditioning is seen in fools Useful among those seeking the truth

Mental conditioning is burning pain It is attachment to the finite and perishable


But infinite expansion is the magic cure It is devotion to the infinite

The self is consciousness pure and eternal Self-luminous and free from change The body is impermanent and impure How can these two be related?

The supreme self which is the truth Is in between the inert and intelligent That alone creates diversity And is known by all these names

All that is, is but the expansion Of pure experiencing and its experience Self-bliss is pure experiencing itself It is known as Brahman the absolute

Adopt either of these two attitudes Both are conducive to liberation 'I am the extremely subtle and transcendent self' The other is 'I am all and everything'

If it is realized as an illusion It does not attract the mind Even as mirage does not delude One who knows it to be mirage

One who is completely free of desires Treats the world as a calf's footprint This wide space as a small box The three worlds as a blade of grass

There are the liberated among worms and insects Stupid fools among the gods and divinities The self is in all, it exists as the all Everywhere, at all times and in all ways

Knowing the self directly As infinite consciousness Can bring all these about Taking one beyond all wonder

Movement of thought in the mind Arises from pranic movement Pranic movement arises Because of thought's movement

They form a cycle of mutual dependence Like waves and ocean currents Pranic control tames the mind The mind can still itself too

The heart-mind of the self-realized Is of the nature of pure consciousness


It is both inside and outside And neither inside nor outside as well

When the mind diesworries die as well Ego-sense dies at the same moment All this is possible in a simple way By direct inquiry into the mantra

Inquiry and practice are essential To bring an end to the finite mind On reaching the other shore The boat can be left behind

Having been nourished by the senses The mind grasps objects once given up Running like a demented person After the abandoned and restrained

What is done with another's intelligence or energy Is considered to be done by the latter The sickle harvests with the farmer's energy Hence the farmer is said to be the harvester

Your existence is identical with the self Non-difference promotes happiness Abide in the realization of your non-existence Because it is foolish to neglect happiness

Sages' view

This world for liberated sages Exists in all its purity and peace They see neither bondage nor liberation Only perfectionBrahman the infinite

The body is not worth reviving Nor is it worth abandoning It is the same to the sages Whether abandoned or revived

Truth knownerror remains error Knowledge becomes clear knowledge The real and unreal stay as they are Dry impressions stay as such too

You've identified with the body long It has helped in understanding transiency Now snap the identification, knowing full well From your experience of self-realization

Truth is full and overflowing Consciousness and non-consciousness Can be indicated only by negation He became what is beyond description


Those in pursuit of pleasures Acquire powers tainted by ignorance Surely they are full of ignorance too Sages do not adopt such a course

Conditioning

The very nature of the mind is stupidity When the mind dies, there is no loss Everything is gained as one sees Purity and noble qualities abound

The tree known as the mind has two seeds Which carries within it innumerable notions First seed is the movement of prana Second is blind clinging or obstinate fancy

When clinging to something obstinately One abandons inquiry into the truth of things Set completely on apprehending the object Such apprehension is known as conditioning

Ideas and notions one has about the object Are seeds for pranic movement and obstinacy

It is only when desire for experience arises within That pranic movement and conditioning take place

This is how one binds oneself Subjecting oneself to great sorrow Attaining liberation in due course Because of the nature of consciousness

Overcoming the mind

Knowledge of the self and holy company The abandonment of conditioning The restraint of prana or life force These are the means to overcome the mind

When inquiry is preceded by dispassion It attains stability by sincere practice All noble qualities arise in one naturally Like a well-fueled fire that burns high

Attachment increases one's conditioning Making the mind more and more dense By repeatedly experiencing pleasure and pain In relation to people, objects and conditions


VI. DEALING WITH LIBERATION

PART I

Though engaged in diverse activities Saturate your intelligence with this truth You will find a way to live unbound Or risk being caught in samsara's wheel

As long as one considers the body as 'I' As long as the self is related to what is seen As long as there is hope in objects and longing There will be delusion concerning the mind

The state of mind of sages Liberated while still living Is known as transparency They see truth and appearance

The real 'I' is infinite consciousness In which universes rise and fall Remaining in a state of total equanimity You are like the infinite space

When you are established in the self You will be saturated in bliss-absolute Knowing worlds find refuge in you You alone are all, in all and as all

Let's assume the existence of diversity Your consciousness must expand The truth that shall be expounded here Will save even those not fully awakened

Infinite consciousness dwells in all But, due to absence of self-knowledge It appears to be ignorant of itself And therefore is limited and finite

Birth and childhood lead to youth Youth to old age and to death All these are repeatedly experienced By those who choose to stay ignorant

Time is the wheel on which these turn Ignorance leads to death and rebirth One's appetite consumes one's own self Like hunger that feeds on itself

This world-appearance is like a little fish Which comes into being in this finite space Soon swallowed by the invincible old vulture Known as the end or conclusion of action


Prosperity, adversity and youth Old age, death and suffering Immersion in happiness and unhappiness Are the extensions of dense ignorance

Ignorance expands by ignorance Yielding greater ignorance When it sincerely seeks wisdom Wisdom expands into the truth

Ignorance rises and falls in the mind Just like ripples in the ocean If awake, wisdom can absorb Ignorance when it rises and falls in it

Kaivalya or total freedom Is the attainment of pure being After all conditioning is transcended Consciously after thorough investigation

Where the seed of conditioning exists Is like deep sleepnot perfection When all conditioning's springs are destroyed One reaches the fourth state of perfection

Exhortation to practice

I exhort you again and again For the sake of your spiritual awakening

Realization of the self does not happen Without unrelenting spiritual practice

Truth

The mind, intellect and phenomena Are all Brahman only Pleasure and pain are illusions Words without any substance

Those who have realized the truth Know that Brahman alone is Their life is proof of their realization Not knowing directly is ignorance

The truth which is omnipresent Pure consciousness, devoid of objectivity Is referred to by many terms And also as pure knowledge

All this is 'I' and all this is 'mine' But I am not and I am not 'other than I' Realizing thislet the illusion be Remain free from the fever of distress

The yoga way

Yoga is itself freedom A way out of samsara's grip too


Utter transcendence of mind Towards self-realization

A way of living without hurt or hurting While still engaged in diverse activities Not getting drowned in mental modifications And never losing contact with reality

Returning to your original nature Not changing things but changing within A wide view with room for everything That has no problem with things as they are

All and everything is subject to change Why react when this happens? Those established in peace in the heart Are not moved by inner and outer change

Inner fatigue and tiredness Come from inner conflict only The ego's clash with change's dance Happens when there is inner division

Pranayama and mind control

Whether standing, awake or asleep The vital airs are naturally restless

These spike mental fluctuations Restrain them by yogic kumbhaka practice

When the external darkness dims One is able to see things as they are Darkness of ignorance must drop away For the natural rise of self-knowledge

Where the prana goes the mind follows Just as the rider goes where the vehicle does Follow the prana throughout its movement Look where the same prana seems to change

See where inhalation is consumed By exhalation as breathing changes course And see where exhalation's course changes By inhalation as breathing changes course yet again

When you turn prana or life-force On its source within the heart It makes the mind unimportant Because naturally it is its own object

When the prana is busily engaged In its own vigorous movement It stays absorbed in its own movement And is unable to exert in self-knowledge


Living without conditioning

Do not contemplate the past Do not think of the future either Constantly direct attention to the present Abandon all unnecessary turmoil

We are our own replica, as it were Moving through various experiences You can awaken any time you resolve And return into your essential self

This world, this life and this journey Is a long dream, a longstanding hallucination Just like daydreaming or wishful thinking Step out of this illusion courageously

The twin forces of attraction and aversion Are the bars of samsara's prison Totally abandon and destroy them By taking refuge in the immovable

The hub of the wheel so to say Are thoughts and notions entertained Abandon them ruthlessly by self-effort And resort to wisdom and common sense

The inert body is desireless The self is infinite and desireless too

So, just who is the doer of these actions? There is only the witnessing intelligence

Neither friends nor relations Nor scriptures or even preceptors Can protect one utterly overpowered By the ghost known as the mind

God is formless and undivided Majestic splendor which is uncreated Beginningless and endless too Known as Sivapure consciousness

That God is not distant from anyone Nor is he difficult to attain He is forever seated within And everywhere too just like space

In the body, which is like a lotus The same consciousness does both Imbibe experience like honey gathered By the restless mind buzzing like the bee The omnipresent consciousness is all in all It exists in this body as the changing And as the unchanging and unmodified None other exists save consciousness


As one not dead cries aloud, 'I am dead' As one not lost cries aloud, 'I am lost' On account of perverse understanding Consciousness falsely imagines itself miserable

If only pure tendencies fill one's heart Then all conflicts cease You will experience harmony Liberation and longevity

Feeding these thoughts and beliefs Has brought about this sorrow It ends by starving them to death Where is the difficulty in this?

The natural order is free from excitement But is not purified of its limitation It is what dances a dance-drama Known as the world-appearance

Supreme meditation

This is the supreme meditation This is the supreme worship Continuous and unbroken awareness Of the indwelling presence of consciousness

It is allsupreme blessedness Peacebeyond expression

Purest OMtranscendent It is Sivathe supreme

Supreme worship

Consciousness alone is fit to be worshipped It is all and needs no invitation It is immediateneeding no intermediary It is the omnipresent self of all

I shall now declare to you The internal worship Of selfgreatest among purifiers Which destroys darkness completely

Worship the Lord with everything Obtained without effort Without making the least effort To attain what is not possessed

That alone is regarded as worship Performed in a state of equanimity When quiescentfree of thought An effortless absence of perversity

Those who are still caught-up In mundane ways of living Are enmeshed in time and space And not able to rise beyond


The instructions of a preceptor And all forms of instruction Are not really the means for self-knowledge But have come to be regarded as such

Conditioning is itself sorrow Based on thoughts and notions Truth is beyond such experience World is an appearance like a mirage

All that comes into being Including deities and divinities The worm too the very same way All within the blink of an eye

To come into relationship Is common to all embodied beings But the yogis are forever vigilant Such vigilance is the worship of the self

If in the course of time One attains to self-experience Do not store it as a memory To be revived as desire once again

The Supreme

Though one, it is conceived diversely It is neither one, many, nor even it

The one immeasurably great cosmic being Cosmic energythe nature of consciousness

The seed contains only seed Flowers and fruits are seed only Substance of the seed and fruit is one So too with self-effort and self-realization

Though non-dual it is apparently diverse Like the notions of ocean and waves The notion of Brahman and the world Is therefore both dual and non-dual

Such a state of purity of the self The true nature of consciousness Not a visionincapable of being taught It is attained by direct experience alone

Both in the beginning and at the end It is unmodified consciousness The momentary and apparent modification Is but a mild disturbance of consciousness

This fullness is filled with fullness Fullness effulges from fullness Fullness fills fullness In fullness, fullness abides


A gold bracelet has appearance and reality Bracelet the appearance, gold the reality Even so, there is notion of substantiality And the self or pure consciousness

The dream of the jiva or individual Is not like the one we're familiar with Which is experienced as the wakeful state That wakeful state is considered a dream

The performance of action natural to you Even if it may not be socially laudable Is the best action to do wholeheartedly As a means of self-discovery and transformation

In Brahman the formless absolute There is a little manifestation, also Brahman Known as 'I-am-ness' and the 'world' On account of ignorance and delusion

There is no such thing as body There is no such thing as pain Existing independent of the self Then what is experienced by whom?

Wherever the individual roams It is of the nature of prana or life-force

It sees the forms conjured up By its previous vasanas or impressions

The mind makes a moment seem like an age It makes a little look like a lot It makes the unreal appear real instantly This is how delusion has arisen

All exists in Brahman As an image exists in a mirror Seamlessly without division Ever non-different from Brahman

What appears to be the world here Is the work of the infinite consciousness Here there is no unity or duality My instructions are of the same nature

The words used and preceptor's ability The disciple's effort to grasp the conveyed All these are also the play of the energy Of the infinite consciousness

That which is omnipresent Without beginning and end Pure, unmodified and undifferentiated being That is known as existence or reality


In the self which is infinite consciousness This creation appears but momentarily In that illusory moment a long duration arises The creation then appears to be solidly real

The individual is surrounded By the world that arises from it The unawakened do not see or hear That others are in the same predicament

It is by one-pointed contemplation Of 'may I be this or that' That fruition is brought about And one then becomes 'this' or 'that'

Infinite consciousness is true self Endowed with omnipotence The individual is essentially non-different But it chooses to face self-limitation

Each thing appears as if fragmented Relatively real but not totally unreal Everything manifests in the All The cause remains in the cause

This world-appearance or delusion Is of the nature of limited attributes

It is impossible to cross it by ignorance It is crossed over by the knowledge of truth

That state in which one knows no 'I' Or any other, mind or derivative 'I' but an ideaall really pure existence Is known as the silence of deep sleep

The mind of the ignorant is heavily conditioned Best governed by rules of conduct Else chaos and disorder will arise In which the powerful swallow the weak

Mind is sum of tendencies and conditioning Free of these it is the supreme state Knowledge is the knowledge of the reality Vichara or enquiry is itself knowledge

Moksha or liberation happens When ignorance ceases on self-enquiry When the ego is absorbed in the all And when the mind becomes no-mind

Dust-particles in the supreme self Known as time, space, and motion Are movements in and of consciousness And pure infinite intelligence


Proper action

Proper action is that action Which leads towards liberation Beyond which there is nothing The rest is not worth considering

Remain at peace within yourself With a silent mind, free of desires and jealousy Engage yourself in proper action In circumstances just as they arise

Some things appear abundantly often Others once seen are not again Newer forms appear as if quite suddenly Others appear after a long interval

This object is insentient and unreal The self grooms itself with insentience Having apparently abandoned It's essential nature as consciousness

There is neither birth nor death For this consciousness It is not subject to destruction It is of the nature of space

Seeing through the illusion

You behold with your consciousness The same consciousness in the elements As if seeing another within yourself As with one lamp you see a hundred lamps

Physical ailments and diseases Psychological problems and stress Are rooted in ignorance and wickedness Both end when self-knowledge is attained

Psychological problems are psychic disturbances They cease when self-knowledge is attained The snake seen in the rope must die When the rope is again seen as rope

Consider the self as the moon The prana within as fire The body is made-up of moon and fire Prana fills the entire body's space

When the body is considered real It becomes a real physical body When perceived unreal by direct knowledge It is merged into infinite space

The instruction of a disciple by a preceptor Is but a tradition that has come to be


But the cause of enlightenment Is the disciple's purity of consciousness

That action alone is appropriate Which is done at the appropriate time Flowers are appropriate to spring As are fruits appropriate to winter

One's life attains its fruition By the worship of the unsolicited guests The worship of such a guest Is superior to worship of gods

If the self which is the reality Which is pure and undivided Is forgotten even for a moment The object of experience attains expansion

Just relentless yogic practice If done without the spirit of yoga Will not show progress or improvement Will only increase one's sorrow and grief

This is why one should not instruct Those asking out of curiosity For if one does not intend to assimilate The teaching becomes instantly fruitless

Sufferings calamities, old age and death Are nothing compared to suffering by foolishness In fact foolishness adorns the head Of all sufferings and even calamities

Foolishness is bondage and suffering The bound see themselves as somehow free Though all that exists is but the self The foolish experience even more foolishness

Renunciation

One who has truly renounced Is never agitated by worry If wind can sway the tree's branches It cannot be called immovable

Renouncing things is not renunciation Ignorance must be destroyednot wounded By abandonment of the mind Or movement of energy in consciousness

Wealth, family, and property All that you own and feel connected to These are not yours to begin with Renouncing them is not renunciation

You have something not renounced That is the best part of renunciation


It must be utterly abandoned without residue To attain the supreme state free of sorrow

When one rests in total renunciation Like the lamp without fuel He shines with supreme brilliance Like a lamp with fuel

Its abandonment or renunciation Is easy and easily accomplished More delightful than being a king More beautiful than a fragrant flower

Delusion of world-appearance

When the cause is absent or unreal The effect is non-existent The experience of such an effect Is delusionresponsible for all sorrow

This delusion of the world-existence Attains expansion by repeated affirmation When water is frozen into a block It serves as a solid seat

Consciousness alone is the essence Pervading all and everything

Holding everything together In total absence of duality

That supreme self alone shines here As Sivathe supreme being Hence questions concerning the world And the ego-sense are inappropriate

If such destruction were to be comprehended It would be seen as a trick of consciousness Hence, consciousness alone exists Neither one nor manyis beyond discussion In this dimension of consciousness Whatever slight appearance appears to be Is the reflection of consciousness in itself There is neither a mind nor the world

The notion 'I am' gives rise To bondage and self-destruction The realization "'I' is not" Leads to freedom and purity

Mind itself is self-destruction

The mind itself is self-destruction Its very nature veils self-knowledge


Even if such self-destruction is momentary Damage done can last for a world-cycle

When one abandons all conditioning When impurities have been made pure Guru's words can be heard in one's depths Like the arrow entering the stalk of the lotus

Brahman is pure consciousness Is itself known as sattva Or indivisible purity The ignorant see it as the world

Unseen in one's heart is sattva's trace The cause for revival of body-consciousness It is like the flower and the fruit Both potentially present in the seed

When there is neither mind nor sattva Nor even a trace in the body Then, like snow melting in the heat The body dissolves in the elements

As long as there is sesame there is oil As long as there is the body there are moods He who rebels against the body's states Will remain in conflict continually

If one confides his unhappiness to a friend It can sometimes be ameliorated Even as the heavy and dark cloud Becomes light by shedding rain

Do not desire pleasure or fame Nor wealth or affluence Remain where you are Placed by your very nature

Do what needs to be done

Engage yourself in natural activity Wholeheartedly and without grief Enjoy pleasures that come naturally Relentlessly strive for final liberation

They who know the mind Say that the mind is the 'I' The ego-sense that arises Within you is called the mind

The ego-sense is unreal Do not trust or abandon it How can what is unreal Be grasped or renounced?


Even as beings in day-dreams Create and experience diverse objects This world-appearance is the day-dream Of Brahman the supreme being

Abandon doubtsresort to courage Enjoy fully what comes naturally Do everything wholeheartedly And renounce all perfectly

Prosperity and adversity Follow each other continually Creating great contradictions But never affecting the holy ones

Abandon all impure thoughts and notions Rest in the selffree from it all Though engaged in diverse activities Remain established in perfect peace

Attain self-knowledge

One who has attained self-knowledge Transcends social customs and traditions Scriptural injunctions and prohibitions too Just as the lion breaks out of its cage

The enlightened one is not characterized He is devoid of confusion and delusion

Samsara has come to an end Lust, greed, anger, are greatly weakened in him

Rest in nirvana without movement of thought With the mind's grip greatly reduced And the intelligence at peace Rest in the self as if deaf, dumb and blind

He gathers scriptures whenever Wherever; and earnestly does he study them His constant quest is the crossing Of this dire ocean of samsara

If one thinks this scripture not authoritative Because it is of human origin Resort to studying other scriptures Dealing with self-knowledge and final liberation

When one realizes the supreme Is the only truth beyond samsara He realizes that 'I am not the doer' God alone does everything

This alone is samsara The feeling 'this is' Its cessation is liberation This is the essence of wisdom


That Brahman appears as the world Just as rope appears as snake Is meant to entertain the ignorant The enlightened see no difference

They who are devoted to the gods To the holy sages and to the guru Who adhere to the scriptural tenets Earn the grace of the supreme Lord

That in which this universe rests Is devoid of name and form It is known as prakriti or nature And also as maya or illusion

Just as fire thrown into fire Becomes indistinguishably fire This world when offered into consciousness Becomes one with it instantly


VI. DEALING WITH LIBERATION

PART II

When one has made up his mind To go to a certain place The feet function without mental activity Function like those feet and perform action here

The mind continues to exist As long as the body continues to live Whether the embodied person Is enlightened or ignorant

When false abandonment Is mistaken for abandonment The deluded are possessed By this goblin of false abandonment

Whatever notion arises in you Even as movement arises in wind Realize that 'I am not this' And thus deprive it of support

No remedy for sense-craving Other than firm abandonment of desire No medicines, pilgrimage or ritual And no mantras are of any use

It is hard indeed to determine Truth about world-appearance Does it arise from ignorance or the other way? They are two aspects of the same thing

Brahman has infinite potencies Inertia too manifests in consciousness Existing as a potentiality in Brahman As future waves in the calm ocean

There is neither good nor evil Anywhere to anyone at any time Neither adversity nor prosperity No doer, no enjoyer of anything

In the company of holy ones Half the ignorance ceases One-quarter by the study of scripture And one-quarter by one's self-effort

One's dream is experienced Only by the dreamer This creation too is experienced By the one in whose mind it arises


This world-appearance will continue To flow with ever-changing scenes Until the truth is realized Maya will continue to operate

World exists in the meaning of 'ego-sense'

The world exists in the meaning of 'ego-sense' And the ego-sense in turn exists In the very meaning of the word 'world' Both are thus interdependent

The air in the entire space Is filled with the departed ones pranas Mind exists in those pranas And the world exists within the mind

Just as a sentient object can visualize within itself The individual experiences many things Including the three worlds within himself Like a delusion or false perception

When in the infinite consciousness The individual becomes aware of itself As the object on account of notions entertained It is known as pure consciousness

Advice to the seeker

Work to earn an honest living Eat to sustain the life-force Sustain life-force for self-knowledge And inquire into that which frees

Do not try to find a reason For the appearance of optical illusions It is like riding on the shoulders Of the son of the barren woman

There is really no difference Between the ignorant and a knower of truth Except that the latter Is free from the conditioned mind

It is better to be a snake in a dark cave It is better to be a worm in a rock It is better to be a lame deer in a mirage Than to remain in the company of fools

All the pleasures of the world Inevitably end in sorrow Therefore sorrow is preferable To pleasure which leads to sorrow

That there is something known as experiencer Other than this pure consciousness


Is ignorance whose expansion Is this samsara or world-appearance

Dependence alone is bondage Non-dependence is emancipation He who rests in the 'fullness' Does not desire anything

The uprooting of all conditioning Is known as non-attachment or freedom Attain this freedom by any means For in doing so all sorrows cease

In sorrow and in calamity Remain free from sorrow within Still behave with local etiquette Seemingly experiencing pleasure and pain

There are two types of questioners The enlightened and the ignorant Answer the ignorant from ignorance And the wise from the view of wisdom

Just as there is no fear of destruction In the battle painted on canvas The knower of truth is never affected As he is established in inner equanimity

The individual personality is conditioning Which disappears upon investigation However, this world-appearance arises In ignorance when not observed

Inquire relentlessly till life's end 'Who am I?', 'How did this world arise?' 'What is jiva or the individual personality and life?' As instructed by the knowers of truth

Notions and ideas gradually cease If words are not associated with meaning Whether uttered by others in any context Or if they arise in one's own mind

I am Brahman, the world is Brahman There is neither beginning nor ceasing Hence, where is the reason to rejoice? And where is the reason to grieve?

Worlds appear to rise in consciousness It remains at peace without intention to create Even as a mirror remains unaffected By the many reflections seen in it

Vainly studying the scriptures Hearing the preceptors instructions


Will not help one bit without Cessation of all desires

Examine if there is a distinction Between gain and its possessor How is an unreal substance gained? Who has obtained a black moon?

Injunctions and prohibitions Do not apply to one of self-knowledge Who will wish to give what instruction To one in whom all desires have ceased?

Time sets the worlds in motion And in them the fictitious 'I' and the rest arise All in Goduncreated pure consciousness How and in whom does desire arise?

How experience arises

Since the subject and object Of experience are consciousness The object merges in the subject Like water with water

This is how experience arises If this were not to be as such There could be no experience As between two pieces of wood

When one is spiritually awakened His wakeful state resembles deep sleep The state in which he is as self-nature Leads one to liberation

The self which is the Lord Confers moksha or final liberation When worshipped by self-inquiry With self-control and company of the wise

The ignorant regard samsara as real In reality it does not exist at all What exists after this appearance is rejected Is the truthbut it has no name

Since the mind of the knower of truth Is freed from attraction and repulsion In equilibrium even when not meditating As pond waters without any outlets

On this field known as the mind The seed of turning away from the world Falls of its own accord In the solitude of wisdom's forest

At some stage, the deer turns away And seeks the refuge of shade


Under the tree of meditation And there it shines radiantly

Thus having obtained rest The deer which is the mind Delights in being right there Not seeking to go elsewhere

When all divisions are given up The indivisible alone remains Pure, indivisible, beginningless This is known as Brahman

The yogi is then seen to be In a state of unbroken meditation Firmly es

essential yoga vasistha

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