Key Insights on Jīva, Vāsanā, and the Manifestation of Turīya
Transcending the Illusory Self
Turīya — the Fourth State
Study Notes on Bondage, Equanimity, and the Liberated State
Where the Mind Rests in Nothing but the Self
Turīya — the Fourth State
The Awakening & Nature of Jīva
He thought, he saw before him the gods, decorated with their chaplets of beautiful mandara blossoms on their heads, and with garlands of flowers pendant on their persons resplendent as liquid gold. There were the swans and storks, gabbling in the lakes, with lotuses of golden hue in them; and there were the celestial gods reposing in the arbours, beside the holy stream of the heavenly Gangā (Mandākinī). On one side was the warlike elephant of Indra—(Airāvata), with the scratches of the demoniac weapons on his face (proboscis), and tusks gory with the blood of the defeated hosts of demons. The gods were washed by the showers, falling from the peaks of Meru below, and the waves of the Ganges, rolled on with scattered mandara flowers floating on them. There were the gentle breezes blowing among the pārijāta plants, brightening as moon-beams in the sacred bowers; and wafting the fragrant honey, from the cups of Kunda and mandara blossoms. The pleasure garden of Indra, was crowded by heavenly damsels; who were besmeared with the frosty farina of késara flowers, mantling them like the creepers of the grove in their yellow robes. Having thought so, Sukra bowed down to Indra in his own mind, as he was the second Bhrigu in heaven—(i.e. He bowed to him with a veneration equal to that he paid to his father).
Then the mind sees the body as if from a great height. Recognising the body merely as a temporary aggregate of the elements. By transcending body consciousness, the Jīva sheds its delusion and realizes enlightenment.
Experiencing Liberation
All that is, is but the expansion of the relationship between pure experiencing and its experience. That experience is truly delight of self-bliss. It is pure experiencing itself.
Suffering and bondage occur when pure awareness bends toward or clings to external objects. When it is free, it is liberation. Freedom from decay, curiosity, and object-driven desire is liberation.
When such experience is freed; dissolving even the subject-object relationship entirely, cessation of World-Appearance. Then arises the Turīya, the manifestation of the fourth state—”deep sleep in wakefulness.”
“At all times, the mind should not be attached to the action, the thoughts or the object. Neither should it be attached to the heavens above, nor what is below, nor anywhere else.”
To achieve absolute freedom, the mind must transcend all points of focus and spatial anchors: Do not be attached to the heavens above, or to what is below, nor anywhere else.
No External or Physical Anchors: Do not attach to action, thoughts, external relations, or physical sensations such as life force.
No Concentration Points: Avoid resting the mind in specific bodily centers—such as the head, inside the palate, between the eyebrow center, nose tip, mouth, eyes, or even in the cave of the heart.
The state of wakefulness, dream and sleep should not hold it, and even the wide, pure space should not be its home. Refrain from clinging to spectrum of colors, movement or steadiness, distance or proximity, and to the beginning, the middle, the end and elsewhere.
The mind should not rest either at a distance or nearby, in objects or in the self. Then you should enquire into what is known as jīva or mind. The mind should rest in pure consciousness as pure consciousness, with just a little externalised movement of thought, as if aware of the utter vanity of the objects of this world. When thus all attachments have been snapped, the jiva becomes nojiva: whatever happens thereafter happens—whether activity or inactivity. In such a state of non-attachment the jiva is not bound to the fruits of action. Or, abandoning even that state of a little comprehension of the objects, let the jiva rest in supreme peace.
Such a liberated person, whether he appears to others to be engaged in activity or not, is for ever free from sorrow and fear. All the people love and adore him. Even if in the eyes of others he appears to be agitated, within himself he is firmly rooted in wisdom. His consciousness is ever uncoloured by happiness and unhappiness. He is not distracted by the glamour of the world. Having attained pure awareness, he lives in constant contemplation as it were; and therefore he is unattached to anything in the universe. Having risen above the pairs of opposites, he appears to be as if in deep sleep even in the wakeful state.
“The supreme self, which alone is the truth, is right in the middle between the inert and the intelligent…”
That alone creates diversity and is known by all these diverse names.
The self on account of its ignorant self-limitation as the mind becomes as if tainted by the objects of the world; but, the same self when it is awakened to its true nature abandons its ignorant delusion and regains its self-knowledge. Then, the mind sees the body as if from a great height.
“Recognising the body as an aggregate of the elements, it transcends body-consciousness and becomes enlightened.”
Such an enlightened person is untainted by worldliness or ignorance even while acting in this world. He is neither attracted nor repelled by anything in the world. He knows “What is known as ‘I’ and what is known as ‘the world’ in the three periods of time are but the expansion of the conjunction between pure experiencing and the experience itself.”
| Aspect | Description | Impact on Realization |
| The Supreme Self | Lies directly between the inert (matter) and the intelligent (mind). | Creates apparent diversity while remaining the sole underlying truth. |
| Latent Vāsanās | Conditioning, tendencies, or self-limitations. | Even a seed left unburned resembles deep sleep—it is not true perfection. |
| Complete Eradication | Full destruction of tendencies and their future potentiality. | Yields the transcendental fourth state (Turīya) and permanent freedom from sorrow. |
The Nature of Self and Worldly Ignorance
All that is, is but the expansion of the relationship between pure experiencing and its experience. That experience is truly the delight of selfbliss. It is pure experiencing itself. Hence it is known as Brahman the absolute. That delight which arises in the contact of this pure experiencing with experience is the highest: to the ignorant, it is worldliness, and to the wise it is liberation.
Thus of the mind and the egosense—if one ceases the other ceases to be. Hence, instead of entertaining the notion of bondage and that of liberation, abandon all cravings and through wisdom and dispassion, bring about the cessation of the mind.
The Illusory Nature of Ignorance: Even as a rope which had been mistaken for a snake does not frighten one who has seen that it is a rope and not a snake, illusion once dispelled does not return and pure awareness once attained is never lost. Can one restore to the tree the fruit that has fallen from it?
The Invulnerability of the Self: The enlightened sage knows that his self is not cut when the body is cut, does not weep when the eyes shed tears, is not burnt when the body is burnt, and is not lost when everything is lost. Whatever may befall him, whether he is destitute or affluent, whether he lives in a palace or in a forest—he is inwardly undisturbed.
Very many such liberated beings exist in the universe, O Rama. I shall give you a few instances. Janaka the emperor, your own ancestor the emperor Dilipa, the first ruler of the world Manu, emperor Mandhata who engaged himself in wars, the demonkings Bali, Namuci, Vrtra (who even fought with the king of gods Indra), Prahlada and Sambara, the preceptors of the gods and demons, as also the trinity (who are involved in the creation, preservation and dissolution of the universe), sages like Visvamitra and Narada, as well as the deities presiding over natural elements like fire and air.
There have been countless beings in this world who have attained pure awareness and liberation while yet living: like the emperor Janaka. Therefore, do thou become liberated here and now. The attainment of inner peace by utter nonattachment to anything here is known as liberation; this is possible whether the body exists or not.
Overcoming Error Through Inquiry and Practice
“All these worlds, O Rama, appear in Brahman the absolute; but they are apprehended as an independent ‘substantial reality’ on account of ignorance or non-wisdom. Such an erroneous notion ceases on the arising of wisdom.”
Erroneous perception makes all this appear as ‘the world’: right perception brings about the cessation of this error. Rama, this error is not dispelled except by right exertion with the right attitude and wisdom. Fie on that person, O Rama, who though such possibility of overcoming this error exists, remains sunk in the mire of world-illusion. Blessed are you, Rama, that the right spirit of enquiry has already manifested in your heart. When the truth is realised through such enquiry, strength, intelligence and radiance increase.
O Rama, there are two ways in which this cessation can be achieved: one is the way of yoga which involves the restraint of the movement of thought, and the other is the way of knowledge which involves the right knowledge of truth.
The movement of prana is also arrested by the effortless practice of inhalation, etc., without strain, in seclusion, or the repetition of the sacred OM with the experience of its meaning, when the consciousness reaches the deep sleep state. The practice of exhalation, when the prana roams in space without touching the limbs of the body, of inhalation, leading to the peaceful movement of prana, and of retention, bringing it to a standstill for a long time, all lead to the arrest of the movement of prana. Likewise the closure of the posterior nares by the tip of the tongue as the prana moves towards the crown of the head, the practice of meditation where there is no movement of thought, the holding of the consciousness steadily at the point twelve inches from the tip of the nose, the entering of the prana into the forehead through the palate and upper aperture, the fixing of the prana at the eyebrow centre, the sudden cessation of the movement of thought, or cessation of all mental conditioning through meditation on the space in the heartcentre over a long period of time, all these lead to this arrest of the movement of prana.
He whose mind is firmly established in peace through the practice of yoga has the right vision of the truth. To see that the supreme self is without beginning and without end, and that these countless objects are in fact the self and no other, is the right vision. Erroneous vision leads to rebirth; right vision ends rebirth. In it there is no subject-object (knowerknowable) relationship; for the self (consciousness) is the knower, knowledge and the knowable, too, and the division is ignorance. When this is directly seen there is neither bondage nor liberation. When the sage rests in his own self, with his intelligence firmly established in the inner self, what pleasures can bind him in this world?
Exhortations to the Senses and Mind
“O eyes! The objects of your experience arise and fall, and they are but appearances. Do not let your gaze linger on them, lest the eternal indwelling consciousness suffer mortality. Be an onlooker that you truly are.”
O mind! Countless scenes are seen by the eyes in accordance with their natural function; why do you get involved in them? Even if these scenes are reflected in the mind and recognised by it, why do you respond to these as the egosense? There is, without doubt, an intimate relationship between the eyes and their objects; but why do you offer yourself as their support and then endeavour to apprehend them? Truly, scene, sight and mind are unrelated, like the face, mirror and reflection: yet, somehow the illusory notion arises that ‘I see this’. Ignorance is the wax in which these are sealed to one another; but pure awareness is the fire in whose heat this wax melts away!
All my doubts have ceased. I am without the fever of agitation. Whatever I am, I am—but without craving. When the mind ceases to be, the craving ceases to be too.
“When the mind is dead and the craving is dead, delusion has vanished and egolessness is born. Hence I am awakened in this state of wakefulness.”
When there is only one truth and diversity has no reality at all, what shall I investigate?
Such thoughts are utterly useless, now that the mind is dead; they may revive this ghost known as the mind. Hence I abandon all these thoughts and notions; contemplating the OM, I shall remain in the self, in total inner silence.
The above line of enquiry was adopted by the sage Samvarta who himself described it to me once upon a time.
Dialogue: The Dual Seeds of the Mind Tree
RAMA asked:
“Lord, what is the seed of this fearful tree known as the mind and what is the seed of that seed and so on?”
VASISTHA replied: There are two seeds for the tree known as the mind which carries within it innumerable notions and ideas: first, movement of prana (life-force) and second, obstinate fancy. When there is movement of prana in the appropriate channels, then there is movement in consciousness and mind arises. Again, it is the movement of prana alone, when it is seen or apprehended by the mind, that is seen as this world appearance which is as real as the blueness of the sky. The cessation of the movement of prana is the cessation of the world appearance too. The omnipresent consciousness is ‘awakened’, as it were, by the movement of prana. If this does not happen, then there is supreme good.
When, obstinately clinging to a fancy, and therefore abandoning a thorough enquiry into the nature of truth, one apprehends an object with that fancy—such apprehension is described as conditioning or limitation. When such fancy is persistently and intensely indulged in, this world appearance arises in consciousness. Caught up in his own conditioning, whatever the person sees he thinks that to be real and gets deluded. And on account of the intensity of the conditioning and the fancy, he discards his own nature and perceives only the world illusion. All this happens only to the unwise person. That, whose perception is thus perverted, is known as mind. When this mind is confirmed in its perverted perception, it becomes the seed for repeated birth, old age and death.
Of the two seeds for this world illusion (viz., movement of prana and clinging to fancy), if one is got rid of the other also goes away; for the two are interdependent. The mind creates the worldillusion and the mind is created by the movement of prana in one’s own conditioning. Again, this movement of prana also takes place because of the mental conditioning or fancy. Thus this vicious circle is completed; one feeds the other, one spurs the other into action. Motion is natural to prana and when it moves in consciousness, mind arises; then the conditioning keeps the prana in motion. When one is arrested, both fall.
RAMA asked:
“Lord, how can these two be reconciled? Can I seek freedom from all experiences and freedom from inactivity at the same time?”
VASISTHA replied: Freed from all conditioning, fully established in the state of unmodified consciousness, the yogi remains like a child or a dumb person: in him there is bliss, like the blueness of the sky. This bliss is not an experience, but the very nature of consciousness. Hence, it does not act as a disturbance, but remains integrated in the consciousness. There is freedom from all experiences. At the same time, the yogi is constantly engaged in action: hence, there is freedom from inactivity.
Pure existence alone is the seed for this infinite consciousness. They are inseparable like the sun and his rays. However, this pure existence has two aspects: one, diversity, and second, unity. Meditation is not possible on objects of experience: for they exist only in consciousness or the self.
“But if you strive to destroy the conditioning (the concepts, notions, habits, etc.), then in a moment all your errors and illnesses will vanish.”
However, this is more difficult than the ones described earlier. For, until the mind is free from the movement of thought, cessation of conditioning is difficult, and vice versa; and unless the truth is realised, the mind does not cease to function, and vice versa. Yet, again, until the conditioning ceases, the unconditioned truth is not realised, and vice versa. Since realisation of truth, cessation of the mind and the ending of conditioning are interwoven, it is extremely difficult to deal with them individually and separately.
Simultaneous Practice: Wise ones declare that the abandonment of conditioning and the restraint of prana are of equal effect: hence, one should practise them simultaneously. Prana is restrained by the practice of pranayama and the yoga asana, as taught by the guru, or by other means. When desires, aversions and cravings do not arise in the mind even though their objects are seen in front, then it is to be inferred that mental conditioning has weakened; thence wisdom arises, further weakening the conditioning. Then the mind ceases.
The Role of Vichara: If one has achieved even a little bit of control over the mind by vichara, such a person has attained the fruit of his life. For that vichara will expand in his heart. When such enquiry is preceded by dispassion and has attained stability by practice, all the noble qualities resort to it naturally. Ignorance and its retinue do not bother one who is fully established in vichara and who sees what is, without distortion. When he has found his foothold in the spiritual ground, he is not overcome by the robbers known as sense-pleasures.
Non-Attachment and the Nature of Vichara
He who acts without attachment, merely with the organs of action, is not affected by anything, neither by joy nor by sorrow. His actions are non-volitional. He sees not, though eyes see; he hears not, though ears hear; he touches not, though the body touches.
Surely, attachment (contact, association) is the cause for this world illusion; it alone creates objects. Attachment causes bondage and endless sorrow. Therefore, holy ones declare that the abandonment of attachment is itself liberation. Abandon attachment, O Rama, and be a liberated sage.
On the other hand, the dense conditioning which exists in the unwise is itself known as attachment.
“If you abandon this attachment which causes perverse notions in you, the actions that you may spontaneously perform here will not affect you.”
If you rise beyond joy and sorrow and therefore treat them alike, and if you are free from attraction, aversion and fear, you are unattached. If you do not grieve in sorrow, if you do not exult in happiness and if you are independent of your own desires and hopes, you are unattached. Even while carrying on your activities here, if you do not abandon your awareness of the homogeneity of the truth, you are unattached. If you have gained pure awareness and if, endowed with equal vision, you engage yourself in spontaneous and appropriate action in the here and now, you are unattached.
Hence, O Rama, engage yourself constantly in vichara and rest firmly established in pure awareness. You will never again be subjected to birth and bondage.
(Vicara or Vichara is generally translated as ‘enquiry’ or ‘selfenquiry’. That is the popular translation. However, the word really means efficient movement of one’s inner intelligence—’car’ in sanskrit is ‘to move’. It should not be confused with intellectual analysis. It is direct observation or ‘looking within’.)
Correct understanding of the body and the intelligence that dwells in the body enables one to understand the entire creation in its material and its spiritual aspects, as easily as one sees objects illumined by a lamp. It is only when there is not this right understanding that deluded and wrong notions rise and flourish within one’s heart— notions which are utterly devoid of substance.
Befuddled by these wrong notions which arise in the absence of the light of true knowledge, one is constantly and restlessly carried hither and thither like a blade of grass in wind.
The lifeforce and its retinue function here merely to provide energy for the movements inherent in living, not with any other motive. In the absence of pure awareness, all the talking and roaring which people indulge in are like the sound produced by a gun! They inevitably proceed towards destruction and do not lead to salutory results.
“Fools enjoy the fruits of their labour, not knowing that they are resting and sleeping on a rock that is burning hot.”
It is on account of delusion that one seeks wealth and prosperity which are sweet in the beginning to the dullwitted, which are the cause of the pairs of opposites (happiness and unhappiness, pleasure and pain, success and failure) in the middle and which come to an end very soon. From the pursuit of prosperity arise countless branches of pleasure and numberless branches of unhappiness.
“In the meantime, poverty spreads its thousands of branches yielding the fruits of unhappiness and hard labour. Yet, greed which is empty and insubstantial and which is destructive of one’s own spiritual elevation, continues to proclaim victory in the darkness of delusion.”
The Modalities of Ignorance and Realization
“Avidya arises in vidya just as ripples arise in the ocean; and avidya dissolves in vidya just as ripples dissolve in the water.”
The sages, the ascetics, the perfected ones, the dwellers of the netherworld, the celestials, the gods—these are the satvic part of ignorance. Among these the celestials and the dwellers of the netherworld form the gross (tamas), the sages form the middling (rajas) and the gods Visnu, Siva, etc. form the satvic part. They who come under the category of satva are not born again: hence they are considered liberated. They exist as long as this world lasts.
“The others (like the sages) who are liberated while living (jivanmukta) shed their body in course of time, reach the abode of the gods, dwell there during the period of the existence of the world and then they are liberated.”
Thus this part of avidya or ignorance has become vidya or pure awareness!
Thus, all this worldappearance with all the mobile and immobile beings in it is naught whatsoever. Nothing has really become physical or material.
“If conceptualisation, which gives rise to notions of being and nonbeing, is eliminated then it is realised that all these jivas (the individual souls), etc., are empty expressions.”
All the relationships that arise in one’s heart on account of ignorance are seen to be nonexistent. Even when the rope is mistaken for a snake, no one can be bitten by that snake!
In these substances like rocks, consciousness remains immobile having abandoned the thinking faculty but not having been able to reach the state of nomind. It is like the state of deep sleep, far away from the state of liberation.
If this is not realised as atmasakti (the energy of the self or infinite consciousness) it creates the delusion of worldappearance; if it is realised as the truth, which is infinite consciousness, that realisation destroys all sorrow. The nonseeing of this truth is known as avidya or ignorance; such ignorance is the cause of the world appearance which is the source of all the other phenomena. Even as the arising of the first thought disturbs sleep and ends it, the slightest awakening of inner intelligence destroys ignorance. When one approaches darkness with light in hand, wishing to behold it, the darkness vanishes; when the light of enquiry is turned on ignorance, ignorance disappears. When one begins to enquire: ”What is ‘I’ in this body composed of blood, flesh, bone, etc.?” at once ignorance ceases to be. That which has a beginning has an end. When all things that have a beginning are ruled out, what remains is the truth which is the cessation of avidya or ignorance. You may regard it as something or as nothing: that is to be sought which IS when ignorance has been dispelled. The sweetness one tastes is not experienced by another: listening to someone’s description of the cessation of avidya does not give rise to your enlightenment. Each one has to realise it. In short, avidya is the belief that ‘There exists a reality which is not Brahman or cosmic consciousness’; when there is the certain knowledge that ‘This is indeed Brahman’, avidya ceases.
The Universality of Brahman
RAMA asked:
“Lord, pray tell me what is the nature of the pure awareness in which all these great ones are established.”
VASISTHA replied:
“Whatever there is and whatever appears to be the worldjugglery, is but the pure Brahman or the absolute consciousness and naught else.”
Consciousness is Brahman, the world is Brahman, all the elements are Brahman, I am Brahman, my enemy is Brahman, my friends and relatives are Brahman, Brahman is the three periods of time, for all these are rooted in Brahman. Even as the ocean appears to be expanded on account of the waves, Brahman seems to be expanded on account of the infinite variety of substances. Brahman apprehends Brahman, Brahman experiences or enjoys Brahman, Brahman is made manifest in Brahman by the power of Brahman himself. Brahman is the form of my enemy who displeases me who am Brahman: when such is the case, who does what to another?
The self remains itself even when the energies of the world throw up endless diversities on the surface of the ocean of consciousness. There are no independent entities in this world known as ‘body’ etc. What is seen as the body and what are seen as notions, the objects of perception, the perishable and the imperishable, the thoughts and feelings and their meaning—all these are Brahman in Brahman the infinite consciousness. There is duality only in the eyes of the deluded and ignorant. The mind, the intellect, the egosense, the cosmic rootelements, the senses and all such diverse phenomena are Brahman only: pleasure and pain are illusions (they are words without substance). Even as a single sound produced amongst hills echoes and reechoes into diversity, the one cosmic consciousness experiences multiplicity within itself, with the notions ‘This is I’ and ‘This is mind’ etc. The one cosmic consciousness sees diversity within itself even as a dreamer dreams of diverse objects within himself.
“I am the eternal Brahman free from the wrong notions of pleasure and pain, etc., and therefore pure; I am the consciousness in which there is true and pure experiencing. I am that pure consciousness in which the pure intelligence functions without thoughtinterference.
I am that Brahman which is the intelligent energy that functions in all the elements (earth, water, fire, etc.). I am the pure consciousness which manifests as the characteristic taste, etc., of the different fruits.
Even as the taste of the juice of sugarcane cultivated in a hundred different fields is uniform and same, even so the consciousness indwelling all beings is the same—that consciousness I am. I am that conscious energy (citsakti) which is larger than the universe and yet subtler than the minutest atomic particle and therefore invisible. I am the consciousness that exists everywhere like butter in milk, and whose very nature is experiencing.
Their mind had fully entered the state of satva or divinity and was therefore utterly free from delusion, from egoistic notion (‘I do this’) and from the desire for achievement, though they did not reject such achievement or the rewards for their actions. They did not indulge in vain exultation when they defeated their enemies nor did they give way to despair and grief when they were defeated.
“They were engaged in natural activities, allowing all actions to proceed from them nonvolitionally.”
The Encounter with Bhusunda
I descended right in front of Bhusunda. He knew that I was Vasistha and welcomed me appropriately. By his mere thoughtforce he materialised flowers with which he worshipped me. He made me sit near him. Bhusunda then said to me:
“I consider it a great blessing that after a long time you have given us your darsan (visit). Bathed in the nectar of your darsan (presence and company), we have been renewed like a good tree. You are the greatest among those who are worthy of adoration: and you have come here only as a result of my accumulated merit. Pray tell me the immediate reason for this visit.”
“Surely, in your heart there shines the light of pure awareness kindled by continuous and intense enquiry into the nature of this unreal worldappearance? Ah, by the very sight of your blessed feet, I have divined your purpose. You have come here in pursuit of your enquiry into the secrets of extreme longevity. Yet, I would love to hear the purpose from your own lips.”
I replied as follows: “You are truly blessed in that you enjoy the supreme peace all around you, in that you are endowed with the highest wisdom (pure awareness) and in that you are not caught in the net of illusion known as worldappearance. Pray enlighten me in regard to a few facts concerning yourself.”
Having said this, O Rama, Bhusunda began the following narration. His words were grave and polite. They had power for he had risen beyond all desires and the pursuit of pleasure. His heart was pure for it had reached its own fulfilment. He was fully aware of the birth and the extinction of the creations. His words were sweet. He had the dignity of the creator Brahma himself. His words were like nectar. And he commenced his discourse which follows.
Once upon a time all these female deities assembled in space. They duly worshipped the divinity known as Tumburu (which is one of the aspects of Rudra) and engaged themselves in lefthanded ritual which reveals the supreme truth. They adored Tumburu and also the deity known as Bhairava and they began to perform various rites intoxicated, as they were, by wine.
“Soon they began to discuss an important question: how is it that the Lord of Uma (Hara) treats us contemptuously? They made up their mind thus: “We shall demonstrate our prowess in such a way that he does not do so hereafter.”
They overwhelmed Uma by their magic powers and separated her from her lord Hara. All the female deities sang and danced in ecstasy. Some drank, some sang, some laughed, some roared, some ran, some fell and some ate flesh. These intoxicated deities began to create disorder in the whole world.
“The goddess Brahmi said to them: ”Since you are all big with child, you will not be able to perform your duties. Hence, for some time go where you please.” Having said this, the goddess sat in deep contemplation.”
There was a world in days of yore which is not far beyond our memory, for we witnessed it ourselves.
We have seen the fate of the worlds. We have mentally abandoned identification with the body. Established in pure awareness and remaining on this tree I see the passage of time. Through the practice of meditation I have risen above the division of time. Hence, I am at peace within my heart and I am not affected by the events of the world. Let all beings vanish or let them come into existence; we have no fear at all. Let all these beings enter into the ocean known as Time (or death); but we are seated on the shores of that ocean and are therefore unaffected. We neither accept nor reject; we appear to be but we are not what appears to be. Thus do we remain on this tree.
This wishfulfilling tree is not shaken by the various natural calamities nor by the cataclysms caused by living beings. There have been several of the latter when demons have tried to destroy or overwhelm the earth, as also when the Lord has intervened and rescued the earth from the grip of the demons. During all these this tree has remained unaffected. Even the flood and the scorching heat of the sun attendant upon cosmic dissolution have not succeeded in shaking this tree. On account of this, we who dwell on this tree have also escaped harm: evil overtakes one who lives in an unholy place.
The Witness of Cosmic Cycles
VASISTHA asked:
“Why is it that others are not able to do what you have done?”
BHUSUNDA replied: During my lifetime I have seen the appearance and disappearance of countless Manus (the progenitor of the human race). At one time the world was devoid of the gods and the demons, but was one radiant cosmic egg. I also remember another epoch when the earth was covered with forests, when the ocean could not even be imagined and when human beings were spontaneously created.
“At another time there was neither mountain nor earth; the gods and the sages dwelt in space. At another time there were neither the gods nor the sages, etc.; darkness prevailed everywhere.”
I saw that during one epoch it was lord Visnu (generally considered the protector) who created the universe, during another it was Brahma who created the universe and in another it was Siva who became the creator.
Of course I remember sages like you, goddesses like Gauri, demons like Hiranyaksa, kings like Sibi, of the recent past and of a bygone age.
“O sage, this is the eighth time you have taken birth as sage Vasistha, and this is the eighth time we meet each other.”
At one time you were born of space, at another of water, at another of wind, at another of a mountain and then of fire.
Whatever is happening in the present creation has happened exactly in the same manner during three previous creations. But I remember the events of ten such creations. (NOTE: Then follows a list of major worldevents all of which were not repeated all the time in every creation, accounting for the differences in the number of times Bhusunda witnessed them. A few of them are reproduced here to illustrate this.) In every age there have been sages who propounded the truth and revealed the Vedas. There have been Vyasas who wrote down the legends (or prehistoric tales). And, time and again Valmiki composed the sacred Ramayana.
“In addition to that, a sacred book of wisdom which contains your instructions to Rama has also been recorded by a sage known as Valmiki: originally it was of one hundred thousand verses. In this age, too, it will again be recorded by Valmiki for the twelfth time. There was an equally great scripture known as ‘Bharata’ which has been forgotten.”
“However, all this is illusory appearance; the world as such is not a reality. It seems to be real to the deluded mind. It arises and it ceases in the twinkling of an eye like ripples on the ocean.”
The three worlds were similar during some epochs and in other epochs they were utterly dissimilar. On account of all these differences, in every age I have new friends, new relatives, new servants and new dwellings. Sometimes I dwell in the Himalayas, at other times in the Malaya mountains and at other times, on account of inherited tendencies, I take my abode here in this nest.
O sage, these evils do not even approach one whose heart has found the state of utter quiescence and tranquility. Nor do illnesses of the body and the mind affect him.
“His awareness neither rises nor sets either in deep sleep or in the waking state. He whose mind and heart are established in supreme peace is not touched by the blinding evils born of lust and hate.”
He neither seeks nor does he spurn, neither gives up nor gathers, though he is constantly engaged in appropriate action. None of the evil forces afflict him. All joy and happiness and all auspicious qualities flow towards him.
The Imperishable Self and the Incomparable Mind of the Holy One
Hence, O sage, one should remain firmly established in the imperishable and eternal self which is free from nescience and from all seeking. One should slay the ghost of duality or division and fix the heart on the one truth, which alone is sweet in the beginning, in the middle and in the end.
Neither the sovereignty of the whole world nor the attainment of the form of a god, neither the study of scriptures nor engaging oneself in the work of others, neither listening to nor reciting stories, neither longevity nor death, neither heaven nor hell is comparable to the state of the mind of a holy one.
The Contemplation of the Life-Force (Prāṇa) and the Architecture of the Body
Lord, look at this enchanting body which is supported by three pillars and endowed with nine gates, and which is protected by the egosense which has eight consorts (the puryaṣṭaka) and several relatives (the root elements).
But this contemplation of the self has comrades, as it were, that closely resemble such contemplation; among them is the contemplation of the life-force or prāṇa, which enables one to overcome sorrow and to promote auspiciousness. I have adopted this contemplation. It is that contemplation of prāṇa that has bestowed longevity and also pure awareness on me. I shall now describe it to you.
Enclosed right in the middle of this body are the subtle iḍā and piṅgalā. There are three lotus-like wheels. These wheels are composed of bones and flesh. When the vital air wets the wheels, the petals or the radii of these lotus-like wheels begin to vibrate. The vital airs expand on account of their expansion. These nāḍīs thereupon radiate above and below. Sages call these vital airs by different names—prāṇa, apāna, samāna, etc., on account of their diverse functions. These functions derive their energy from the central psychic centre which is the heart-lotus.
Dynamics of Prāṇa and Apāna
That energy which thus vibrates in the heart-lotus is known as prāṇa: it enables the eyes to see, the skin to feel, the mouth to speak, the food to be digested and it performs all the functions in the body.
It has two different roles, one above and one below, and it is then known as prāṇa and apāna respectively. I am devoted to them, which are free from fatigue, which shine like the sun and the moon in the heart, which are like the cart-wheels of the mind which is the guardian of the city known as the body, which are the favourite horses of the king known as egosense. Being devoted to them I live as if in deep sleep, forever in homogeneous consciousness.
“He who adores the prāṇa and the apāna thus is not reborn in this world again and he is freed from all bondage.”
Prāṇa is constantly in motion inside and outside the body: prāṇa is that vital air which is established in the upper part.
Apāna is similarly and constantly in motion inside and outside the body, but it dwells in the lower part.
Pray, listen to the practice of the extension or the control of this life-force, which is conducive to the welfare of one who is awake or asleep.
Mechanics of Breath: Recaka, Pūraka, and Solar/Lunar Transmutation
The efflux of the vital force centred in the heart-lotus, of its own accord and without effort, is known as recaka or exhalation. The contact with the source of the pranic force which is located downward to the length of twelve ‘fingers’, in the heart-lotus, is known as pūraka or inhalation.
When the apāna has ceased to move and when the prāṇa does not arise and move out of the heart (and till these begin to happen) it is like the sun or the fire and promotes the body’s internal welfare. Prāṇa generates heat in the heart-space every moment, and after producing this heat it generates heat in the space in front of the face. Apāna, which is the moon, nourishes the space in front of the face and then it nourishes the space in the heart.
If one is able to reach that space where the apāna unites with the prāṇa, he does not grieve any more, nor is he born again.
In fact, it is only prāṇa that undergoes a modification and appears as apāna, after abandoning its burning heat. And then, the same prāṇa, having abandoned the coolness of the moon, gains its nature as the purifying fire of the sun.
“The wise ones enquire into the nature of prāṇa as long as it does not abandon its solar nature to become lunar. One who knows the truth concerning the rising and the setting of the sun and the moon in one’s own heart, is not born again. He who sees the Lord, the sun, in one’s heart, sees the truth.”
In order to attain perfection one does not prevent nor protect external darkness, but one strives to destroy the darkness of ignorance in the heart. When the external darkness goes, one is able to see the world; but when the darkness of ignorance in the heart is dispelled, there arises pure awareness. Hence one should strive to behold the prāṇa and the apāna, whose knowledge bestows liberation.
The Practice of Kumbhaka (Suspension of Breath)
Apāna terminates in the heart where prāṇa arises. Where prāṇa is born, there apāna perishes; where apāna takes birth, there prāṇa ceases.
External Kumbhaka: When prāṇa has ceased to move and when apāna is about to rise, one experiences external-kumbhaka; rooted in this one does not grieve any more.
Internal Kumbhaka: When apāna has ceased to move and when prāṇa has arisen just a little, one experiences internal-kumbhaka; rooted in this one does not grieve any more.
If one practices kumbhaka (suspension of breath) after exhaling the prāṇa to a distance farther from where the apāna rises (the twelve fingerbreadth distance), he is not subject to sorrow any more. Or, if one is able to see the space within oneself where the inhaled breath turns into the impulse for exhalation, he is not born again.
“By seeing where the prāṇa and the apāna terminate their motions and by holding fast to that state of peace, one is not subject to sorrow again.”
If one keenly observes the place and the exact moment at which the prāṇa is consumed by the apāna, he does not grieve. Or, if one keenly observes the place and the exact moment at which the apāna is consumed by prāṇa, his mind does not arise again. Therefore, behold that place and that moment at which prāṇa is consumed by apāna and apāna is consumed by prāṇa inside and outside the body. For that precise moment at which the prāṇa has ceased to move and the apāna has not begun to move, there arises a kumbhaka which is effortless: the wise regard that as an important state. When there is effortless suspension of breath, it is the supreme state. This is the self, it is pure infinite consciousness. He who reaches this does not grieve.
Salutation to Indwelling Consciousness
“I salute that consciousness in which prāṇa ceases to move but apāna does not arise and which dwells in the space in front (or, at the root) of the nose.”
I contemplate that infinite consciousness which is the indwelling presence in the prāṇa but which is neither with prāṇa nor other than prāṇa.
I contemplate that infinite consciousness which is the indwelling presence in the apāna but which is neither with apāna nor other than apāna.
That which IS after the prāṇa and the apāna have ceased to be and which is in the middle between prāṇa and apāna—I contemplate that infinite consciousness.
I contemplate that consciousness which is the prāṇa of prāṇa, which is the life of life, which alone is responsible for the preservation of the body; which is the mind of the mind, the intelligence in the intellect, the reality in the egosense.
I salute that consciousness in which all things abide, from which they emerge, which is all and everywhere and which is all in all and eternal; which is the purifier of all and whose vision is most meritorious.
“I salute the consciousness which is the source for both prāṇa and apāna, which is the energy in both prāṇa and apāna and which enables the senses to function.”
- I salute that consciousness which is in fact the essence of the internal and the external kumbhakas, which is the only goal of the contemplation of prāṇa, which enables the prāṇa to function and which is the cause of all causes. I take refuge in that supreme being.
The Secrets of Longevity, Peace, and Equanimity
I do not contemplate either the past or the future: my attention is constantly directed to the present. I do what has to be done in the present, without thinking of the results.
By the regular and systematic practice of prāṇāyāma as described by me, I have gained the state of purity and I am not disturbed even when the mount Meru (or the north pole) is shaken.
“This state of samādhi or total equanimity is not lost whether I am walking or standing, whether I am awake, asleep or dreaming.”
With my vision turned upon the self, I rest in the self, with the self in all conditions of life, whatever changes may take place in the world or in the environment. Thus have I lived right from the time of the previous cosmic dissolution.
“Without considerations of being or non-being, desirable and undesirable, I remain in the self: hence I am happy, healthy and free from illness.”
My state is the fruit of contemplation of the moment of union of the prāṇa and the apāna (when the self is revealed); I do not entertain vain notions like, “I have obtained this and I shall gain that, too.” I do not praise nor do I censure anyone (neither myself nor others) or anything at any time; my mind does not exult on gaining what is considered good nor does it become depressed on obtaining what is considered evil; hence my state of happiness and health. I embrace the supreme renunciation, having renounced even the desire to live; thus my mind does not entertain cravings but is peaceful and balanced.
“I behold the one common substratum in all things (a piece of wood, a beautiful woman, a mountain, a blade of grass, ice and fire and space) and I am not worried by thoughts like, “What shall I do now?” nor “What shall I get tomorrow morning?”
I am not bothered by thoughts of old age and death, or by longing for happiness, nor do I regard some as “mine” and others as “not-mine”. I know that everything at all times, everywhere, is but the one cosmic consciousness. These are the secrets of my state of happiness and health.
I do not think, “I am the body,” even while engaged in physical activity as I know this world-appearance to be illusory and live in it as if fast asleep.
“I am disturbed neither by prosperity nor by adversity when they are granted to me, as I regard them with equal vision (even as I look upon both my arms as arms).”
Whatever I do is untainted by desire or the mud of egosense; thus I do not lose my head when I am powerful or go begging when I am poor; I do not let hopes and expectations touch me and even when a thing is old and worn out I look upon it with fresh eyes as if it were new. I rejoice with the happy ones and share the grief of the grief-stricken, for I am the friend of all, knowing I belong to none and none belongs to me. I know that I am the world, all the activities in it and its intelligence. This is the secret of my longevity.
Vasiṣṭha’s Instruction: Illusory Nature of the Body and World
VASIṢṬHA said:
The notion of ‘I am this body’ arises in relation to what is truly a piece of flesh with bones, etc., because of a mental predisposition; it is an illusion. Abandon this illusion.
There are thousands of such bodies which have been brought into being by your thought-force.
“When you are asleep and dreaming, you experience a body in it: Where does that body arise or exist? While day-dreaming, you imagine you are in heaven, etc.: where is that body? When all these have ceased, you engage yourself in diverse activities, playing different roles: where is the body with which you do these? When you besport with your friends and enjoy their company in self-forgetful delight, where does that body abide?”
Thus, O Rama, the bodies are but the products of the mind: hence they are regarded as real and unreal. Their conduct is determined by the mind, they are non-different from the mind.
‘This is wealth’, ‘This is body’ and ‘This is a nation’—all these are notions, O Rama, which are the manifestation of the energy of the mind and which are otherwise illusory. Know this to be a long dream, or a long-standing hallucination, or day-dreaming, or wishful thinking. When, by the grace of God or the self you attain awakening, you will then see all this clearly. The existence of a world independent of you or the mind is but the jugglery of the mind, it is nothing but the recognition of a notion as if it were a substance.
The infinite consciousness alone exists everywhere at all times. What appears to be is but an appearance. When the appearance is realised as appearance, that which IS, is realised. Either realise that ‘I am not and these experiences are not mine’ or know that ‘I am everything’: you will be free from the lure of world-appearance. Both these attitudes are good: adopt the one that suits you. You will be freed from attraction and aversion (rāga-dveṣa).
The Impermanence of the Body vs. The Statue
The ignorant man who thinks he is suffering and whose face is streaming constantly with tears, is worse than a painting or a statue, for the latter is free from experience of sorrow!
Nor is the statue subject to illness and death.
“The statue is destroyed only when someone destroys it, but the human body is certainly doomed to die.”
If the statue is well protected and preserved it lasts a long time in good condition: but even when well protected and preserved, the human body decays from day day and does not remain in good condition. Hence the statue is better than the body created by thoughts and notions. Who will entertain any hopes based on such a human body?
The Ghost of Egosense and the Self as Uninvolved Cause
They who are under the evil influence of the ghost known as egosense are deluded and in fact they have neither friends nor relatives.
“A deed done with the intelligence overpowered by the egosense is poisonous and it yields the fruit of death.”
The fool who is devoid of wisdom and courage and who is wedded to the egosense is already dead. He is like the firewood ready to be consigned into the fire known as hell.
Whatever a man does with the body is really done by the egosense with the help of the reins known as inhalation and exhalation. The self is indirectly regarded as the cause of all this, even as space is indirectly responsible for the growth of plants inasmuch as it (the space) does not prevent the plant from extending into space.
“Even as a lamp is considered responsible for the vision of an object, the self is regarded as responsible for the actions of the body, mind, etc., which function in the light of the self.”
Otherwise, there is no connection whatsoever between the inert body and the conscious self. It is only because of the energy of the self (prāṇa) which is constantly vibrating, creating agitation everywhere, that the mind is confused with the self.
Encounter with Lord Śiva on Mount Kailāsa
In that forest the darkness was so dense that it appeared to be solid enough to be cut with a sword.
There is the abode of lord Śiva known as Kailāsa. I lived there for some time, worshipping lord Śiva and practising austerities. I was surrounded by the perfected sages in whose company I used to discuss the truths of the scriptures.
One evening I was engaged in the worship of lord Śiva. The entire atmosphere was filled with peace and silence.
“At that time I saw a great light in the forest. With the external sight I saw that light and with my insight I enquired into its nature. I saw that it was lord Śiva himself who was walking along holding his consort Parvati with one hand.”
In front of him walked his vehicle Nandi, making way for the Lord. I made the divine presence known to the disciples assembled around me and proceeded to where the Lord was.
I saluted the Lord and offered him due worship. I remained for a considerable time feasting my eyes on the divine vision. Lord Śiva then said to me: “Is your austerity proceeding satisfactorily, without any obstacles? Have you attained that which is worthy of attainment and have your internal fears ceased?”
In response, I said to the Lord: “Supreme Lord, they who are fortunate to be devoted to thee find nothing difficult of attainment and they do not experience fear at all. Everyone in the world salutes and prostrates to those who are devoted to you and who constantly remember you.
“Only they are countries, they are cities, they are directions and mountains, where people who are solely and wholeheartedly devoted to you dwell.”
Your remembrance is the fruit of merits acquired in the past births and it is also the guarantee of still more blessedness in the future. Your constant remembrance, O Lord, is like the pot of nectar and is the ever-open door to liberation. Lord, wearing the precious and radiant jewel of your remembrance I have trampled under foot all the calamities that might otherwise torment me in the future.
“Lord, though by your grace I have reached the state of self-fulfilment, I am eager to know more about one thing. Pray enlighten me. What is the method of worshipping the Lord which destroys all sins and promotes all auspiciousness?”
Lord Śiva’s Teaching: What is God & True Worship
THE LORD said:
God is not Viṣṇu, Śiva or Brahmā; not the wind, the sun or the moon; not the brāhmaṇa or the king; not I nor you; not Lakṣmī nor the mind (intellect). God is without form and undivided; that splendour (devānām) which is not made and which has neither beginning nor end is known as god (deva) or lord Śiva which is pure consciousness.
That alone is to be worshipped; and that alone is all.
If one is unable to worship this Śiva then he is encouraged to worship the form. The latter yields finite results but the former bestows infinite bliss. He who ignores the infinite and is devoted to the finite abandons a pleasure-garden and seeks the thorny bush. However, sages sometimes worship a form playfully.
Now for the articles used in the worship: wisdom, self-control and the perception of the self in all beings are the foremost among those articles. The self alone is lord Śiva who is fit to be worshipped at all times with the flowers of wisdom.
Indeed only that cid-ākāśa (the infinite consciousness), which alone exists even after the cosmic dissolution, exists even now, utterly devoid of objectivity. The concepts and notions that are illumined by the consciousness within itself shine as this creation, on account of the movement of energy within consciousness, precisely as dreams arise during sleep. Otherwise, it is totally impossible for an object of perception to exist outside of the omnipresent infinite consciousness.
“The external worship of a form is prescribed only for those whose intelligence has not been awakened and who are immature like little boys.”
When one does not have self-control, etc., he uses flowers in worship; such worship is futile, even as adoring the self in an external form is futile. However, these immature devotees derive satisfaction by worshipping an object created by themselves; they may even earn worthless rewards from such worship.
The Ubiquity and Immutability of Consciousness
This consciousness is like a mirror which holds a reflection within itself, as it were, without undergoing any modification thereby.
It was consciousness, in the form of the four-armed Viṣṇu, that destroyed the demons, even as a thunderstorm equipped with the rainbow quenches the heat that rises from the earth. It is consciousness alone which takes the form of Śiva and Parvati, of Brahmā the creator and the numerous other beings.
“Without undergoing any modification in itself, this consciousness appears as all these countless beings in this universe.”
In this body, thoughts and notions generate action in the light of this very consciousness. Surely, but for this consciousness even an object which is immediately in front of oneself cannot be experienced. The body cannot function nor exist but for this consciousness. It grows, it falls, it eats. This consciousness creates and maintains all the movable and the immovable beings in the universe. The infinite consciousness alone exists, naught else exists. Consciousness alone has arisen in consciousness.
Even as there is no oil in a rock, in pure consciousness the diversity of sight, seer and scene, or of doer, act and action, or of knower, knowledge and known does not exist. Similarly, the distinction between ‘I’ and ‘you’ is imaginary.
“The distinction between the one and the many is verbal. All these do not exist at all even as darkness does not exist in the sun. Opposites like substantiality and unsubstantiality, void and non-void are mere concepts. On enquiry, all these disappear and only the unmodified pure consciousness remains.”
The Emergence of Perception, Mind, and the Puryaṣṭaka
Action springs from thought, thought is the function of the mind, mind is conditioned consciousness, but consciousness is unconditioned!
When consciousness becomes aware of itself within itself, the egosense arises. With just a little movement though, this egosense (which in truth is nothing other than consciousness) falls down as a rock rolls down the mountainside. However, even then it is consciousness alone that is the reality in all forms and all experiences.
Sight: The movement of the vital airs brings about vision within and an object which is apparently outside. But the experiencing of sight (the seeing itself) is the pure (supreme) consciousness!
Touch: The apparently inert vital air which is the tactile sensation comes into contact with its object and there is the sense of touch. But the awareness of the tactile sensation is again pure consciousness.
Smell & Hearing: In the same way it is the vital air (prāṇa) that enables the nose to smell the scents which are modifications of the same energy, while the awareness of the smell is pure consciousness. If the mind is not associated with the sense of hearing, no hearing is possible. Again, it is pure consciousness that is the experience of hearing.
The universe is but a reflection in consciousness (like the scenery reflected in a crystal ball) but consciousness is not conditioned by such reflection.
“Jīva is the vehicle of consciousness, ego-sense is the vehicle of jīva, intelligence of egosense, mind of intelligence, prāṇa of the mind, the senses of prāṇa, the body of the senses and motion is the vehicle of the body. Such motion is karma.”
Because prāṇa is the vehicle for the mind, where the prāṇa takes it the mind goes. But when the mind is merged in the spiritual heart, prāṇa does not move. And if the prāṇa does not move, the mind attains a quiescent state. Where the prāṇa goes the mind follows it, even as the rider goes where the vehicle goes.
The reflection of consciousness within itself is known as puryaṣṭaka. Mind alone is puryaṣṭaka, though others have described it more elaborately (as composed of the five elements, the inner instrument—mind, buddhi, egosense and citta—prāṇa, the organs of action, the senses, ignorance, desire, and karma or action). It is also known as the liṅga-śarīra, the subtle body. Since all these arise in consciousness, exist in consciousness and dissolve in consciousness, that consciousness alone is the reality.
When the mind is divested of its support, it remains alone in the self. When the puryaṣṭaka (the subtle body) is rid of all its supports, it attains a state of quiescence and falls motionless. When consciousness, on account of objectification, becomes deluded, the latent psychological tendencies become active; identifying with these, consciousness forgets its essential nature.
The Three States of Realization and Turīyātīta
That which is beyond all these forms and states of consciousness, that which is the supreme self, that which is indicated by the pure ‘I’—that is not for words to describe.
That which is perceived here is itself indivisible. When this consciousness invests itself with a secondary vision then it perceives duality. It is bound by its own ignorant imagination. This imagination gives rise to substantiality, and the experience of objects gives rise to the confirmation of the reality of that object. The egosense gains credence thereafter and is firmly established, assuming the role of the doer of actions and the experiencer of other experiences. Thus, what was accidental coincidence to begin with soon becomes an established fact.
The Three Progressive States:
The First State (Paśyantī): When, however, the mind is destroyed by the mind, the veil is rent asunder and the truth of the world-jugglery is seen, the notion of world-appearance and the existence of a jīva are destroyed. The mind is then clear, having given up repeatedly reviving the notions of objective perception. This state is known as paśyantī. Then the mind which is pure abandons conjuring up images of objects. It attains a state like deep sleep or the consciousness of homogeneity, thus going beyond the possibility of birth again. It rests in supreme peace.
The Second State (Undivided Fourth / Turīya): Consciousness devoid of mind is all-light, free from darkness and beautiful like space. The infinite consciousness frees itself totally from all modification or duality and remains as if in deep sleep or as a figure in uncut marble. It abandons even the factors of time and space and transcends both inertness and motion; it remains as pure being beyond expression. It transcends the three states of consciousness and remains as the fourth or the state of undivided infinite consciousness.
The Third State (Turīyātīta): This is beyond even what is termed ‘Brahman’, ‘the self’, etc. It is sometimes referred to as turīya-atīta (beyond the fourth or turīya state). It is supreme and ultimate. It defies description, for it is beyond the practices which are described by those who undertake them.
O sage, remain forever in that third state. That is the real worship of the Lord. Then you will be established in that which is beyond what is and what is not.
“Nothing has been created and there is nothing to vanish. It is beyond the one and the two. It is the eternal, beyond the eternal and the transient; it is pure mass of consciousness.”
“In it there is no question of diversity. It is all, it is supreme blessedness and peace, it is beyond expression. It is purest OM. It is transcendent. It is supreme.”
Lord Rudra & The Atomic Cosmic Potency
This infinite consciousness can be compared to the ultimate subatomic particle which yet hides within its heart the greatest of mountains.
This body is kept alive and active by the life-force or prāṇa. Without that life-force the body is inert. The energy that moves the body is prāṇa. The intelligence that experiences through all this is consciousness. This consciousness is formless and purer than even the sky. When the relationship between the life-force and body ceases, only the life-force is separated from the body. Consciousness, which is purer than space, does not perish.
Thus, they say that lord Rudra is the pure, spontaneous self-experience which is the one consciousness that dwells in all substances. It is the seed of all seeds, it is the essence of this world-appearance, it is the greatest of actions. It is the cause of all causes and it is the essence in all beings, though in fact it does not cause anything nor is it the concept of being, and therefore cannot be conceived. It is the awareness in all that is sentient, it knows itself as its own object, it is its own supreme object and it is aware of infinite diversity within itself.
Yet, it itself becomes coloured with desire or attraction for pleasure. It itself becomes the experiencer of pleasure, the pleasure-experience and the impurity or taint caused by it. Though it is like the sky, unconditioned and undivided, soon it becomes limited and conditioned. In this infinite consciousness there have been millions of mirages known as world-appearance and there will also arise millions more mirages known as world-appearance. Yet, nothing really has come into being independent of the infinite consciousness: light and heat seem to come out of fire but they are not independent of fire.
It encompasses the span of countless epochs, but it does not let go of a moment of time. It is subtler than the tip of a single strand of hair, yet it pervades the entire universe. No one has seen its limits or boundaries. All these are but pure consciousness; because they are called the potencies of consciousness, they are apparently regarded as distinct from consciousness, though in fact they are not.
The Cosmic Form of the Lord and True Internal Worship
This Lord is not to be worshipped by material substances but by one’s own consciousness. Not by waving of lamps nor lighting incense, nor by offering flowers nor even by offering food or sandal-paste. He is attained without the least effort; he is worshipped by self-realisation alone.
First of all, one should abandon the body-idea (the notion that ‘I am this body’). Meditation alone is true worship. Hence one should constantly worship the Lord of the three worlds by means of meditation.
How to Contemplate the Cosmic Lord:
He is pure intelligence, radiant as a hundred thousand suns risen together, the light that illumines all lights.
The limitless space is his throat, the firmament is his feet, the directions are his arms, the worlds are the weapons he bears in his hands, the entire universe is hidden in his heart.
The gods are hairs on his body, the cosmic potencies are the energies in his body, time is his gate-keeper and he has thousands of heads, eyes, ears and arms.
He touches all, he tastes all, he hears all, he thinks through all though he is beyond thinking. He does everything at all times, he bestows whatever one thinks of or desires, he dwells in all, he is the all, he alone is to be sought by all.
This is the supreme meditation, this is the supreme worship: the continuous and unbroken awareness of the indwelling presence, inner light or consciousness. While doing whatever one is doing—seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, moving, sleeping, breathing or talking—one should realise one’s essential nature as pure consciousness. Thus does one attain liberation.
The Value of Meditation and Constant Equanimity
If one is able to meditate even for thirteen seconds, even if one is ignorant, one attains the merit of giving away a cow in charity. If one does so for one hundred and one seconds, the merit is that of performing a sacred rite. If the duration is twelve minutes, the merit is a thousandfold. If the duration is of a day, one dwells in the highest realm.
“Meditation is the offering, meditation is the water offered to the deity to wash his hands and feet, pure awareness gained through meditation is the flower—indeed all these are directed towards meditation.”
The self is not realised by any means other than meditation. This is the supreme yoga, this is the supreme kriyā (action or service). One who practises this mode of worship is worshipped by the gods and the demons and all other beings. However, this is external worship.
“One should engage oneself in this worship at all times, established in supreme equanimity in regard to all the percepts whether they be pleasant or unpleasant. One should regard everything as good and auspicious. Realising that everything is the one self, one should worship the self in this spirit. One should look with equal vision upon that which is pleasant and beautiful through and through and that which is unendurably unpleasant.”
Thus should one worship the self.
Likes and dislikes, attraction and aversion are not found in the self independent of its essential nature; they are mere words. Even the concepts indicated by words like ‘sovereignty’, ‘poverty’, ‘pleasure’, ‘pain’, ‘one’s own’ and ‘others’, are in fact worship of the self, for the conceiving intelligence is the self. Knowledge of the cosmic being alone is the proper worship of the cosmic being.
“In the case of the seeker who is eager to attain freedom from ignorance and who is therefore equipped with what is termed ‘sāttvika avidyā’ (subtle ignorance), this sāttvika avidyā, with the help of what are known as scriptures, removes the ignorance, just as a washerman removes dirt with the help of another form of dirt (soap).“
By this catalytic action the ignorance is removed, the self realises the self and the self sees the self on account of its own selfluminous nature.
The Architecture of Pure Awareness
Beyond the Preceptor and the Diversity of Form
Do not look upon this diversity as the self. Do not entertain the feeling that pure awareness is the result of the teaching of a preceptor. The guru or the preceptor is endowed with the mind and the senses; the self or Brahman is beyond the mind and the senses. That which is attained only after the other ceases, is not attained with its help while it still exists. However, though the instructions of a preceptor and all the rest of it are not really the means for the attainment of self-knowledge, they have come to be regarded as the means for it.
Do not look upon this diversity as the self. Do not entertain the feeling that pure awareness is the result of the teaching of a preceptor. The guru or the preceptor is endowed with the mind and the senses; the self or Brahman is beyond the mind and the senses.
That which IS after all the senses have ceased to function and all notions of pleasure and pain have vanished is the self or Śiva which is also indicated by expressions like ‘that’, ‘truth’ or ‘reality’. However, that which IS when all these cease to be exists even when all these are present, like the limitless space. Out of their compassion for the ignorant deluded ones, in an effort to awaken them spiritually and to awaken in them a thirst for liberation, the redeemers of the universe (known as Brahmā, Indra, Rudra and others) have composed scriptures like the Vedas and the Purāṇas (the legends). In these scriptures they have used words like ‘consciousness’, ‘Brahman’, ‘Śiva’, ‘self’, ‘Lord’, ‘supreme self’, etc. These words may imply a diversity, but in truth there is no such diversity.
Pure Consciousness, Egosense, and Cosmic Motion
In every atom of existence this drama of self-veiling and self-knowledge is enacted all the time, all of which is nothing more than thought-form created by cosmic consciousness.
The truth indicated by the words like ‘Brahman’, etc., is indeed pure consciousness. In relation to it even the limitless space is as gross and substantial as a great mountain. That pure consciousness appears to be the knowable object and gives rise to the concept of intelligence or consciousness, though, being the innermost self it is not an object of knowledge. On account of a momentary conceptualisation, this pure consciousness gives rise to the egosense (‘I know’).
The jīva thinks of itself as Brahmā, Viṣṇu, etc., but all this is nothing more than thought-form. However, this thought-form conceives and perceives other thought-forms and experiences them. The sole reality in all these percepts is the primary concept known as the egosense, which arises the very instant consciousness conceives of an object within itself and thinks it perceives it (obviously as its object). That instant itself is the epoch and all the multiples and divisions of epochs. Yet, nothing is created by or in cosmic consciousness, for it remains unchanged and unmodified.
The Dawn of Pure Awareness vs. World-Appearance (Saṃsāra)
If the real nature of the infinite consciousness is allowed to slip even for one-half of a hundredth part of a second, then all these unfortunate illusory creations take place.
If one thus enquires into the nature of this saṃsāra (world-appearance), the perception of diversity disappears simultaneously with the dawn of pure awareness or god-realisation.
“By the expression ‘Brahman’ the wise sages indicate that state in which one remains forever firmly established in the infinite consciousness. When this is disturbed one entertains the notion of the world as real, and this gives rise to an endless sequence of diversity—gods, demons, humans and subhumans, plants and worms.”
However, if one does not slip from that state of cosmic consciousness, one realises that the truth is ever-present everywhere.
Vasiṣṭha’s Discourse & The Teaching of Lord Śiva
VASIṢṬHA said:
O Rama, having said thus, lord Śiva received my adoration and after blessing me, departed with his consort, Parvati. Having imbibed his teaching, I abandoned my previous mode of worship and commenced the worship of the omnipresent non-dual self.
That is not considered action, O Rama, which you perform merely with the organs of action, with an unattached mind. The delight derived from sensual experience is fleeting. A repetition of that experience does not afford a repetition of the same delight. Who but a fool will entertain desire for such a momentary joy? Moreover, an object gives you pleasure only when it is desired. So the pleasure belongs to the desire—hence give up desire or craving.
If in the course of time, you attain to the experience of that (the self), do not store it in your mind as a memory or egosense to be revived as desire once again. For, when you rest on the pinnacle of pure awareness, it is unwise to fall into the pit of egosense again. Let hopes cease and let notions vanish, let the mind reach the state of no-mind while you live unattached. You are bound only when you are ignorant. You will not be bound if you have pure awareness. Hence, strive by every means to remain vigilant in pure awareness.
Control of Mind, Breath (Prāṇa), and Latent Impressions (Vāsanā)
This world-illusion has arisen because of the movement of thought in the mind; when that ceases the illusion will cease, too, and the mind becomes no-mind.
With the slightest movement in the mind (when the mind blinks) the saṃsāra (world-appearance) arises and ceases. Make the mind unwinking (free from movement of thought) by the restraint of the prāṇa and also the latent tendencies (vāsanā).
Prāṇa Restraint: By the movement (blinking) of prāṇa, the saṃsāra arises and ceases; by diligent practice make the prāṇa free from such movement.
Self-Discipline: By the rise and cessation of foolishness (ignorance), self-binding action arises and ceases; restrain it by means of self-discipline and the instructions of the preceptor and the scriptures.
This can also be achieved by the restraint of prāṇa. That is the supreme state.
“The bliss that is experienced in a state of no-mind, that bliss which is uncaused, is not found even in the highest heaven. In fact, that bliss is inexpressible and indescribable and should not even be called happiness!”
The mind of the knower of the truth is no-mind: it is pure sattva. After living with such no-mind for some time, there arises the state known as turīyātīta (the state beyond the transcendental, or the turīya state).
The Omnipresent Energy of Infinite Consciousness
In truth, that energy of the infinite consciousness itself is space, time, natural order, expansion of thought, attraction and repulsion, I-ness, you-ness and it-ness…
This energy of the infinite consciousness, without even for a moment abandoning its own true nature, has manifested this creation, as it were, by merely willing it in its own intelligence. In fact, even this (i.e., that it willed so) is not really true! The egosense that is implied in such willing is itself unreal; but out of this have proceeded all the elements and their corresponding subjective senses.
In truth, that energy of the infinite consciousness itself is space, time, natural order, expansion of thought, attraction and repulsion, I-ness, you-ness and it-ness, above, below, the other directions, the mountains, the firmament and the stars, knowledge and ignorance—all, whatever is, was and will ever be. All that is nothing but the energy of the infinite consciousness.
The infinite consciousness with the knowledge inherent in it conceives of diverse creatures. Such is its power, which no one can challenge. The inert space is unable to reflect itself within itself. But because its nature is infinite consciousness, Brahman reflects itself within itself and conceives of itself as a duality, though it is bodiless.
The Long Dream of the Jīva and Lessons for Arjuna
What is known as this saṃsāra (world-appearance) is but the original dream of the jīva (the first person). The dream of the jīva is not like the dream of a person: the former’s dream is experienced as the wakeful state.
Hence it is that the wakeful state is considered a dream. The jīva‘s long dream is instantly materialised, though it is unreal and unsubstantial.
“The jīvagoes from one dream to another within that dream; and as this misconception of the dream as the reality becomes denser, it is experienced as if it were real and the real is ignored as unreal. Be wise and live like Arjuna who will become enlightened through the Lord’s instruction.”
Let the eyes see, let the ears hear, let the skin feel, let the tongue taste. Where is the ‘I’ in all this? Even when the mind continues to entertain various notions, there is naught which can be identified as ‘I’. Whereas all these factors are involved in an action, the ‘I’ assumes doership and then suffers.
The yogis perform action merely by their mind and senses, for self-purification. He who is polluted by the egosense, whether he is a learned scholar or one superior even to that, he indeed is a wicked man. On the other hand, he who is free from the egosense and from the sense of possession and who is equanimous in pleasure and pain, he is not bound whether he does what is approved or what is forbidden.
The Nature of True Renunciation (Saṃnyāsa) and Surrender
The conviction that Brahman alone is all, including the world and the ‘I’, is known as ‘offering everything to Brahman’ (Brahmarpaṇam).
The cessation of all thoughts and notions or mental images and the cessation of heavy psychological conditioning are the supreme self or Brahman. Striving towards this end is known both as yoga and as wisdom (jñāna).
Brahman is empty within and empty without (undifferentiated and homogeneous). It is not an object of observation, nor is it different from the observer. The world-appearance arises in it as an infinitesimal part of it. Because the ‘world’ is in fact only an appearance, it is in reality emptiness, void and unreal. Mysteriously, there arises in all this a feeling ‘I’ which is infinitesimal compared even to the world-appearance! The infinite is undivided by any of this, yet it appears to be divided on account of this ‘I’-feeling.
Even as the ‘I’ is non-different from the infinite consciousness, even so material objects like a pot and living beings like a monkey are non-different from one another. Who would like to hang on to this ‘I’? Why not cling to the infinite consciousness, which alone appears as all this by its own mysterious energy?
Such an understanding, and the consequent absence of craving for the enjoyment of the fruits of one‘s natural activities, is known as ‘renunciation’ (saṃnyāsa). Renunciation is renunciation of hopes and aspirations. When one feels the presence of the Lord in all appearances and modifications and when one abandons all delusion of duality, that is regarded as surrender to the Lord, or offering of self and all to the Lord.
The Underlying Substance of Reality
Just as gold is the reality in all the ornaments made of gold, whatever be their shape and size; just as water is the reality in all the waves and ripples on the ocean, whatever be their shape or size, even so the supreme self or the infinite consciousness alone is the reality in what appears to be a world of diverse creatures.
Though I use expressions suggestive of diversity, the reality is nondual. All these comings and goings, creation and dissolution, are non-different from the self. The self is the very nature of the totality of existence, even as hardness is the characteristic of a rock and liquidity the nature of waves.
“He who sees the self in all and all in the self and he who sees that the self is non-doer (being non-dual), he sees the truth.”
Transcendence of Duality (Pleasure, Pain, & the Delusion of the Body)
The unreal has no existence and the real does not cease to be.
Endure whatever pleasure and pain, heat and cold you are subjected to; they come and go. They do not pertain to the self which is beginningless and endless and which is free from parts. Sense-experience is born of the delusion of contact with the illusory elements. He who knows this and is undisturbed, is earmarked for liberation. When the self alone exists, where is room for pleasure and pain to arise? As the supreme self alone is omnipresent, pleasure and pain do not exist.
The self does not rejoice in pleasure nor does it grieve in pain! It is the inert mind that, dwelling in the body, experiences pain. If the body decays, the self is not affected. There is no such thing as body, etc., nor is there an entity known as pain, etc., independent of the self. Then, what is experienced by whom?
Hence, one who is fully awakened is free from such delusion. Even as the delusion of a snake in the rope vanishes upon right understanding, even so the delusion of body, etc., and sorrow, etc., vanishes upon spiritual awakening. Right understanding or spiritual awakening is, that the universal Brahman is neither born nor does it die.
Action, Inaction, and Wise Engagement
He who sees action in inaction and inaction in action, he is wise and he accomplishes all. Be not attached to the fruits of action nor to inaction.
Destroy the forces of delusion like pride, sorrow, fear, desire as also pain and pleasure. Such pairs of opposites are illusory. Be established in oneness. You are the single ocean of consciousness. Pain and pleasure, gain and loss, victory and defeat are born of ignorance. Hence remain unaffected by them. Whatever you do, eat, offer in worship and give—all that is the self. Whatever your inner being is, that you shall certainly attain. Hence, in order to attain the realisation of Brahman, fill your entire being with Brahman.
Attachment is real ‘doership’; it is also ‘non-doership’ (one may egotistically think ‘I do’ or ‘I do not do’). Both these are aspects of foolishness: hence abandon foolishness. Abandon the concept of diversity even while being engaged in diverse actions. You are not the doer of actions. He is regarded as a wise man whose actions are burnt in the fire of pure awareness and are therefore free from desire.
The Hypocrite vs. The Superior Person: He who restrains the physical organs but indulges in mental experience of pleasure is a hypocrite. But he who, restraining the senses by the mind, works with his physical body, free from attachment, he is a superior person.
The Ocean of Peace: He in whose heart the desires that arise are turned upon themselves as rivers flow into the ocean, he is at peace, not the man of desire.
The Imperishable Self and the Canvas of Mind
It is the mind (heart) that paints the picture known as the three worlds on the canvas of the omnipresent being. The mind creates fragmentation and division.
Without renouncing aught and without the egotistic feeling ‘I enjoy’ or ‘I suffer’, one should remain in an equanimous state in all natural situations. Do not entertain the feeling of ‘This is self or consciousness’ towards what is not-self (non-consciousness). When the body perishes, nothing is lost. The self is never lost! The self is by definition the indestructible and infinite consciousness. Never let even the thought ‘The self is perishable’ enter your mind.
What perishes, what changes is naught other than the notions ‘This is lost’ and ‘This has been gained’. The self which is eternal and infinite does not cease to be the reality, and the unreal has no existence whatsoever. The self that pervades all everywhere is imperishable. The bodies have an end, but the self (the infinite consciousness) is eternal. The self or the infinite consciousness is one and non-dual. What remains when all sense of duality has been abandoned, that is the self, that is the supreme truth.
The senses of a liberated sage are naturally and firmly established in his own heart. Space is absolute emptiness. However, in the mind the world-appearance rises and falls in the twinkling of an eye! Since the self (on which the world is painted by the mind) pervades the whole creation, creation appears to be real. But, on right inquiry, it dissolves in the self.
Now that fancied creation has been dissolved, O Arjuna. It came into being by momentary delusion. It is unreal; yet, the mind is capable of creating this fantasy in a moment. It (the mind) makes a moment appear like an epoch, it makes a little look like very much, it makes the unreal appear real instantly: thus has this delusion arisen. It is that momentary delusion that seems to have remained.
The Seed of Vāsanā and Arjuna’s Awakening
If through constant endeavour this seed of vasana is burnt by the fire of correct understanding and pure awareness, then that burnt seed will not give rise to further bondage.
He who is not free from the bonds of vasana is firmly bound to its illusion. Even if one is left with just a trace of this vasana or mental conditioning, it will soon grow into a mighty forest of samsara (world-appearance or cycle of birth and death).
“But, if through constant endeavour this seed of vasana is burnt by the fire of correct understanding and pure awareness, then that burnt seed will not give rise to further bondage. One whose vasanas are thus burnt does not get lost in pain and pleasure; he lives in this world as a lotus leaf in water.“
When the Lord will thus instruct Arjuna, the latter will remain silent for a few moments and then will say: “Lord, in the light of the sun of your admonitions, the lotus of the intelligence in my heart has fully unfolded.” Having said this, Arjuna will instantly pick up his weapons and engage himself in the conduct of the war, as if in a play.
The Play of Consciousness and Bondage/Liberation
The sole cause for bondage and liberation is the movement in consciousness. Awareness of this ends this movement.
What appears to be the world here is truly the magic (the work) of the infinite consciousness. There is no unity here, nor is there duality. My instructions, too, are of the same nature! The words, their meaning, the disciple, the wish (or the effort of the disciple) and the guru’s ability in the use of the words—all these are also the play of the energy of the infinite consciousness! In the peace of one’s own inner being, consciousness vibrates and the world-vision arises. If that consciousness does not vibrate, there will be no world-vision.
Desire for liberation interferes with the fullness of the self; absence of such desire promotes bondage! Hence, constant awareness is to be preferred. The egosense ceases the very moment one observes it, for it has no support any longer. Then who is bound by whom or who is liberated by whom?
The All-Pervasive Presence
That exists as space in space, as sound in sound, as touch in touch… It is insentience in the insentient and intelligence in the sentient.
That exists as space in space, as sound in sound, as touch in touch, as skin in skin, in taste as taste, in form as form, in the eyes as sight, in smell as smell, in scent as scent, in the body as strength, in earth as the earth, in milk as milk, in wind as wind, in fire as fire, in intelligence as intelligence, in mind as mind, in the egosense as egosense.
It rises as citta or mind in the mind. It is tree in the tree. It is immobility in the immovable and mobility in the moving beings. It is insentience in the insentient and intelligence in the sentient. It is the divinity of gods and humanity in human beings. In animals it is bestial nature and in worms it is wormhood. It is the very essence of time and the seasons. It is dynamism in action and order in order. It is existence in the existent and death in the perishable. It is childhood, youth and age and also death.
The Parable of the Mendicant, Rudra, and One-Pointed Devotion
Behold! How mysterious is this Māyā which deludes all the worlds: though it is unreal it appears to be real.
First of all, in that infinite consciousness which was myself there arose the mind with objective consciousness, though yet cosmic and omniscient. Then accidentally I happened to be the jīva which felt attracted to and charmed by the finest part of the cosmic elements. Therefore during a certain creation-cycle I became the mendicant who remained totally unagitated. He was able to overcome all distractions and remain immersed in the practice of contemplation.
Thus having resolved, Rudra went to where the body of the mendicant lay. He awakened it and inspired it to remember all that had taken place. The mendicant saw Rudra as his own self and also recollected all that had happened.
The dream-like nature of thought-form is realised only by the intense practice of yoga, not otherwise. It is by such practice that lord Śiva and others perceive everything everywhere. That which is in front of you and at the same time apprehended by your mind, is not realised if there is misapprehension in such perception or in such existence. Only when such misapprehension does not exist can that object be known and realised.
Whatever one wishes is obtained only when one’s inner being is wholly and solely devoted to it. He who is thus totally devoted to what is in front of him knows it perfectly; he who is totally devoted to an imaginary object knows it perfectly. If such one-pointed devotion is not there, then he destroys that object (is not aware of it). It was thus (by such one-pointed devotion) that the mendicant became Rudra and all the rest of it. Each of them had his own world: hence, until the Rudra-consciousness was awakened in them, they were unaware of one another. It was in fact by the will of Rudra that they were thus veiled, that they became of different forms and nature.
O king, O Rama! With the help of my eye of wisdom, I searched for the mendicant. I entered into deep meditation wishing to see that mendicant. I searched for him in this universe, but could not find him. How does one’s imagination appear outside also as if real?
O king, that mendicant’s body has already become lifeless and it cannot be revived. His jīva has attained enlightenment and liberation: it cannot be subjected to the experience of this world-appearance any more. His own attendants stand outside his cottage waiting to open the door at the end of one month as instructed by him. They will find that by that time he has abandoned his body and will then install someone else in his place.
The Types of Sages (Munis) and the Four Silences (Mauna)
Rama, there are two types of muni… One is the rigid ascetic and the other the liberated sage.
“The Rigid Ascetic: Forcibly restrains his senses and engages himself in dry (devoid of wisdom) kriyās (activities) with fanaticism.”
“The Liberated Sage: Knows what is what (the truth as truth and the unreal as unreal), he is endowed with pure awareness and yet he behaves as any ordinary person here.”
The Four Types of Silence:
Silence of speech
Silence of the senses (eyes, etc.)
Violent restraint
The silence of deep sleep (suṣupti mauna)
“There is another known as silence of the mind, possible only in one who is dead or one who practises the rigid mauna/kāṣṭha mauna or suṣupti mauna. The first three involve elements of rigid mauna; the fourth is really conducive to liberation.”
The silence of deep sleep is conducive to liberation. In it the prāṇa or life-force is neither restrained nor promoted, the senses are neither fed nor starved, the perception of diversity is neither expressed nor suppressed, the mind is neither mind nor non-mind.
There is no division and hence no effort at abolishing it; it is called the silence of deep sleep and one who is established in it may or may not meditate. There is knowledge of what IS as it is and there is freedom from doubt. It is utter emptiness. It is supportless. It is of the nature of supreme peace of which it can neither be said that it is real nor that it is unreal. That state in which one knows “There is no ‘I’, nor another, no mind nor anything derived from the mind”, in which one knows “‘I’ is but an idea in this universe, and it is really pure existence”—that is known as the silence of deep sleep. In that pure existence which is infinite consciousness, where is ‘I’ or ‘another’?
I did not wish to elaborate on the other form of mauna, known as the silence of the disembodied, for you are still embodied. However, I shall briefly describe it now. They who are fully awakened and who are constantly engaged in samādhi and who are thoroughly enlightened are known as Sāṃkhya-yogis. They who have reached the state of bodiless consciousness through prāṇāyāma, etc., are known as Yoga-yogis. Indeed, the two are essentially the same. The cause of this world-appearance and bondage is indeed the mind. Both these paths lead to the cessation of the mind. Hence, by the devoted and dedicated practice of either the cessation of the movement of prāṇa or the cessation of thought, liberation is attained. This is the essence of all scriptures dealing with liberation.
Inquiry (Vicāra) and Liberation (Mokṣa)
That is known as mokṣa or liberation when ignorance ceases through vichara, when the jīva becomes no-jīva instantly and when the mind becomes no-mind.
Not indeed until these vāsanās have been destroyed will the mind become no-mind. The mind does not abandon the life-force till pure awareness arises.
“By pure awareness the vāsanās are destroyed and thus the mind, too; it is then that the prāṇa does not move. That indeed is the supreme peace. It is by pure awareness that the unreality of the concepts concerning worldly objects is realised.”
This puts an end to vāsanās and to the link between the mind and the life-force. Vāsanās constitute mind. Mind is the aggregate of the vāsanās and naught else; if the latter cease, that itself is the supreme state. Knowledge is the knowledge of the reality. Vicāra or enquiry itself is knowledge.
Since the egosense, etc., are but like water in the mirage, they cease when the light of enquiry is directed to them. In this connection, O Rama, listen to the following inspiring and enlightening questions asked by a vampire.
The Vampire’s Riddles & The Analogy of the Banana Stem
What is that sun the particles of whose rays are these universes? In what mighty wind does this mighty space manifest?
One goes from one dream to another dream ad infinitum, yet one does not abandon the self, though constantly abandoning the dream-reality. What is the self? The stem of a banana tree, when it is opened, reveals layer after layer until you reach the pith. What is that subtle essence when this world-appearance is similarly enquired into? Of which atom are the universes themselves minuter atoms? In what formless ‘rock’ are the three worlds hidden (like an unsculpted figure in a rock)? Answer these questions. If you do not you certainly deserve to be eaten by me!
Even as when the stem of a banana is peeled, every layer as it is peeled off reveals another similar layer, when this world-appearance is enquired into it is seen as none other than Brahman. This Brahman is referred to positively as the truth, Brahman, etc., and since it is beyond description it is also negatively indicated as emptiness and indescribable, etc. Whatever is experienced as real is the reality. Though its particular form is put together by the experience, it is naught but pure consciousness—even as the banana stem is nothing but banana stem and every layer of it is of identical nature.
Having heard this answer from the lips of the king, the vampire became silent and deeply contemplative. It forgot its great hunger and entered into profound meditation.
Self-Effort, Bhagīratha, and the Dissolution of Shame
If you abandon all this and remain firm, the egosense will vanish and you will realise that you are the supreme being!
Bhagīratha brought the holy river Gaṅgā from the heavens down to the earth. In this he had to encounter great difficulties and propitiate the gods Brahmā and Śiva and also the sage Jahnu. In all this he suffered frequent frustrations and disappointments.
By self-effort and by resolutely turning away from the pursuit of pleasure. And by the resolute breaking down of the prison-house of shame (false dignity), etc.
The Dialogue of Śikhidvaja and Cūḍālā: Inquiry into the Layers of the Self
O sage, how is it possible that the couple who lived together as husband and wife in one age is born again to be husband and wife in a later age?
They shared their knowledge and their wisdom with each other so that both of them became highly learned in all branches of knowledge. Each dwelt in all radiance in the other’s heart. In fact, it appeared as if the lord Viṣṇu and his consort had come down on earth in order to accomplish a special mission!
The Queen’s Self-Inquiry:
“Now I see myself and enquire ‘Who am I?’ How could ignorance of self, and delusion arise? The physical body is surely inert and it is certainly not the self. It is experienced only on account of the movement of thought in the mind. The organs of action are but parts of the body and hence they too are inert… The sense-organs are inert, too, for they depend upon the mind for their functioning. I consider even the mind to be inert. The mind thinks and entertains notions, but it is prompted to do so by the intellect (buddhi) which is the determining agent. Even this intellect is surely inert for it is directed by the egosense. Even this egosense is inert, for it is conjured up by the jīva, just as a ghost is conjured up by the ignorant child. The jīva is but pure consciousness clothed, as it were, by the life-force and it dwells in the heart.”
Day by day, the queen grew more and more introverted, rejoicing more and more in the bliss of the self. She was utterly free from craving and from attachment. Without abandoning anything and without seeking anything, she was natural in her behaviour and spontaneous in her actions. All her doubts were at rest. She had crossed the ocean of becoming. She rested in an incomparable state of peace.
Seeing her thus radiant and peaceful, Śikhidvaja asked her: “You appear to have regained your youthfulness and you shine with an extraordinary radiance, my beloved. You are not distracted by anything at all, and you have no craving. Yet, you are full of bliss. Tell me: is it that you have quaffed the nectar of the gods? Surely, you have attained something which is extremely difficult to attain?”
“You are childish and ignorant, my dear, and surely you are prattling! Having abandoned something for nothing, having abandoned real substances and attained the state of nothingness—how does one shine resplendent? Even as an angry man rejects a bed, if one abandons pleasures boasting, ‘I delight in unenjoyed pleasures’, it is not conducive to delight! When one abandons everything (pleasures, etc.) and thinks he delights in emptiness, that does not make any sense. Nor does it make any sense if one thinks he is happy after having renounced clothes, food, bed, etc. ‘I am not the body’, ‘Nor am I anything else’, ‘Nothing is everything’—what else are these statements but sheer prattle? ‘I do not see what I see’ and ‘I see something else’—these too are nothing but prattle.”
Having said this, the king went away from the inner apartments. Cūḍālā thought, “It is a pity that the king is unable to understand” and she continued to go about her work. Thus they continued to live for a considerable time.
The Subtle Channel (Aṃtrāveṣṭikā Nāḍī)
Deep within the body, there is a nāḍī known as the aṃtrāveṣṭikā. It rests in the vitals and it is the source of a hundred other nāḍīs.
Though Cūḍālā had no desires, a wish arose in her to move about in space. In order to acquire this power, she sought solitude and there exercised the vital air which has an upward tendency.
Deep within the body, there is a nāḍī known as the aṃtrāveṣṭikā. It rests in the vitals and it is the source of a hundred other nāḍīs. It exists in all beings—gods, demons and humans, animals and birds, worms and fish. It is coiled at its source. It is in contact with all the avenues in the body, from the waist right up to the crown of the head.
The Geometry of Pure Awareness
The Peace of the Self and the Dynamics of Action
If you rest peacefully in your own self, you will know that in comparison even the state of an emperor is like a blade of grass.
When one has made up his mind to go to a certain place, his feet function without any mental activity. Function like those feet, and perform action here. Act here after abandoning desire for reward or the fruits of actions, without the motivation of pleasure or profit. Then the objects of the senses will be devoid of attraction but will be what they are.
Even when sensation of pleasure arises on contact with the objects, let it lead you inward to the self. Do not long for the fruits of action; do not be inactive either. Or, be devoted to both or neither, as it might happen. For, it is the will to do or not to do that binds, and its absence is liberation. There is in fact neither a must nor a must-not: all this is pure being. Let your intelligence not recognise any of these. Remain forever what you are in truth.
The awareness of ‘I’ and ‘mine’ is the root of sorrow; its cessation is emancipation. Do what appeals to you.
Unity, Diversity, and the Dissolution of Illusion
‘I am the body’ is delusion, not truth. You are the pure self or undivided consciousness.
In the self is unity and diversity, yet not unity or diversity as opposed to each other. How can one assert diversity in it? The one self exists—subtle and omnipresent like space. It is undivided by the birth and death of bodies.
The subject (observer), the object (observed) and the predicate (observation) are but the modifications of the mind. The truth or the self is undivided by this division and hence it is beyond contemplation (dhyāna). All this is one indivisible Brahman and there is no such thing as the world. How can illusion arise or exist at all?
The deluded feeling that there is a world (either as a reality or as an illusion) has been dispelled by my instruction: there is no reason now for you to suffer bondage. In prosperity and adversity, be free and live without egosense and desire.
The Accidental Egosense and the Nature of Brahman
The notion ‘I’ arises in Brahman accidentally (like the crow alighting on the cocoanut tree and the cocoanut falling down without causal relationship).
In truth, I am Brahman, the world is Brahman, there is neither a beginning nor a ceasing. Hence, where is the reason to rejoice or to grieve? Because the Lord is omnipotent, some things appear to be sentient and others insentient. But there are no such divisions in Brahman.
This creation appears to be a limb of the Lord and there appears to be a causal relationship, but this is not true, for in Brahman there does not exist anything which can be referred to as its nature.
The Paradoxes of Manifestation
Brahman alone exists as if it were the world, the one as if divided, the pure as if impure, the full as if void, the void as if full, movement as if stable and vice versa…
Brahman alone exists:
As the unmodified as if modified,
As the tranquil as if restless,
As the reality as if non-existent,
As consciousness as if inert,
As the self as if the object,
As the not-self as if the self,
As the eternal as if perishable,
As the unknowable as if knowable,
As the obvious as if shrouded in darkness—
…and though it is all existence, it is difficult to see it.
Investigation into Truth vs. The Mechanics of Saṃsāra
The egosense seems to arise only in the absence of such investigation into the nature of truth; when one enquires into it, the egosense ceases and there is pure, infinite consciousness.
If the world appears to be, it is surely like the city which appears in the imagination of someone else. It is an illusory appearance. The egosense is unreal though it appears to be real.
“This world-appearance is neither real nor unreal: it is indescribable. Hence, though it is true that the knower of truth is not affected by desire or by non-desire, I think it is preferable that even in his case the desire does not arise.”
For the mind is movement in consciousness as it becomes aware of itself; that itself is saṃsāra and also desire. To be free from it is liberation. Knowing it thus, let desire be abandoned.
The mind is freed from objectification. Daily life is transmuted into divine life. Whatever you do, whatever you enjoy—all that becomes divine. Desireless and free from delusion, remain established in pure awareness. Since there are no other motivations, let the scriptures guide your conduct.
Resting in the Supreme Self and the Pursuit of Wisdom
When all divisions are given up, the indivisible alone remains. It is pure, one, beginningless and endless.
That is known as the attainment of the highest in which one abandons the notions of the existence of objects and in which one rests in one’s own pure self.
“One who has given up desires for wealth, wife and worldly objects rests in the supreme self. When even the division between the mind and the infinite consciousness drops away, then all division melts into nothingness. After this, one exists in the supreme being even as the unsculpted image exists in the marble slab.”
It is a great misfortune to pursue pleasures. Although the wise man rejects them, they create some uneasiness in his heart. He is supremely happy, therefore, when he does not find himself in pleasurable situations. The sages or yogis and perfected ones approach such a wise man. But the wise man does not value even the gifts of psychic powers or knowledge that they bestow upon him. He seeks the company of enlightened beings. In their company he dives into the truths of the scriptures. It is the characteristic of these enlightened ones to raise others to their own level.
Dialogue with the Second Brahmā
Lord, this celestial brought me here and she said to me that I should instruct both of you in a way that you may both be enlightened. Is that right and appropriate?
Then I asked the second Brahmā: “Lord, this celestial brought me here and she said to me that I should instruct both of you in a way that you may both be enlightened. Is that right and appropriate?”
“For you yourself are the Lord of all creatures and the master of the highest wisdom; she is not overcome by desire. How is it that you created her to be your wife; and if that is a fact, how is it that you ignored her and did not consummate the marriage?”
The King’s Sacrifice to the Sacred Fire
Lord, just as till now I have made different oblations to this sacred fire, today I shall offer my own head as oblation.
The king issued the necessary orders and sent the ministers to the battlefield saying that he would soon join them after his customary worship of the sacred fire. He then had his bath and approached the sacred fire for worship.
He prayed: “Lord, I have effortlessly overcome all my enemies so far and ruled this far-flung empire exercising my sovereignty over many islands and continents. I held sway over many peoples, including demons. But now perhaps I have grown old. Therefore, these my enemies have thought it fit to invade my territory. Lord, just as till now I have made different oblations to this sacred fire, today I shall offer my own head as oblation. I pray that out of this fire, four powerful beings may emerge like the four arms of lord Narayana.”
The Absolute Freedom of the Liberated One (Jīvanmukta)
Whether his body is cut into a thousand pieces or he is crowned an emperor, the liberated one is liberated even if he apparently weeps and laughs.
Within himself he is neither elated nor depressed. He experiences neither happiness nor unhappiness, even while receiving all these experiences.
“He is not dead even when he is dead, he does not weep though he weeps, he does not laugh though he laughs—such is a liberated one.”
He is free from attraction or attachment, though he is attracted and attached. He gets angry though he is not angry; he is not deluded though he is deluded.
The Request for a Boon and the Minister’s Counsel to King Sindhu
There is nothing that one who strives without agitation cannot achieve. Yesterday’s evil action is transformed into good action by today’s noble deeds.
“Lord, I understand that this whole universe arises in ignorance. In it I cannot experience the pure and transparent knowledge of the self. Where is the end to this world-appearance and what is beyond this? In order to find the answer to this question, I beg of you to grant me the following boon…”
YOU will say: How can I overcome the effect of such past life?
The MINISTER will say: There is nothing that one who strives without agitation cannot achieve. Yesterday’s evil action is transformed into good action by today’s noble deeds. Therefore, strive to be good and do good now. One strives to attain what one wishes to attain; and surely one shall attain it.
Being thus advised by the minister, the king Sindhu will at once renounce the kingdom and resort to a forest. He will take refuge at the feet of the holy ones. By their very association he will gain the highest wisdom and will be liberated.
The Seamless Interplay of Waking and Dream Consciousness
The diversity of dream-objects is a dream, not diversity. Even so, the diversity that is seen during the waking state in the infinite space is the infinite space (consciousness) and there is no diversity.
This world exists with all its objects as the very meaning of materialisation of the infinite consciousness: hence even the form, its seeing and the thought concerning it are all the same pure consciousness and nothing else. It is the indivisible consciousness that has the appearance of diversity.
State Transitions: The consciousness that exists in the waking state enters the dream state and becomes dream. The dream-consciousness being awake in the dream attains the status of wakefulness in dream.
Perceptual Inversion: The dream state enters the waking state; and the waking state abandons the dream and wakes up. When the waking state enters into the dream state, the dreamer wakes up, as it were.
The dreamer regards the waking state as a dream; to him the consciousness of the dream is the real waking state. Surely, to the dreamer the true waking state is the dream, not the other waking state.
The Ideal Companion: One’s Own Noble Action
Whatever may be one’s station in life, it (one’s own action) is devoted to self-sacrifice, charity, austerity and pilgrimage.
It (one’s own action) brings him every type of delight. In all kinds of situations and conditions, it promotes the health of his body. It reveals to him ‘This is to be done’ and ‘This is not to be done’. It is intent on bringing desirable objects and experiences and warding off undesirable objects and experiences.
It causes the speech to be soft and pleasant and it causes one’s behaviour also to be soft and sweet, helpful, adorable, free from selfish desires or passions and conducive to the supreme attainment of pure awareness. It is devoted to the protection of the good and the community as a whole. It prevents illnesses of the body and the mind. It promotes the happiness of learned men by engaging in healthy discussions with them.
In the case of equals, there is just a semblance of duality. It establishes a healthy relation with the son, wife, brahmanas, servants and relatives by means of the sharing of food and drink. The wise man by his very nature enjoys the company of such a bosom-friend, along with the latter’s consort. That friend is known as one’s own action.
Objective World vs. Turīya (The Transcendental State)
The waking state of consciousness stands in exactly the same relation to the turiya (transcendental) state as the dream state stands in relation to the deep sleep state. To the enlightened person, however, all these states are but one turiya state of consciousness.
The pure consciousness, which is non-dual, eternal and all-pervading, exists and is known as ‘world’. When merely the objectivity of all this is removed, what remains of the world of diversity is the truth. It is that consciousness itself which is manifest as the infinite experiences.
As and when this truth is clearly seen, immediately there is an end to sorrow. If this truth is not seen, then sorrow becomes firmly and solidly established.
“The wicked and the ignorant do not see this truth. In their eyes this saṃsāra is a solid reality and they do not perceive this truth at all.”
There are no forms. There is no existence nor nonexistence, no birth and no death. There is nothing known as reality, nor something which can be called unreal. The supreme which is absolute peace perceives this creation within itself—it is not independent of Brahman the infinite consciousness, so why create the false notion of an independent manifestation? In its unliberated form it has thousands of eyes and other limbs; in its liberated state it is all, peace, tranquility—enough of such descriptions.
The Journey to Gauṛī Āśramam
Though we were born as separate individuals, we were all united in the one consciousness and we all had the same goal which we determined to reach.
En route to Mathura we spent some time in a village known as Rodha and two days in a city known as Salim. On the third day we reached a forest. There the ascetic abandoned the popular route and said to me:
“Let us go to the Gauri Asramam which is near here. There my seven brothers live. We are eight brothers. Though we were born as separate individuals, we were all united in the one consciousness and we all had the same goal which we determined to reach. On account of that, they too are engaged in the performance of penance. I came here along with them and in the beginning I saw this forest in which there was the Gauri Asramam. Come, let us go to the Asramam which purifies one of all sins. The minds and the hearts of even scholars and knowers of the truth are filled with eagerness to visit holy men: surely, we should consider it a great blessing to have the opportunity of visiting this hermitage.”
Why Even Small Residues of Tendency Cause Suffering
As long as the seed of vāsanā (self-limitation, conditioning, or tendency) exists, that state is like deep sleep; it is not perfection. When all vāsanā are destroyed and even the potentiality of the vāsanā does no exist, that state is known as the fourth (beyond waking, dream and deep sleep) and transcendental state. It brings about perfection.
“Vāsanā, fire, debt, disease, enemy, friendship, hate and poison – all these are bothersome even if a little residue is left after their removal.”
On the other hand if all the vāsanā have been completely removed, then one is established in the state of pure being; whether on is alive or not, he is not again afflicted by sorrow.
“If in the course of time you attain the experience of the self, do not store it in your mind as a memory or ego-sense to be revived as desire once again.”
You will not be bound if you have self-knowledge. Experience of the Self should not be converted into a memory or an egoic trophy to fuel future desires.
Equanimity in Daily Life: Do not seek out or engage in sense-experiences intentionally. Experience whatever comes naturally and unsought without resistance or attachment. You will then be in a state of equanimity and purity, free from latent tendencies and past memories.
The State of Turīya (The Liberated State)
“The pure and equanimous state which is devoid of ego-sense and non-ego sense, of the real and the unreal, and which is free, is known as turīya.”
Waking State ──────► Driven by movement of thought
Dream State ──────► Driven by movement of thought
Deep Sleep ──────► Characterized by inertia and ignorance
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TURĪYA STATE ──────► Unbroken Witness Consciousness (Ego-less Equilibrium)
It is the state of the liberated sage—devoid of both ego-sense and non-ego sense, existing beyond the concepts of real and unreal. It is the unbroken witness consciousness. Unlike waking and dreaming, it is free from the restless movement of thought. Unlike deep sleep, it is completely free from inertia and ignorance.
Manifestation: Arises naturally when the ego-sense is abandoned, establishing a state of perfect, unbroken equilibrium.