What Happens When You Realize “I Am Not This”?

The Vision of Creation and the Passage of Time

I saw the different types of birds that dwelt on that tree. I saw the famous swan which is the vehicle for the creator Brahmā. Since you ask these questions concerning me, O sage, I shall duly answer them. Pray listen attentively. The story I am about to narrate is so inspiring that it will destroy the sins of those who relate it and those who listen to it. While the deities were thus besporting and celebrating, their vehicles, too, got themselves intoxicated and began to dance. All the female swans danced along with the crow (Caṇḍa) which was Alambuṣā’s vehicle. While these female swans were thus dancing, there arose in them the desire to mate. One by one, all the swans mated with the crow, as they were all drunk. Soon they became pregnant. Children, have you gone beyond the dragnet known as the world-appearance after having cut the shackles of vāsanā or mental conditioning? Or else, come let us adore the goddess by whose grace you will attain the highest wisdom.

A very long time has passed, O sage, and in course of time my brothers abandoned their physical existence and ascended to the heaven of lord Śiva. Indeed, even long-lived persons who may be holy and saintly and strong are consumed in course of time by Time (or death).

I saw that during one epoch it was lord Viṣṇu (generally considered the protector) who created the universe, during another it was Brahmā who created the universe and in another it was Śiva who became the creator.

The Illusion of the World and the Nature of Death

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.

Death does not wish to kill one who does not have rāga-dveṣa (attraction and aversion) nor false notions and mental habits. Death does not wish to kill one who does not suffer from mental illness, who does not entertain desires and hopes which give rise to anxieties and worry, who is not poisoned by greed, whose body and mind are not burnt by the fire of anger and hate, who is not churned and ground by the mill of lust, who is firmly established in the pure awareness of Brahman the absolute and whose mind is not distracted like a monkey. 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.

There was a man in whom there was the almost impossible combination of wealth and wisdom. He was endowed with all excellences, he was clever in his dealings, he achieved all his ambitions, but he was unaware of the self. He began to engage himself in austerities with the desire of acquiring the celestial jewel known as cintāmaṇi (the philosopher’s stone which is supposed to be capable of fulfilling all the desires of its possessor). His effort was intense. So, within a very short period of time, this jewel appeared before him. Indeed, what is impossible for one who strives his utmost! One who applies himself to the task he has undertaken, unmindful of the effort and the difficulties, reaches the desired end even if he is poor.

Prāṇa, Apāna, and the Light of Consciousness

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. 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 self-knowledge. Hence one should strive to behold the prāṇa and the apāna, whose knowledge bestows liberation.

Whatever a man does with the body is really done by the ego-sense 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. 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.

In childhood, this deluded consciousness is totally dependent on others, in youth it runs after wealth and is filled with worry, in old age it is sunk in sorrow and in death it is led by its own karma. In accordance with that karma, it is born in heaven or in hell, in the netherworld or on earth as human, subhuman or inanimate being. It is the same consciousness that appears as Viṣṇu, Śiva, Brahmā and others. It is the same consciousness that functions as the sun, the moon, the wind, the factors that cause changes in seasons, day and night. It is the same consciousness that is the life-force in seeds and the characteristics of all material substances. This consciousness which is conditioned by self-limitation is afraid of itself! Such is the truth concerning the jīva-consciousness. It is also known as karmātmā (the self that is caught in the wheel of action and reaction). Fire and the moon exist in a mutual causal relationship (in the body). In a way, theirs is the relationship of seed and tree, one giving birth to the other; in a way, it is like light and darkness in which one destroys the other. (One who questions all this, saying “Since there is no desire-motivation, such causality and such activity are illogical”, should be quickly dismissed. For such activity is obvious and is the experience of all.)

Consciousness, when it becomes aware of itself, gains the world. When such objectification is abandoned, there is liberation. Prāṇa is heat (fire), apāna is the cool moon, and the two exist like light and shade in the same body. The light of consciousness and the moon of description together bring about experience. The phenomena called the sun and the moon, which had existed from the beginning of world-creation, also exist in the body.

Worship of Brahman

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. 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.

I shall now declare to you the internal worship of the self which is the greatest among all purifiers and which destroys all darkness completely. This is of the nature of perpetual meditation—whether one is walking or standing, whether one is awake or asleep, in and through all of one’s actions. One should contemplate this supreme Lord who is seated in the heart and who brings about, as it were, all the modifications within oneself. One should worship the ‘bodha-liṅgam’ (the manifest consciousness or self-awareness) which sleeps and wakes up, goes about or stands, touches what is to be touched, abandons what should be abandoned, enjoys and abandons pleasures, engages in varied external activities, lends value to all actions and remains as peace in the vital organs in the body (deha-liṅgam in the text may also refer to the three ‘liṅams’ associated with the psychic centres). This inner intelligence should be worshipped with whatever comes to one unsought. Remaining firmly seated in the stream of life and its experiences after having bathed in self-knowledge, one should worship this inner intelligence with the materials of self-realisation.

At all times, in all forms and their modifications, one should worship the self in and through all that one obtains. One should worship the self after having abandoned the distinction between the desirable and the undesirable, or even while relying on such a distinction (but using them as the materials for the worship). There is a wood-apple fruit which is immeasurably large and which does not decay nor perish though it has existed for countless aeons. It is the source and support of the nectar of immortality and indestructibility. It is the abode of sweetness. Though it is most ancient, it is ever new, like the new moon. It is the very centre or heart of the universe, it is unmoving and it is not shaken even by the forces of cosmic dissolution. This wood-apple fruit, which is immeasurably large, is the original source of this creation.

Inner Body, Conditioning, and Bondage

A notion entertained by consciousness appears as the body. It has a corresponding subtle body (ativāhika, which is also known as puryāṣṭaka) composed of mind, intellect, ego-sense and the five elements. The self is formless, but the puryāṣṭaka roams in this creation in sentient and insentient bodies until it purifies itself, lives as if in deep sleep and attains liberation. The subtle body exists all the time, during dreams and during sleep. It continues to exist in insentient ‘bodies’ (like inanimate objects) as if it were in deep sleep. All these are also experienced in this (human) body. Its deep sleep is inert and insentient, its dream-state is the experience of this creation, its waking state is truly the transcendental (turīya) consciousness; and the realisation of the truth is liberation. The state of liberation-while-living is itself the turīya consciousness. Beyond that is Brahman which is turīyātīta (beyond turīya). In every atom of existence there is naught else than the supreme being; wherever the world is seen, that is but an illusory world-appearance. This illusion, and therefore bondage, is sustained by psychological conditioning. Such conditioning is bondage and its abandonment is freedom. Dense and heavy conditioning is existence as inert objects, middling conditioning as animals and thin conditioning as humans. But enough of perception of division: the whole universe is but the manifestation of the energy of infinite consciousness.

Latent conditioning produces insentient beings; patent conditioning gives rise to gods, humans, etc. In some there is dense conditioning conducive to ignorance; in others there is attenuated conditioning conducive to liberation. Conditioning alone is responsible for the diversity in creatures. The air in the entire space is filled with the prāṇas of the departed ones. Mind exists in those prāṇas. And the world exists within the mind like oil in seeds. Just as the life-force (prāṇa) is wafted in the wind in space, all these worlds are wafted in the mind, like the scent of flowers is wafted by air. These are seen only by the eye of intelligence, not by these physical eyes, O Rāma. These worlds exist everywhere at all times. They are subtler than even space for they are of the nature of the essence of notions. Hence in fact they are not wafted nor moved from one place to another. But to each jīva (which is composed of the prāṇa, mind and notion combined) the notion it entertains of the world of its own creation is real, for that jīva firmly believes in the substantiality of that creation. When the objects on the bank of a fast-flowing river are seen reflected in the water, these objects appear to be agitated, too, though in fact they are not. Even so, these worlds within the jīvas may be said to be in motion or unmoving. But in the self which is infinite consciousness there is no such movement at all, even as when a pot is moved from one place to another, the space that is in it does not move from one place to another. So, this world only appears to be on account of the deluded belief in its existence: in reality it is Brahman only and it is neither created nor destroyed.

But in truth there is nothing large nor minute. Whatever notion arises in the self is experienced as if it were real. The mind arises in the lunar element, and the moon is created by the mind. In the same way, one jīva gives rise to other jīvas. The wise consider jīva to be the essence in the sperm. In it is hidden the bliss of the self which it experiences as if independent of itself. There arises in it its identification with the five elements for no apparent reason. Yet the jīva continues to be jīva, not really limited by these elements; it is inside and outside these elements and their composition known as the body. But veiled by its identification with the elements it does not see its true nature, even as a man born blind does not see his way. Emancipation or mokṣa is the destruction of this ignorance and the realisation of the independence of the jīva from these elements and the ego-sense.

The ignorant fool who is bound to psychological conditioning extols scripturally-enjoined action because he is not spiritually awakened. His senses prey upon their objects. The wise one, however, restrains the senses and remains centred in the self. There is no formless gold nor Brahman totally devoid of manifestation. However, emancipation is the removal of the concept of creation or manifestation. At the conclusion of this cosmic world-cycle there is, during the period of dissolution, one utter darkness covering the entire creation; even so, in the eyes of the wise ones the whole universe is enveloped by the one reality of Brahman. The ocean is one homogeneous unit in spite of diversity and motion within itself; there is but one Brahman which includes all this diversity and motion. There is the world within the ego-sense and ego-sense within this creation; the two are inseparable. The jīva sees this creation within itself, without any cause or motivation. The bracelet is gold; when the bracelet is not seen as bracelet, it ceases and gold alone is. Thus, the seers of truth do not live though living, do not die though dying, do not exist though existing. Their actions are non-volitional functions of the body.Just as poison, when swallowed by one, produces physical ailment without losing its identity as poison, the self becomes the jīva without abandoning its nature as the self or undivided consciousness. Even so, consciousness takes on the nature of unconsciousness or inertia.

Renunciation, Surrender, and Equanimity

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’ (sannyāsa). 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.

Equip yourself with such an attitude, O Rāma, and remain unattached, endowed with the spirit of renunciation and with the realisation that whatever you do or you experience is an offering to the omnipresent being, Brahman. Then you will realise the truth, and that is the end of all doubts. 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.

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 effect arising from a real cause is self-evident at all times everywhere. Where the cause is not real, the effect is surely as unreal as the second moon seen in diplopia. The sprout of saṁsāra has arisen from the seed of ego-sense. Enquire into its cause and tell me now.

Brahman or the supreme self is one without a second, without a cause and without an effect, for it has no reason (motivation or need) to do anything, to create anything. It is therefore not the doer, neither is there any action, instrument nor seed for such activity. Hence it is not the cause for this creation or the Creator. By our satsaṅga (holy company) your karmas (actions and their residual impressions) have been destroyed. Till this very forenoon you were filled with the false notions of ‘I’ and ‘mine’ on account of ignorance. Now that on account of the light of my words the mind has been abandoned from your heart, you have been awakened fully, for ignorance lasts only so long as the mind functions in your heart. Now you are enlightened, liberated. Remain established in the infinite consciousness, freed from sorrow, from striving and from all attachment. You have attained to the state of sattva (the unconditioned mind) on account of your supreme renunciation. The conditioned mind has been totally renounced, of this I am convinced. Your mind has become like pure infinite space. You have reached the state of complete equilibrium which is the state of perfection. This is the total renunciation in which everything is abandoned without residue. Cūḍālā thereupon left her body and entered into the pure mind (sattva) of Śikhidhvaja. She agitated that pure mind and quickly re-entered her own body which she instantly transformed into that of the young ascetic Kumbha. Kumbha began to sing the Sama Vedic hymns gently. Listening to this, the king returned to body-consciousness. He saw Kumbha once again in front of him. He was happy. He said to Kumbha: “Luckily, we have once again arisen in your consciousness, O Lord! And you have come here again merely to shower your blessings on me!”

After spending an hour at that place, the king and Kumbha went into the forest where they roamed freely for eight days. Kumbha suggested that they should go to another forest and the king consented. They observed the normal rules of life and performed appropriate religious rites to propitiate ancestors and the gods. False notions like ‘This is our home’ and ‘This is not’ did not arise in their hearts. Sometimes they were clad in gorgeous robes, at others in rags. Sometimes they were anointed with sandal-paste, at others with ashes. After a few days, the king also shone with the same radiance as Kumbha. The two friends exchanged flowers. Kumbha left. Soon Cūḍālā abandoned the disguise, went to the palace and discharged the royal duties. She returned to where Śikhidhvaja was, again in the disguise of Kumbha. Noticing a change in Kumbha’s facial expression, the king asked:“O son of the gods, why do you look so unhappy? Holy ones do not allow any external influence to disturb their equilibrium.”

By this time, the night-time had arrived. Kumbha became transformed into a lovely woman. ‘He’ said to the king: “O dear friend, now I am a woman. My name is Madanikā. I salute you. I am your wife.”

Sikhidhvaja then adorned Madanikā with garlands, flowers and jewels. Admiring her beauty, the king said:” O Madanikā, you are radiant like goddess Lakṣmī. May we be blessed to live together like the sun and the shadow, Lakṣmī and Nārāyaṇa, Śiva and Pārvatī. May we be blessed with all auspiciousness.”

Having thus decided, Cūḍālā created by her magic powers the illusion in which Śikhidhvaja saw the chief of the gods (Indra) accompanied by the celestials standing right in front of him. Unruffled by their sudden appearance, the king offered them due worship. Then he asked Indra: “Pray, tell me: what have I done to deserve this, that you have taken all this trouble to come here today?”

“Lord, we are now established in the state of liberated ones. To us both desire and its opposite are the same. Of what use is the discipline of prāṇa or the practice of infinite consciousness? Hence, we should be what we are in the beginning, in the middle and in the end and abandon the one thing that remains after this. We are the king and the queen in the beginning, in the middle and in the end. The one thing to be abandoned is delusion! Hence, let us return to the kingdom and provide it with a wise ruler.”

The Path of Wisdom and Final Awakening

But if one realises that the light rays are non-different from the sun, his understanding is said to be unmodified (nirvikalpa). If one realises that the waves are non-different from the ocean, his understanding is said to be unmodified (nirvikalpa). If one realises that the bracelet is non-different from gold, his understanding is said to be unmodified (nirvikalpa). Give up all your doubts. Resort to moral courage. Be a supreme doer of actions, supreme enjoyer of delight and supreme renouncer of all! Such a triple discipline was taught in days of yore by lord Śiva to Bhṛṅgiśa by which the latter attained total freedom. Bhṛṅgiśa was a man of ordinary or traditional self-knowledge. He approached lord Śiva and asked: “Lord, I am deluded by this world-appearance. Pray, tell me the attitude equipped with which I shall be freed from this delusion.”

One should gain this understanding through study of scriptures and company of holy ones. This is the first step. Reflection or enquiry is the second. Non-attachment or psychological freedom is the third. Only as long as one believes in objective existence does desire arise! This alone is saṁsāra: the feeling ‘This is’. Its cessation is liberation (mokṣa). This is the essence of jñāna or wisdom. Recognition of ‘objects’ gives rise to desire. Non-recognition of objects ends desire. When desire ends, the jīva drops its self-limitation. The great man therefore abandons all thoughts concerning what has been experienced and what has not been experienced. I declare with uplifted arms that the thought-free, notionless state is the best. It is infinitely superior to the sovereignty of the world. Non-thinking is known as yoga. Remaining in that state, perform appropriate actions or do nothing! As long as thoughts of ‘I’ and ‘mine’ persist, sorrow does not cease. When such thoughts cease, sorrow ceases. Knowing this, do as you please.

As and when the perception of an object arises within you, meet it with the understanding ‘I am not this’. Such ignorant perception will immediately cease. In fact, there is nothing to be known in all this: there is need only to get rid of confusion or deluded understanding. If this delusion is not repeatedly revived, it ceases to be. Whatever notion arises in you, even as movement arises in wind, realise that ‘I am not this’ and thus deprive it of support. There are sages of self-knowledge who live and function in this world as if they were sculptured images. Their organs of action function here, though the world does not produce the least disturbance in their consciousness. He who lives like space here (which is unaffected by the activity that goes on within it) is freed of all bondage and is liberated. He who does not abandon his confirmed conviction in the existence of diversity is not abandoned by sorrow. He who is happy with whatever dress is put on him, with whatever food he is fed and with whatever resting place is offered to him shines like an emperor. Though he appears to live a conditioned life, he is really unconditioned for inwardly he is free and void. Though appearing to be active, he does not strive but functions like one in deep sleep. There is really no difference between the ignorant and the wise (the knower of the truth) except that the latter is free from the conditioned mind. What appears as the world to the conditioned mind is seen by the unconditioned as Brahman.

As he was thus about to enter the next village, I said to him: Welcome, O wanderer, who has not found the right path! You cannot find eternal satisfaction in this place inhabited by the ignorant any more that you can quench your thirst by drinking salty water, which will only worsen your thirst. The ignorant wander aimlessly and take to the wrong paths. They do not engage themselves in self-enquiry nor do they disengage themselves from wicked action. They function like machines here. It is better to be a snake in a dark cave; it is better to be a worm in a rock; it is better to be a lame deer in a desert (mirage) than to remain in the company of ignorant people. Their company gives rise to momentary pleasure but is destructive of self. It is poisonous.

I replied to him: “O pilgrim, I am Vasiṣṭha. Do not fear. You have indeed reached the door to emancipation. You have sought the company of Man (who is characterised by self-enquiry) and therefore you have almost reached the other shore of this world-appearance. Hence, in your mind dispassion has arisen and there is peace. When the veils that hide the truth are removed, the truth shines by itself. Pray, tell me what you wish to know. How do you propose to destroy this world-illusion?”

Since my heart is thus tainted with sinful tendencies and restlessness, the wise ones, seeing that I am only interested in sense-gratification, take no notice of me. In spite of all this, my mind still pursues its destructive course since it has not been overcome by death. The darkness of my ignorance in which the ego-sense thrives has not yet been dispelled by the moonlight of the study of scriptures and company of enlightened beings. The elephant of ignorance in me has not yet met with the lion of knowledge. The grass of my karma has not encountered the fire of its destruction. The sun of self-enquiry has not risen in me to dispel the darkness of mental conditioning.

The Unshakable Awareness

No one, from the Creator down to the smallest insect, can attain supreme peace unless he acquires perfect control of the mind. By the mere investigation of the nature of bondage, it ceases to bind, even as the obstacles on the path do not hinder one who examines them carefully. Ghosts do not haunt one who is careful and who is awake. If you close your eyes the vision of the external world is blotted out: if you remove the notion of the world from your consciousness, pure consciousness alone exists. This pure consciousness alone exists even now; the world is an unreal appearance brought about by just a little agitation in it. It is the creation of the cosmic mind, as it were. This cosmic mind merely entertains the notion of such a creation for it does not have the material substances needed for material creation! The world is a painting on the Brahman-canvas without colours and without instruments. How then can it be said that this world has really been created—by whom, how, when and where?!

Abandon all notion of division. Rest in self-knowledge with your awareness extending just a little outside. Thus, you are utterly at rest as if in deep sleep within yourself, whether you are active externally or not so active, whether you hold on to something or abandon something. You will then be totally free from all disharmony since you realise the non-distinction between the waking and the deep sleep states. Thus, by the practice of self-awareness which is beginningless and endless, you will gradually reach that supreme state of consciousness in which there is no duality and which is beyond all materiality. In it there is neither unity nor diversity but supreme peace.

Freedom from Duality and the Dissolution of Ego

The ‘object’ arises in the ‘subject’ but has no independent existence. Hence, even ‘the conditioned state or being’ is but a notion: it is not real. Therefore, it vanishes when enquired into. It is best to reject the notion and stop it from arising again by never thinking of it again. There is neither the subject (seer) nor an experiencer, neither the real nor the unreal. There is the supreme peace alone. One who is established in this peace is free from likes and dislikes though engaged in activity. Or he may not engage himself in activity. When the mind is freed of all notions that limit the unconditioned consciousness, how does the sage act in a dualistic way? Free from love, hate and fear, he exists as the immutable self firmly established in the supreme peace.

With the help of my instructions if you realise that the ‘I’ does not exist, then your understanding is firm and unshakable. The world and the ‘I’ exist only as notions, not as fact nor as reality. They cease to be when one enquires “Who am I?” and “How has this world arisen?” The realisation of the non-existence of the ‘I’ is nirvāṇa or liberation. The light of this realisation dispels the darkness of ignorance. Therefore, one should enquire till the end of one’s life:

“Who am I?”, “How did this world arise?”, “What is jīva or the individual personality?” and “What is life?” as instructed by the knowers of the truth.

When you betake yourself to the company of the knowers of truth, the light of their self-knowledge dispels the darkness of ignorance and its retinue, including the ego-sense. Hence, keep their company.

The abandonment of ego-sense is the cessation of ignorance; this and nothing else is liberation. Whether this world exists or does not exist, its apprehension or recognition by the mind leads to sorrow; its non-recognition is bliss. For all embodied beings there are two forms of disease: the first relates to this world and the second relates to the other world. For illnesses which are related to life in this world, ignorant people try to find a remedy before their lives come to an end. But there are no such remedies for the problems connected with the life beyond. One cannot hope to remedy them in the other world, for such remedies do not exist in the other world. If one is unable to find a remedy for the dreadful disease known as ignorance here in this world, one can surely not find a remedy after leaving this world. Therefore, do not waste your time in trying to find futile remedies for the problems connected with your life in this world. By self-knowledge rid yourself of the problems connected with the life hereafter. There is no time to lose, for life is ebbing away all the time.

This is the essence of the scriptural teachings.

The Dissolution of the Ego-Sense

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.

All the substances or material creatures arise in it; they shine in it and they are absorbed into it. The whole world is a painting and this consciousness itself is the pure and colourless paint with which the world has been painted. The objects seem to be subject to creation and destruction, but consciousness is eternal and unconditioned. Though thousands of worlds appear to arise in this consciousness, it remains at peace, for in it there is no intention to create, even as a mirror remains unaffected by the many reflections seen in it. This infinite consciousness is the unintentional and non-volitional (non) cause of the appearance of the world now and of the world to come.

That is known as the supreme state in which no desire arises. The sage who is free from desire functions here as if he were made of wood. He experiences pure void within and pure void without; to him the world is like an empty reed. He who is not enamoured of this world and whose heart delights in the cosmic being alone, is at peace and he has overcome this ocean of saṁsāra. Having overcome desire and abandoned latent tendencies or mental conditioning, speak what is to be spoken, touch what is to be touched, taste diverse flavours, see diverse scenes, and smell diverse scents.

When the distinction between the seer, sight and the scene is also seen to be non-existent, the ego-sense, etc., are merged in the self or consciousness. In nirvāṇa or liberation there is no seer, nor sight nor scene; when the latter exist there is no nirvāṇa. The illusory appearance of objects is of no practical use: a shell that looks like silver has no cash-value. When you affirm the reality of the illusory appearance, you invite unhappiness; when its unreality is realised there is great happiness.

The End of Attraction and Aversion

Once the truth is realised, then desire is Brahman and nothing else. But, O Rāma, as and when self-knowledge or the knowledge of the truth arises, at that very moment desire ceases, even as darkness vanishes at the very moment the sun rises. When the sun of self-knowledge arises, the sense of duality ceases along with vāsanā or mental conditioning. How can desire exist in that state? In the man of self-knowledge there is neither an aversion to objects, nor attraction nor desire for them; the absence of taste for them is natural.

The ego-sense seems to arise only in the absence of such investigation into the nature of truth; when one enquires into it, the ego-sense ceases and there is pure, infinite consciousness. 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 self-knowledge. Since there are no other motivations, let the scriptures guide your conduct.

The notion of the reality of the objects of this world arises only in ignorance. If it is realised that the objects are unreal, how does desire for them arise? Even ‘creation’ and ‘liberation’ are words without meaning. But this world is consciousness; if that were not so, neither ‘I’ nor ‘that‘ could be comprehended.

O Rāma, that is called the self (svarupam) which knows external forms and internal psychological states. When the not­-self is weakened and self­-nature expands, in the light that then arises the world is realised as a mere experience. When one is fully established in the self, then this world­-appearance ceases like a dream during deep sleep.

As surely as it is a certainty that where there is sunlight there is illumination, where there is experience of the essencelessness of the worldly objects, there occurs spiritual awakening. The only reality here is that the supreme essence of cosmic consciousness dances in every atom of existence. Who can measure the immeasurable or count the infinite? This delightful cosmic dance that you see in front of you, O Rāma, is but the play of the infinite consciousness. The sleeping person when he is not in deep sleep becomes the field for the play of dreams; in the same manner, the self when it is not in self-knowledge appears to become the seed for this world-appearance. Contemplate the self and live in the waking state as if fast asleep, free from psychological distress.

How Consciousness Appears as All

The world-appearance arises in ignorance and wisdom puts an end to it. But all this is meaningless to the reality itself, which neither arises nor ceases. That reality is the indivisible, infinite consciousness, apart from which nothing is. That seems to undergo polarisation within itself, thus becoming aware of itself as its own object; this seems to create a division and partial knowledge which is ignorance. Such awareness is inherent in consciousness but it is non-different from consciousness.

Remain as the pure consciousness. Drink the essence of self-knowledge. Rest free from all doubts in the garden of nirvāṇa or liberation. Why do you, O men, roam this forest of saṁsāra which is devoid of any essence? O deluded people, do not run after this mirage known as hope and desire for happiness in this world. Pleasures are pain in disguise. Why do you not see that they are the sources of your own destruction? Do not be deluded by this illusory world-appearance. Behold this delusion and enquire into it. You will then rest in your own self which is beginningless and endless.

O Rāma, do not get involved in notions of matter and mind for they are false. Rest in your own self. It is consciousness alone which assumes these apparent ‘forms’, like the seed which grows into the diverse parts of the tree. When these objects are dropped, what remains (consciousness) is indescribable, for to call it ‘consciousness’ is to limit it.

Right from the roots, the entire tree with all its branches, leaves, flowers and fruits is but one and the same tree. In the same way, consciousness alone is all, indivisible and unmodified. Just as ghee by its very nature hardens like stone (when frozen), consciousness ‘freezes’ into matter. However, in the infinite and unmodified or unconditioned consciousness such modification is impossible: the conditioning is but a false notion. Therefore, it melts away in the heart of one who has self-knowledge and who is free from delusion and ego-sense.

Unswayed by the Monkeys of Attraction and Aversion

When this seed begins to sprout, it should be further protected by peace and contentment. At the same time, one should guard it against the birds of desire, attachment to family, pride, greed, etc., with the help of contentment. With the broom of rājasic restlessness the dirt of rājasic restlessness must be swept away, whereas the darkness of tāmasic ignorance must be driven away by the light of right understanding.

If it is thus protected, this seed grows into wisdom. With it the entire field of the mind shines beautifully. The sprout grows two leaves. One is known as study of scriptures and the other is satsaṅga (company of the men of wisdom). Soon it will grow the bark known as contentment with the sap known as dispassion or uncolouredness of mind. Fed by the rain of scriptural wisdom, it will soon grow into a tree. Then it is not easily swayed even if it is shaken by the monkeys known as rāga-dveṣa (attraction and aversion). Then there arise in it the branches known as pure knowledge which reach out far and wide. Clarity of vision, truthfulness, courage, unclouded understanding, equanimity, peace, friendliness, compassion, fame, etc., are its other branches that arise when one is fully established in dhyāna or meditation.

A deer known as the mind, which had been wandering in the wilderness of countless concepts, notions and prejudices and which somehow finds the right path, takes shelter under this tree. This deer is pursued by its many enemies who covet its hide or covering. It hides itself in thorny bushes known as the body in an attempt to save itself. All this effort wears out its energies. Running hither and thither in the forest of saṁsāra, harassed by the winds known as vāsanā or latent tendencies and scorched by the heat of ego-sense, the deer is afflicted by interminable distress.

The Exalted Blessings of Satsaṅga

At some stage, this deer turns away from all this and seeks the refuge of some tree already described (the tree of meditation) and there it shines brightly. Supreme peace or bliss is not attained in any other condition but the unconditioned state of consciousness, and this is attained only in the shade of the tree known as samādhi or meditation.

Day by day, its cravings decrease. It does not avoid what it gets unsought nor does it long for what it does not obtain effortlessly. It surrounds itself with the knowledge of the scriptures that deal with the infinite consciousness or the unconditioned being. It perceives inwardly its own past states of ignorance and laughs. It sees its own wife and children, etc., and laughs at them, as if they were either relatives in a previous life-span or people seen in a dream. All the activities that are based on attachment and aversion, fear and vanity, pride and delusion, appear to it as if they were all play-acting. Looking at the momentary experiences in this world, it laughs derisively, knowing that they are like the experiences of a madman.

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. When all divisions are given up, the indivisible alone remains. It is pure, one, beginningless and endless. This is known as Brahman. 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.

The blessings that flow from the company of holy men are incomparable to any other blessings. The holy man’s nature is cool and peaceful; his behaviour and actions are pure. Therefore his company promotes peace and goodness in everyone who seeks it. In his company one loses fear. Sinfulness comes to an end and one grows in purity. Even the love and affection that the gods and the angels possess are nothing compared to the limitless love that flows from the holy ones.

The wise person gradually abandons all selfish actions and the endeavour to gain wealth or pleasure. He gives everything away in self-sacrificing charity. O Rāma, remember that even hell is not so painful as the suffering caused by selfish activity. Wealth is the source of endless misfortune, prosperity is perpetual adversity, enjoyment of pleasure is enduring disease. All these are misunderstood by the perverse intellect. In this world contentment alone is the best medicine, the best tonic and the greatest good fortune. The contented heart is ready for enlightenment. First turn away from worldliness, then resort to satsaṅga, enquire into the truth of the scriptures and cultivate disinterestedness in pleasure and you will attain the supreme truth.

The Truth Behind World-Appearance

When this viveka or wisdom is strengthened and confirmed and when the impurity of conditioning is washed away, the holy one shines with an extraordinary radiance. Both the inner notion and the external perception of the world cease for him. But, then, since all these were born of ignorance which is false, nothing real ceases to be. The world is but an appearance: it is neither not-self nor is it gross and physical. These elements are unreal; neither the world nor the void is real. Brahman alone is spread out and Brahman alone shines.

O Rāma, no one creates these bodies at any time and no one deludes beings at any time. Consciousness is beginningless and eternal, and it alone exists as all these diverse beings. Nothing is outside of this consciousness, though it appears to be outside itself. This appearance, too, arises within itself, like a sprout from a seed. This universe exists within consciousness even as a figure exists in a marble slab. This consciousness which is everywhere, within and without, spreads itself as the world-appearance on account of time and space, just like the fragrance of a flower spreads out. ‘This’ itself is ‘the other world’. Let there be an end to the mental conditioning that creates the other world. When the notion of the other world has been given up, from where do such notions arise?

The perception of diversity is due to the division that arises in the self. However, the self is devoid of any division into time, space, etc. The self is the very substratum and undivided reality of time, space, etc., just as the ocean is of the waves. Hence, the reality is undivided and divided, it is and it is not. The uncut images in the marble may be carved out of it, but it is not possible to carve the world out of the infinite consciousness. Hence, divided though undivided, it merely appears to be different from the totality though really non-different from it.

The pure void exists everywhere in every way at all times in this space which is consciousness. Consciousness exists here and there in the form of this creation; there is no unconsciousness anywhere because all this is but pure consciousness. Even that which appears to be matter is but pure consciousness. In this connection, O Rāma, listen to the following story of the rock which was seen by myself.

Whether one is a knower of the truth or ignorant of it, without the ego-sense the body cannot exist. That which needs to be sustained cannot exist without a support. But there is a vital difference which I shall presently explain to you.

Countless Vasiṣṭhas and Countless Rāmas

In the story of the rock that I am going to narrate to you, O Rāma, it will become clear that within the core of the rock there are thousands of creations. In this physical space, too, there are similarly countless creations. In fact, in every element or object there are countless creatures. But all these exist only in the indivisible infinite consciousness, not as real substances or entities. Nothing has ever been created right from the beginning. Brahman alone exists in Brahman, as space, air, fire, water, earth, mountains, etc. There is no division or duality between Brahman and creation, which are but two words without meaning. Even unity and duality are words without meaning. That which creates these notions of unity and diversity also creates the notions of Brahman and creation. When these notions have ceased, there is great inner peace even if one is engaged in activity. Everything is nirvāṇa. The perceived creation is like the sky (void though appearing to have a form and colour). Behold the entire universe composed of you, I, mountains, gods and demons, etc., as you would behold the creations and the happenings of a dream.

Rāma, when you look at something and say, “It is such and such”, consciousness shines there as such and such, though in truth this consciousness alone exists as itself and no such name and form exist there. This space or plane of consciousness alone exists everywhere at all times: and that itself is called the world. The perception of objects here (which we call knowledge of that object) is the only ignorance or delusion. I saw that the truth, on the other hand, is that the space or plane of consciousness alone exists. With the enlightened intelligence I also experienced the final truth concerning all this—that all this is pure, indivisible, infinite consciousness. On account of the persistence of the perception of diversity, I saw in it countless Vasiṣṭhas, countless ages and world-cycles and many ages in which Rāma flourished. When there is perception of diversity all these arise; when there is realisation of the truth, all these are seen to be pure, indivisible, infinite consciousness. In the infinite, of course, there are no name and no form which could be referred to as ‘This is the world or creation’. Brahman alone exists as Brahman.

O Rāma, Brahman is an indescribable mass of cosmic consciousness. The creation is its very heart and therefore non-different from it. It is apprehended as creation mysteriously, not really. Since its creation is false, how can one say that it perishes at some time? Even cosmic dissolution, etc., are the limbs of Brahman, as it were. Such divisions appear only in ignorance. Therefore, nothing perishes at any time, nor does anything come into being. The supreme truth or consciousness is indestructible by weapons, fire, wind and water. It is not realised by those who do not know it. The universe which is the heart of this truth is also like it; it is neither born nor does it die. Experience of its existence and non-existence arises with the rising and cessation of the appropriate notion. Hence, even words like ‘world-cycle’, ‘cosmic dissolution’, etc., are sound without substance. The ghost exists or disappears only in the heart of one who thinks of it. What are seen as birth, death, pain, pleasure, form and formlessness are all limbs of the one being. There is no division among them, even as there is no division in the several parts of the one tree. When this truth is not realised, then the apparent divisions seem to arise. In Brahman there is neither knowledge nor ignorance; it is beyond bondage and liberation. Realising this is liberation.

Why the World-appearance is Pure Consciousness

In answer to the question concerning the lady, VASIṢṬHA said:

“She, too, with a space-body stood with me in space. I had not noticed her earlier. Though she was endowed with a space-body, she was able to communicate with me (who also had a space-body) in a cultured voice and diction, even as in dream one speaks to another. What sort of certainty do you have to assert the existence of the inner senses? We had bodies similar to them. This is true in my case, yours, hers and everything else. Just as one experiences warfare in one’s dream, even so do people experience the events in this creation as if they were real. However, all illustrations are inadequate and truth is beyond words. If one were to ask, “How do you see a dream?” the answer would be “As you see it”. All this is for your understanding: The truth is that this universe as well as all that you see in your dream is but Brahman.”

There is no essential difference between the dream state and this visible creation. That experience which immediately precedes the waking state is known as a dream; that experience or knowledge which arose in the beginning of this world­creation is known as the waking state. The experience of the existence of the world is a long dream, or it is a void. It is pure consciousness because it is established in the eternal reality. You are the witness or observer of your own dream; even so the infinite consciousness is the observer of the long dream known as creation. Even as the observer and the observed are consciousness, that which is in the middle (the observation) is also pure, indivisible and unmodified Brahman. Such being the case, how can this creation be considered solid and substantial or material? Even the dream of embodied (with form) beings like you is immaterial. How can the long dream of infinite consciousness which has no form come to have form? Hence, it is uncreated Brahman alone. 

Of course, they who are endowed with a space­body cannot utter audible sounds. If that were possible then your dream conversation could be heard by another sleeping near you. Hence, it is clear that what is seen in a dream is an illusion based on pure consciousness alone. What is experienced as the waking life is not entirely different rom the dream­experience. It is but the play of consciousness: the notions that arise in that consciousness appear to be clothed in solid reality. 

The seeds of past experience are in consciousness and they sprout new experiences which are sometimes identical with past experience and sometimes somewhat different. The worlds that thus sprout from those seeds are not aware of one another. During the course of life in this dream­world the demons are killed by the gods, and the demons remain in their dream­state. Not being enlightened, they do not attain liberation. Not being insentient, they do not become insentient but retain awareness. Hence they live in a space­body in a dream­world. Even so is the case with the so­called human beings. Their world, their life and their mentality are like ours, and vice versa. We exist as their dream­objects. Their own compatriots, though they are also dream­objects, are considered to be real entities by them. In the same way, the objects that appear in every one of my dreams are real to me. 

Because of the very nature of the infinite consciousness, these dream-creations seem to exist in the waking state, too. Their reality is of course the sole reality, Brahman. Everything exists everywhere at all times as the indivisible, pure consciousness, but it is nothing and nothing is therefore destroyed.

O sage, in this vast universe, in a corner, you have the world in which you live. Beyond the boundaries of this universe are mountains known as the Lokālokā mountains. That region has every form of climatic and elemental permutation and combination. (The description in the text is elaborate and interesting. S.V.) Somewhere in it only humans dwell, elsewhere gods dwell; in it there are goblins as also very long-lived beings. In it there are self-luminous places and others of utter darkness, fertile fields and deserts, densely populated places and uninhabited areas.

If the husband and wife are fond of each other, then neither diseases of the body nor those of the mind, neither calamities nor natural disasters, afflict their minds. To the woman whose husband is of bad character or who does not have a husband, the pleasure-gardens of the world are burning sands. A woman can abandon everything in this world for one reason or another, but she cannot abandon her husband.

The Power of Persistent Self-Effort and Fearlessness

Truly, O sage, I now see that what I previously saw in the rock is only in me. It was by repeatedly projecting that vision and experiencing it in the rock that I thought that I saw it: now that I do not so experience it, that vision has gone. In you the sense of duality had ceased long ago: hence you do not entertain any false notions. Even in me the long-standing illusion has been dispelled by right perception: hence I do not see that world clearly. The present realisation of the truth being stronger than the past illusory notion, the latter has become dim.

Persistent and repeated effort is known as abhyāsa. That alone is the greatest goal of man (puruṣārtha) and there is no other path. Only by persistent and determined self-effort and by one’s own direct experience is perfection attained, not by any other means. It is by such abhyāsa that one becomes utterly fearless everywhere in the world.

Man is but the dream-object of another and he dreams he is a man. However, in course of time even they who are victims of the worst form of delusion are enlightened (awakened) because there is nothing but the truth or Brahman, which is eternal. Therefore that which I saw earlier as the rock I knew not to be a mass of pure consciousness. There is no such thing as earth or matter.

Hence, the existence of the objective universe said to have been proved by these methods (direct sense-experience, inference and scientific investigation) is false and unreal. Duality or diversity is false: the one mass of infinite consciousness alone is real. Just as an object seen in a dream is unreal, even so what was seen by us as a rock is unreal; it is pure consciousness only. Realise that this mountain, this space, the world and the ‘I’ are all but the one infinite, indivisible consciousness.

O sage, listen and I shall tell you everything as it happened. There is only one consciousness which is unborn and tranquil. There arose in it a little movement, a vibration or a ripple. That is what I am. I am of the essential nature of pure space. I rest in the self. Since I arose without any cause or material, I am known as self-born. I have not been created at all and I do not see anything. What is seen here as you and I and what is seen as this dialogue between us are like two waves colliding in the ocean and making a sound. We are like the waves of the ocean, non-different from the ocean of infinite consciousness. We are but notions that spontaneously arise in it. This lady here who appears to be different from it has never been created, has not come into being at all: she is but a notion, a concept, a thought-wave or psychological conditioning. This body is made of the trace of ego-sense which existed in me and she is but the presiding deity, as it were, of this ego-sense. She is, therefore, neither my wife nor was she created as one.

The cities had been burnt down by the fire that showered from the skies. Seasons became erratic. Thus had the earth-element reached its destruction, since the Creator had merged himself in the infinite consciousness.

Flames of fire spread out in all directions, consuming all that existed in space. Since the Creator had withdrawn his realisation of the world, the demons and others were let loose to cause what havoc they pleased. All the gods (Indra, etc., who are the deities presiding over the natural elements to maintain order among them) had been overpowered by the demons. There was chaos. Even the abodes of Śiva, etc., were shaken and disturbed. The stars and planets collided with one another and there was cosmic destruction.

Vāsanā or psychological conditioning, which gives rise to notions and to experiences of all kinds, ceases to be when the vision of the truth or the understanding of the reality arises. There is egolessness and therefore oneness: liberation or mokṣa alone remains after that.

That is the seed of all bodies in the three worlds. It is the seed of even the saṁsāra (world-illusion) which bars the gate to liberation. It is the cause of all and it is the leader of time and action. It is the first person who, though unborn, seems to be born. It does not have a material or physical body; hence it cannot be caught. Just as a man who is fighting with a lion in a dream shouts in that dream, though in truth he is silent and asleep, the infinite consciousness which entertains all these notions is at peace and silent within itself. The universe which extends to millions of miles in all directions exists in the minutest subatomic particle and the three worlds exist within one strand of hair (in comparison to the infinite consciousness).

Living beings were everywhere being scorched by the heat. Even the aquatic creatures were not exempt. The destruction was colossal and complete. Mountains fell on burning cities, grinding them into a paste. At that time people were weeping and wailing aloud. Others (yogīs) who were able to make their life-force depart through the crown of their head, attained immortality. The earth was scorched by the fire that arose from above and below.

The Dissolution of Vāsanās and the Attainment of Nirvāṇa

Only two objects remained unaffected: space being all-pervading could not be destroyed and gold being pure could not be destroyed. Hence, I believe that only sattva (purity) is good and desirable, not rajas (activity or impurity) and tamas (inertia, stupidity).

After consuming the worlds the fires had become pure sparks and shone with an extraordinary radiance. When the cloud of dissolution descended it appeared to be made of the most brilliant lightning. The waters of the seven oceans equalled only a very small part of a corner of that cloud. It appeared as though these very oceans had risen into the sky. The twelve suns were whirlpools in that cloud and the aquatic creatures were the lightning flashes that moved in it.

The waters of this extraordinary and supernatural rain mixed with the fires that were still burning. The two could not defeat or conquer each other, and hence they were ill-matched enemies (because their equal prowess made the conflict interminable and inconclusive). They were of great strength and power. Therefore, their collision was extremely fearsome to witness.

I then realised that all these gods, etc., were also pure void. Without leaving that place they had vanished from sight. I realised that they too had attained nirvāṇa after having abandoned name and form, like Brahmā the creator. When the vāsanā or self-limiting conditioning had ceased in them they had become invisible. This body is but pure void, it seems to exist on account of the vāsanā or mental conditioning. When the latter ceases, the body ceases to be seen or experienced, just as the dream-object is not experienced on waking up. Even so neither the subtle (ativāhika) body nor the gross (adhibhautika) body is seen even in the waking state when the mental conditioning ceases. The example of the dream-state is given here because that is something everybody experiences. He who rejects his own experience is fit to be shunned from a great distance; who can wake up a man who pretends to sleep?

The Motion That Is Not Motion

In the body of Kālarātri were found night and day, creation and dissolution, purity and impurity. Though all the gods, etc., were tumbled by her dance, they were apparently steady because of the steadiness of the infinite consciousness. In her consciousness there was natural knowledge. By her dance she created and dissolved the universes moment after moment, just as a small boy shifts his attention from moment to moment. Now she is near, now she is far, now she is infinitesimal and now she is cosmic. Such is the manifestation of her cosmic creative power. She dances, holding the horns of the buffalo which is the vehicle of the god of death, to the accompaniment of sounds like ‘dimbam dimbam paca paca jhamya’. She wears a garland of skulls and on her head is a peacock feather. She bows to Rudra, the god of dissolution. May he protect you.

Since she and Śiva have space as their real form, their bodies have a blue colour. Space is their flesh, bones, everything. They exist in space as space. Her dance with different gestures, etc., symbolises the creation, decay and death of all beings. She is conceived of as having limbs because she creates the worlds by the movement of her energy. This kālī invests all things with their characteristics by the power inherent in her own limbs, as it were. But one cannot by any means apprehend her limbs nor can her real nature be described. Just as a motion within space is experienced by us as air, even so the dynamic energy of consciousness is experienced by the action or motion that takes place in that consciousness. However, motion or action cannot be regarded as the quality of consciousness because it has no qualities nor characteristics: consciousness is pure and utterly tranquil, beyond all description. The notion of motion in consciousness is ignorance.

O Rāma, all these are indeed real, for they have all been brought about by the operation of this dynamic energy of consciousness, and they are all experienced by consciousness. Just as the mirror reflects a real object that exists outside, this consciousness reflects within itself that which is within itself—hence, it is real. Even the imaginary city or the illusory appearance of the city arises only in consciousness, whether the appearance arises because of persistent contemplation or because of the purity of consciousness. This creation is real whether it is regarded as a reflection or a dream­-object or a fancy, because it is based on the truth which is the self—this is my opinion. If you object: ”But these fanciful creations are of no practical use to me,” consider of what use are they who have gone to a distant country. They are of use to the inhabitants of the village to which they have gone. Even so with everything.

All these are indeed real, for they have all been brought about by the operation of this dynamic energy of consciousness, and they are all experienced by consciousness. Just as the mirror reflects a real object that exists outside, this consciousness reflects within itself that which is within itself—hence, it is real. Even the imaginary city or the illusory appearance of the city arises only in consciousness, whether the appearance arises because of persistent contemplation or because of the purity of consciousness. This creation is real whether it is regarded as a reflection or a dream­object or a fancy, because it is based on the truth which is the self—this is my opinion. If you object: ”But these fanciful creations are of no practical use to me,” consider of what use are they who have gone to a distant country. They are of use to the inhabitants of the village to which they have gone. Even so with everything. 

RĀMA asked again: “But, then, how was it possible for that sage to see you?”

I have narrated the story of the rock which enables you to realise the truth quite clearly. Nothing exists anywhere at any time; Brahman alone exists as a mass of Brahman without any division whatsoever. Brahman is a mass of consciousness. It does not undergo any change. The cosmic being is but a dream-object in that consciousness, whether that being is subtle or gross. Hence, there is neither a Brahmā the creator nor the creation, nothing but the indivisible consciousness. The diversity perceived in a dream does not create a diversity in the dreamer; even so the notion of a creation does not create a division in consciousness. Consciousness alone is, no creation; the dream-mountain is the dreamer not a mountain. The infinite consciousness (cidākāśa) is I, it is the three worlds, it is the puruṣa (cosmic being) and it is you.

Hence, one should abandon all other activity and be devoted to the saintly ones. There is no obstacle to this. This alone is capable of bestowing on one the best of both the worlds. One should never be far away from the saints, for by their very proximity the saints promote goodness everywhere.

Partial Awakening an Pure Consciousness

Even the materialists (they who believe in the reality of the physical world) allude to this consciousness only because they do not deny the self, the intelligence or consciousness that makes them think and say what they say. This consciousness is called Brahman by some, jñānam (self-knowledge), śūnya (void), the power of delusion, puruṣa (the self), cidākāśa (space or plane of consciousness), Śiva, self (ātman), etc., by others. All these descriptions are consciousness because it is consciousness alone that considers itself thus (i.e., the intelligence in each one of these people who holds a different view).

The survivors in the enemy army hid themselves in the mountain known as Sahyādri and rested for a period of seven days. Their wounds were attended to by the celestials (vidhyādhara-women) who were from the territory known as Gandhāra. The warriors from Hūṇa, Cīna and Kirāta had suffered dreadful disfigurement from the missiles of the king Vipaścit. Even the trees were frightened of the king’s power and stood still for a very long time even after the war.

O space! During the day you are bright. At dawn and dusk you are crimson. At night you are dark. You are devoid of materiality. You do not hold or bear the burden of any substance. Hence you are regarded as māyā. No one, not even the learned and the wise, can truly understand you and your function. O space, he who owns nothing achieves everything. You are pure void within yourself and yet you cause everything to grow and to be exalted.

O king, behold that young couple talking to each other and refreshing themselves over there. The young man, smitten with love for his beloved, met her just now after a very long separation.

This is what he said to her: At once I shouted ‘Fire, fire’ and woke up from the swoon. The people around the funeral pyre thought that I had returned from the dead and they were thrilled. They sang and danced. We all returned home.

Nothing is impossible for this consciousness. The consciousness of Vipaścit had become awakened but it had not attained the supreme state. Hence, though it is one it manifests as the all everywhere. In a state in which there is both awakening and non-awakening, all these things are possible; when the supreme truth has not been attained, such materialisation is possible. It is when there is such partial awakening that one enjoys psychic powers. Thus, the four Vipaścits experienced the states that the others had.

Direct Experience vs. Inferential Guesswork

There is something more. Even in the case of those liberated sages who are still alive, there is comprehension of materiality while they are engaged in day-to-day activity. Mokṣa or liberation is also a state of the mind. The natural function of the body adheres to it and does not cease. One who is freed from ignorance, or the mind, is never again bound by the mind; even as once the fruit has fallen from the tree, no amount of effort can connect it to the tree. The body functions as is natural to it even in the case of the liberated person; but the consciousness in that person is stable and is not affected by the states of the physical body.

The southern Vipaścit destroyed all his enemies and even now he rules the country because he did not lose his memory or his convictions.

This last Vipaścit reached the boundaries of the earth-plane known as the Lokālokā mountains which he remembered from his past-birth experiences. These mountains are several thousand miles in height; one side is illumined, whereas the other is not. From there he saw the earth, etc., as if they were distant stars. Then he went to that side of these mountains which was forever shrouded in darkness. Beyond that is the great void in which there is no earth, no beings and nothing mobile or immobile. In it even the potentiality of creation does not exist.

The description of the universe I have given you is the fruit of direct experience, not inferential guesswork. Besides this there are other universes of which I have not told you. For of what use is investigation into the nature of the world and others, which are but of the nature of a dream; wise men do not waste their time talking about useless things.

Beyond even that is the infinite space; this is neither illumined nor is it dark. It is full of pure consciousness. It is beginningless, middleless and endless. In that, countless millions of universes arise again and again at different points, and again and again they are dissolved in it. There is no being in this infinite space to entertain a notion of these universes, but they exist in whatever form and manner they exist.

The Return of the Subtle Body through Inquiry

Hence, he wished to engage himself in further activity. For pure mental activity, a physical body is unnecessary. In the case of illusion, dream, daydreaming and hallucination, the mind creates its own field, which is known as the subtle body (ativāhika). Only when that is forgotten or abandoned does the physical body arise. When one realises the unreality of the physical body through proper investigation, then once again the subtle (ativāhika) body arises.

On the one hand are the time, place and activity (repetition of the habit born of the vāsanā); on the other is the vāsanā (mental conditioning) itself. The two (circumstances and vāsanā) act upon each other. Whichever be the stronger wins instantly. Thus the four Vipaścits were drawn in different directions, though they had the same vāsanā to start with; two of them were caught in the net of ignorance, one was liberated and the other became a deer.

Lord, Vipaścit lived in this world itself and went away from here. How is it that he has become a deer in this world?

The way out of this misfortune is that which was its original cause. Any other path is not the right one and it will not be productive of happiness, welfare or fruition. The king Vipaścit adored the fire; and by entering into the fire this deer will regain its former state, just as gold regains its lustre by being purified in the fire. Behold, I shall make this deer enter into the fire.

After this, the king Daśaratha welcomed Bhāsa: Welcome, O king. Be seated here. You have wandered far and wide and for a very long time in this saṁsāra. Now rest here.

Bhāsa took his seat among the sages in the assembly. King Daśaratha continued: Alas, like a tethered elephant, this king Vipaścit had to undergo countless trials and tribulations. What a great calamity follows imperfect vision of the reality and the perverse understanding of the truth. Though essentially unreal and non-existent, it is amazing what power this illusion has, that it can seemingly create such diverse worlds in the infinite consciousness, and such varied experiences.

The Secret Music Within the Body

Having said this, the nymph took me with her and flew into space without any difficulty. For a period of seven years from then I lived with her on the top of the mount Mandara.

Endowed with the boon granted to me by the fire-god, I moved in space with extraordinary speed. Somewhere I fell into a great ocean and somewhere I experienced the sensation of falling through space. Moving about in space was my only occupation. I became fatigued and I slept for a considerable time.

The gods said to her: O divine mother, this is our offering to you. We pray that you may consume it quickly, along with your attendant hosts.

As soon as the gods said this, the divine mother began sucking the life-blood of the dead body with the help of her own prāṇaśakti (life-force). As this blood flowed into her mouth, her own lean body filled with blood and her belly became distended. She began to dance. The gods, seated on the Lokālokā mountains (the boundaries of the earth-plane), witnessed this dance. The goblins began to eat the corpse. The state of the world at that time was indeed pitiable.

The gods continued to say thus among themselves: The goblins have now eaten the flesh and drunk the blood of this corpse; hence one can see the earth again. The very bones of that body form the new mountains.

As the gods were saying so, the satisfied goblins began to dance in space. The gods saw that there was some blood left on the earth; they filled the oceans with it and willed that it should become liquor. The goblins drank of this liquor and continued to dance: even now they do so. This earth was made out of the flesh (medas) of the corpse and hence it is known as ‘medinī’ (earth). Thus the earth and its inhabitants were brought again into being. The Creator created a new mankind.

It was warm inside. The cool breeze that flowed into that body from outside kept it alive and conscious. The channels bore the essence of food. It was very dark inside, like hell. The flow of the life-force along these channels gave ample indications of the physical disturbances that followed the irregular flow of the life-force. In a channel which resembled the lotus stalk, there flowed a radiant and fiery force making a distant noise of a wind flowing through a narrow tube. It was filled with all sorts of objects. It was bound together by the movement of air. It was pleasant in places and agitated in others. It appeared as if the celestial musicians were singing somewhere below the tongue-area and elsewhere it was as if there were fine music.

When the World Exists, Yet Nothing Ceases to Be

A person is but consciousness. Even if a hundred bodies perish, consciousness does not perish. Consciousness is like space, but it exists as if it is the body. The infinite appears to be divided into infinite objects, with and without form. This is because countless particles of experiences shine within the infinite consciousness. When the jīva turns away from the experiencing of the external world and towards the inner world in the heart, then dream arises. When the jīva has externalised consciousness, there is the waking state. When the same jīva turns its gaze upon itself, dream arises. The jīva itself is spread out as the space, the earth, the wind, the mountains and the oceans, whether they are seen outside or inside. When this truth is realised, one is freed from vāsanā or mental conditioning.

Then I began to investigate the state of turīya (the fourth one). If one is established in turīya, the world-appearance ceases on account of perfect illumination. Then the world exists as it is; nothing ceases to be. It is because of the existence of this turīya that waking, dream and sleep exist as they do. The realisation that ‘The world has not been created at all since there is no cause for it to arise’, and that ‘It is Brahman alone that shines as this world’, is turīya.

While I was thus witnessing this great flood of cosmic dissolution, I came upon the peak of a mountain. I got on top of it. The very next instant the entire scene changed. I do not even know how the floodwaters disappeared. The whole earth was a mass of mud in which the gods like Indra and animals like elephants were all sunk neck-deep. Soon I was overcome by fatigue and sleep.

One day a sage came to me as my guest. I entertained him well. At night he told me a story. He described the limitless universe in detail and concluded by saying that all that was the infinite consciousness. My own intelligence was awakened. At once I remembered all the past, how I entered into another’s body, etc. I thought that the other person was the cosmic person and tried to get out of it. I entered into that person’s prāṇa. Becoming one with it I came out. Then I saw immediately in front of me my own body seated in the lotus-posture, in a hermitage, attended to by disciples. According to these disciples only an hour had passed after I entered into samādhi. The person into whose heart I had entered was another traveller who was asleep. I did not tell all this to anyone, but quickly re-entered the heart of the sleeping person. In his heart the cosmic dissolution had been completed. And the village in which I lived with my relatives had disappeared. Everything was ablaze with the fire of dissolution. I practised the wind-contemplation and roamed in it.

Dragging the Past into View

The infinite consciousness is absolutely pure. Brahman rests in himself. However, in it there arises just a little notion of the jīva. Where this notion of jīva arises, there ignorance arises: that itself is considered as creation by the same consciousness. Of its own accord, consciousness awakens itself to its own true nature and realises that it is, and has always been, Brahman.

The persons seen in a dream have no past karma. Even so, the jīvas that arose in the beginning of creation have no karma because they are pure consciousness. It is only when one becomes firmly rooted in the notion of this world-appearance as the reality, that the notion of karma arises. Then the jīvas roam here bound by their karma. If it is realised that this creation itself is no-creation and that Brahman alone exists, then where is karma, whose is karma and who belongs to that karma? Karma exists only in ignorance; the moment right knowledge arises, karma ceases to bind.

All that exists and all that does not exist are like dream­experiences. Such being the truth, what is bondage and who is liberated? The cloud­formations in the sky throw up ever­changing forms and patterns. Even so is the world­appearance ever changing. It seems to be stable and unchanging on account of ignorance. In this infinite space there are countless worlds even as we have our own world: one man’s world is not experienced by another person. The measure and the experience of frogs living in a well, lake and ocean are different from one another. They do not share one another’s knowledge. People sleeping’ in one house have different dreams in which they experience life in different worlds, as it were: even so, the people have different worlds in the same space, while some may not have. All this is but the mysterious and efficient work of the infinite consciousness. 

That which existed before the arising of the dream but which shines as that which was seen before, that is known as saṁskāra. There is no other external factor known as saṁskāra (popularly translated into ‘latent impressions of past experiences and actions’). Things seen and unseen exist in the consciousness which shines in its own light and experiences all those things as if already seen. In dream the saṁskāras created in the waking state arise; but in the waking state itself they are created anew. But they who know the truth declare that they were in fact created in a state that appeared to be the waking state but which in fact is not. Just as movement arises in air spontaneously, even so notions arise in consciousness: where is the need for saṁskāra to create them? When the experience of a thousand things arises in consciousness, it is known as creation; and when the experience of the thousand things ceases in consciousness, that is known as the cosmic dissolution. Thus the pure consciousness (cidākāśa) brings into being this diversity with all its names and forms, without ever abandoning its indivisibility, just as you create a world in your dream.

The perception or the experience of ‘the world’ exists within the atomic particle of infinite consciousness. Just as the reflection in a mirror is only mirror, however, it is non-different from the infinite consciousness. This infinite consciousness is beginningless and endless; that itself is called creation. Wherever this consciousness shines, there this creation exists, non-different from it even as a body is non-different from its limbs. You and I are consciousness, the entire world is consciousness: by this realisation the creation is seen as an integral part of consciousness and therefore uncreated. Hence, I am that atomic particle of consciousness and as such I am infinite and omnipresent. Therefore, wherever I am, I see everything from there itself. I am a particle of consciousness but I am one with the infinite consciousness on account of the realisation of this truth, even as water is the same as water.

At the same time I saw there the house I had seen before, along with all my relatives’ buildings, and everything as they were before. All these had been dragged into the field of observation by the latent vāsanā or psychological tendency. On account of the vāsanā, I immediately engaged myself in greeting and embracing my relatives etc., having temporarily lost the knowledge that it was illusory.

Consciousness Shining as the Objective World

Do not be in a hurry. I shall explain everything to you. When I had heard the admonitions of this holy man, I began to reflect: ‘Alas, on account of my desire for sense-pleasure and for the objects of pleasure, I have slipped away from my path, though I have been a wise man. Or, the notion “This am I” is illusory and unreal: yet it is able to give rise to a thousand strange happenings. Or, even if I consider all this to be unreal and that “I am not”, yet all this IS. What must I do now? I see the seed of division in me: I shall instantly renounce that. Let this illusion or ignorance remain: it is a vain appearance, what can it do? I have now given up delusion. Even the sage who instructed me is but an illusion. I am the infinite and absolute Brahman and so is he; the relative form is but a passing cloud.’

Having heard the sage’s instructions, the hunter remained seated like a painted image there in that forest itself. However, since he had not engaged himself in the persistent practice of the teachings, his heart was not fully established in the supreme state. Instead he was being tossed about as on the crest of waves or on a revolving mechanism. He felt helpless as if he were being attacked by a crocodile and unable to defend himself. He was full of doubts. He was constantly asked himself, “Is this nirvāṇa?” or “May be this is not nirvāṇa and something else is nirvāṇa.” He thought, “Because this world-appearance has arisen in ignorance, the sage’s teachings are not firmly rooted in my heart. Hence, I should get away from it. Attaining a subtle body through the performance of austerities, I should go far, far away to where even space does not exist.” Thus he proved that he was still utterly ignorant and that the teaching of the sage had been utterly useless, because it had not been assimilated and it had not become active.

After the departure of the Lord, you will continue your penance. Your body would have been reduced to a skeleton by this time; but now it will acquire a radiance on account of the boon. You will bow down to me and soon your body will become divine. It will ‘fly around’ faster than Garuda, progressively expanding and including the celestial bodies within it. In that expanding body you will see the countless universes as so many waves in the ocean. Just as in the beginning all these universes arose in the infinite consciousness, even so at that time these universes will come within the sphere of your vision. You will then realise that just as all this is unreal and diverse in the vision of the ignorant, they are real and indivisible to the enlightened.

In the story that we just heard we saw how the sage and the hunter passed through diverse experiences. Is it the very nature of things that determines such experiences or is there another reason for it?

When that infinite consciousness alone exists, what is there to come to an end? Just as the world experienced in a dream does not exist, this world does not exist as a material entity, though it is seen. Just as it is one’s own consciousness only that shines as the dream, it is the same consciousness that shines as the objective world in the waking state. Hence, there is no difference between the dream and the waking state. One who wakes up from a dream thinks, “It is like this and not like that which I saw in the dream”; after death, too, one thinks “It is like this and not like that which I saw before death”.

The Long Dream

Dream”; after death, too, one thinks “It is like this and not like that which I saw before death”.

In relation to the waking state, the dream seems to be short-lived. Even so the dreamer regards the waking state to be brief. There is no difference whatsoever between the two, and neither of them is real. When awareness ceases, both waking and dreaming cease. There is void. The living person does not experience ‘the other world’ either in dream or in waking, not till the consciousness of death arises. Just as dreams arise in consciousness and create the three worlds, even so the world appears in the waking state. Just as the dream-creation is pure void, even so the world of the waking state is void except for the infinite consciousness in which alone the appearance arises. The world is the illusion that appears in consciousness on account of its inherent power. Consciousness alone shines as the water, earth, space and walls. There is nothing in it which can be grasped or held.

Moreover, it is all one: the tree includes the trunk, the branches, the leaves and the flowers—the distinction being verbal. Even so the infinite consciousness includes everything, the distinction being verbal. If you still ask, “Why then is this futile experience of the objects?”, it is good to remind yourself that all this is but a long dream. Who will resort to the non-existent or the hidden thing? Just as we have formed in our mind an image ‘This is a tree’, in the infinite consciousness there exist images of space, etc. Just as space (distance) is indistinguishably one with space and movement with air, even so the buddhi (intelligence) etc., are with the supreme being or the infinite consciousness. This creation is non-different from the infinite consciousness.

Why should we investigate memory which is thus accidental, when we realise that the objects of perception to which it is related themselves are non-existent? They exist only in the eyes of the ignorant. I am not expounding the means of liberation for the benefit of such ignorant people. It is only meant for those who have been awakened but who have some doubts concerning it. One should never associate with ignorant people who cannot recognise the truth. When a thing is experienced by the consciousness even just a little and when that experience is repeated, a mental impression (saṁskāra) is created. Thus is the world-appearance created. However, all this is pervaded by the infinite consciousness. There is neither a form nor memory related to it. When duality itself is non-existent, then surely there is no bondage.

When the wise one realises that this world is like a dream-city, his hopes are not centered in it. The day-dreamer dreams of a great diversity of visions and hopes. Though there seems to be some reality in such day-dreams, they are in fact non-existent. If, however, you are looking for some other explanation for this world-appearance, why do you not accept the possibility of delusion or delirious notions and hallucination?

The Nature of Perfect Enlightenment

Dhyāna or contemplation or meditation is perfect awakening or enlightenment. The realisation that the objective universe does not exist is perfect awakening. It does not resemble a state of inertia, nor deep sleep, nor nirvikalpa samādhi nor savikalpa samādhi, nor is it an unreal imaginary state. In it the universe exists as it is but it is dissolved at the same time. In it there are no concepts of unity, diversity, their mixture and their non-existence. In it there is supreme peace.

There once lived a brāhmaṇa named Indu. He had ten sons. In course of time, Indu passed away and his wife too followed him to the other world. The sons performed the funeral. They were not interested in the affairs of the world. They began to consider what might be the best form of contemplation that would enable them to live like gods.

Where is the body and where are the limbs, where are the internal organs and the skeleton? Know that this body is pure consciousness which is like space—subtle though it looks solid. The arms are consciousness, so are the head and all the senses. All these are subtle and there is nothing which is solid. This world seems to arise in the infinite space or Brahman, like a dream. Because of the very nature of the infinite consciousness, it seems to exist as this creation. Therefore, it is both caused and uncaused. Of course, without a cause there is no effect. Whatever one constructs in one’s own consciousness is also seen by oneself. Just as in dream all things appear everywhere in every manner, even so in the waking state the world appears in all manner everywhere.

Narratives of Penance, Boons, and Curses

I requested him to accept my service as long as he carried on his penance. The moment I said this, he closed his eyes and became as if dead. For six months from that day I remained in that place and served him. One day there appeared on that scene a being as radiant as the sun. I offered him due worship, and the ascetic worshipped him mentally. That radiant being said to the ascetic:

O ascetic, let this asceticism cease and I shall grant you the boon of your choice. You will become the emperor of the whole earth and rule for seven thousand years, remaining in this very body of yours.

After bestowing this boon, the radiant being vanished from sight. When he had gone, I said to the ascetic: “Now that you have obtained the boon of your choice, terminate this penance and return to your normal duties.” He accepted. I snapped the rope with which his feet were bound to the tree. Both of us then went to Mathurā.

The curses will further say: The consciousness which grants the boon through the giver of the boon considers in the receiver of the boon ‘I have received the boon.’ The same consciousness experiences suitable embodiment and the fruits of the boons. Therefore, the granting of the boon by those who grant the boons and the receiving of the boon by those who sought the boons are firmly grounded in their consciousness and therefore form part of their essence. Hence they are invincible to us. The pure conquer the impure at all times. Only if the boons and the curses are of equal force, do they yield mixed results like milk mixed with water. These results are experienced by the person as if in a dream. Lord, give us leave to go.

The curses will withdraw.

Resting in the Causeless Reality

In that single ocean of consciousness, this diversity with all its joys and sorrows arises. Just as one with defective vision sees strange objects in space, even so the ignorant perceive the world. The notion that arises in Brahmā the creator (known as the world order) brings about all these and sustains them.

The seer and the seen are non-different; consciousness is conscious of itself as consciousness. Therefore, it sees whatever it wishes to see. I am the infinite Brahman who is the cosmic person whose body is the world: hence the world and Brahman are non-different. Just as a conscious being may sometimes be in an unconscious state, even so the supreme being or the infinite consciousness itself exists as the apparently inert world. In dream there is ‘light’, in deep sleep there is darkness, though both these are in sleep: even so both light and darkness seem to exist in the one infinite consciousness.

The infinite consciousness becomes aware of a part of its own being and thus awareness arises in it. This is followed by the notion of relationship, the word and its corresponding object. Since this awareness is endowed with the faculty to observe and examine what it observes, it is recognised as consciousness.

What is that perfect awakening which is perfect knowledge and by which a living being here is freed from bondage?

Full awakening or enlightenment is jñāna or knowledge. Its contemplation is the means to such awakening. There is in reality no division between knowledge and the object of knowing.

This world-appearance is unreal even as the following are unreal, though they appear to be real: the dream-objects, water in the mirage, the second moon when one is suffering from diplopia and castles in the air.

Perhaps this whole creation exists in a subtle state in Brahman the infinite consciousness during the cosmic dissolution and perhaps that alone manifests itself during the next creation.

In the absence of a cause for any of this, do not enquire into the cause (‘why’). Then you will easily rest in the supreme, indescribable reality.

For want of a cause and also because the one infinite peace alone exists, there is no illusion either. You do not rest in that peace because you have not repeatedly contemplated this truth.

When thus enlightenment itself is related to the ego-sense, then it itself becomes other than enlightenment. How can such division exist in the pure, indivisible consciousness? When such belief has weakened, what does one see? How does this world-illusion cease in his vision?

By the realisation of the truth that all objects and substances exist in the self or the infinite consciousness as perverted notions, his hold on those substances (and vice versa) comes to an end. The wheel of saṁsāra stops by and by.

When thus the illusion of solidity of the objects has ceased and even the effort at restraining that illusion has ceased, all reliance on the world comes to an end.

How is it possible for this citta to be unconditioned so that nirvāṇa may be attained? What is the vision of the ignorant? And why is it indescribable in the eyes of the enlightened? The waking state reality is not real during dream. What appears then is consciousness (Brahman). But how does that which had not been before come into being?

Enquire, “How can this saṁsāra appear to exist, when it has no cause to come into being?”

The mind is the support for the dream-objects and hence they are mind only. Even so is the world. Just as the body is not different from the limbs it is composed of, even so the universe is non-different from Brahman. I realise that the illusion of the creation and dissolution of the world is a pure coincidence, accompanied by illusory notions of ‘I am doer’ and ‘I experience’.

Brahman shines in itself as itself coincidentally (just as a ripe cocoanut falls when a crow happens to alight on it) and that is known, by itself and in itself, as this creation. Behold the light of consciousness within yourself by your self. Light is experienced only in relation to another. Since in the beginning there was no such division or duality, let this light be experienced within yourself. This light itself is the seer, sight and the seen (object), just like the dream-experience. That light of consciousness itself shines in the beginning of creation as that creation. The one consciousness shines as the three (the subject, the object and the experience), and in the beginning of creation it appears to be creation. Such is its very nature that it shines as it shines. There is neither a waking state, nor a dream state nor even a deep sleep state. Throughout it is only Brahman that shines from the very beginning of creation. That Brahman considers this universe as its own body; what is known as the world is non-different from Brahman.

All this is indeed the supreme consciousness which appeared to us to be saṁsāra. It is the supreme being itself that appears as the object of such statements as ‘This is different’, ‘It shines like this’, ‘These are worlds’ and ‘These are mountains’.

Illusory perception arises on account of non-understanding, like one’s own death in a dream; when one enquires into the nature of the reality, the illusion vanishes. It is like the fear of ghosts that exists in the mind of a young boy: it becomes deep-rooted when there is no enquiry, but on enquiry it ceases.

That reality which is beginningless and endless and which even the gods and the sages do not know, that reality alone shines: what is ‘world’ and what is ‘object’? Enough of this confusing argumentation concerning unity and diversity. That which was in the beginning, that peace is unchanging. Just as there is space (distance) in space, there is this creation in Brahman, the infinite consciousness. When this realisation arises in the jīva, this goblin known as saṁsāra is set at rest, though it may still appear to be. When the sun of ignorance sets, then the heat of sorrow ceases and the daylight known as conviction in the reality of saṁsāra comes to an end. Freed from ignorance, the knower of the truth engages himself in all kinds of activity as part of this pattern of birth, death and old age, etc., and continues to be, though in truth he is not.

I am nirvāṇa. I am free from doubt. I am free. I am blissful. I am as I am as the infinite. I am the all at all times or I am nothing and at peace. I am the one reality and I am not. Wonderful is this supreme peace. What is to be gained has been gained. The perception of the objects has been abandoned. True enlightenment has dawned and it shall never set again.

Why the Liberated Sage lives?

The awakening or the enlightenment happens by itself, just like the sun’s brilliance at noon. All cravings and desires come to an end in the awakened person; therefore nirvāṇa arises in him without his desiring it. He is forever engaged in meditation, he is always established in his own real nature: therefore he does not seek anything or reject anything. Like a lamp in whose light all actions take place and in which the lamp itself is not interested, he lives and acts but is free from volition.

When all this is seen as the one infinite consciousness, there is no room for delusion. There is cessation of craving. Cessation of craving intensifies awakening or enlightenment; and the latter intensifies the cessation of craving. The hallmark of enlightenment is this cessation of craving. When the latter is absent, there is no enlightenment but scholasticity which is in fact ignorance or viciousness. If these two do not promote each other, then they are obviously unreal and absent. The perfect cessation of craving born of the perfect enlightenment, itself is known as liberation. When this is attained, one does not grieve even though continuing to live.

The forest in the parable is the spiritual preceptor and the scripture. They went to the forest for the fulfilment of their needs; people resort to the preceptor and the scripture for the fulfilment of their needs.

Just as some of the villagers obtained sandalwood, etc., in the forest, even so, among those who study scriptures some attain pleasure, others wealth and yet others guidance in right conduct. Only these three are expounded in the scriptures; the attainment of the realization of Brahman is beyond description and, therefore it is not found in the teachings of the scriptures.

There is light everywhere in the sky, but it is only when light meets with an obstruction that it is able to illumine: even so when the scripture (or the guru) meets the seeker there is illumination. Hence, the supreme truth is realised when one contemplates the real meaning of the scriptures with the aid of the words of the preceptor, satsaṅga (holy company), self-discipline and control of the mind.

One should live in this world fully established in the state of equanimity which confers all blessings and which bestows the highest consolation, which is the greatest wealth and which enhances one’s good fortune. Equanimity enables purity to grow. All other noble virtues follow this one. None of the blessings and wealth in the world is comparable to equanimity. It puts an end to all sorrow. Rare are those souls who are established in equanimity, to whom all are friends.

When these sages are constantly immersed in the bliss of self-knowledge, why do they not abandon all activities?

As long as there is life, so long the body lives and moves and functions. Let this continue—why should one desire otherwise? When somehow something has to be done at all times, why not do what is right? Whatever one does with a pure and clear mind which rests in equanimity, is right and appropriate, never defective. Among us, O Rāma, there are many who are involved in defective action but they are wise and clear-sighted.

Some have abandoned their natural duties and others are devoted to them. Some behave like wise men and others behave like mad men. Some are human, some are gods and others are demons.

I have given and heard numerous discourses on the means to liberation, but none like this. Even animals and children will attain enlightenment by listening to the sage’s words.

“O Bhagavān, there was not a single note that was characterised not by the highest truth. You have instantly dispelled the veil of sin that had covered our minds and hearts. Our heart-lotus has fully unfolded. We salute you; you are our guru.”

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