Upasama — equanimity of the mind in all circumstances
He who indulges himself in sensual pleasures which are pleasant at first, will have to be cloyed in them in process of time. He who is fraught with the treasure of knowledge in his frail body, is not to be overcome by his inward enemies of sensual appetites. He who has brought the senses under his slavery, and reduced the enemy of his mind to subjection; has the blossoms of his understanding ever blooming within him as in the vernal meadow. He who has weakened the pride of his mind, and subdued the enemies of his senses; has his desires all shrunken as the lotuses in the cold weather. So long do the demons of our desires, infest the region of our hearts, as we are unable to bring the mind under the subjection of our knowledge of the True one. He is the faithful servant, who acts according to the will of his master, and he is the true minister who does good services to his prince. He is the best general who has command over the force of his own body, and that is the best understanding which is guided by reason. The mind is called our father, for its enlightening our understanding with the light of the sāstras derived by itself, and for its leading us to perfection by losing itself in the Supreme spirit.
Such is the gem of the mind, unless it is soiled by the dirt and filth of sin and vice; when it requires to be washed and cleansed with the water of reason, in order to throw its light on thee. Be not dormant to cultivate reason as long as you abide in the darksome abode of this world; nor thrust yourself to every accident, which awaits upon the ignorant and unreasonable men.
As the motion of the waters on the surface, does not affect the waters in the depth of the sea; so the fluctuations of the changing scenes of nature, make no alteration in the ever tranquil spirit of Brahma. The pure soul being one in many, and inherent in all external objects, cannot be thought as distinct from those, that appear otherwise than itself. It is the difference of human thoughts, that judges differently of the existence and non-existence of things, and of their good and bad natures also; it judges the existence of the world, either as situated in or without the Divine Spirit. Whereas it is impossible for any thing to exist beside the Spirit of God, it was the Spirit that “willed to become many”. And as there was nothing beside itself, which it could think of or find for itself, it was necessary that it became so of itself, and without the aid of any extraneous matter. Therefore the will to do this or that, or try for one thing or other, does not relate to the soul but to the mind. Thus the optionless soul, having no will of its own, does nothing except cogitating on what is in itself. It is no active agent, owing to the union of all agency, instrumentality and objectivity in itself. It abides nowhere, being both the recipient and content, or the container and the contained of everything in itself. Neither is the will-less soul actionless likewise, when the acts of creation are palpable in itself (karmaprasidhi). Nor is it possible that there is any other cause of them. (Nanyakartā dvītiryakam).
Such being the state of the wise, the actions they are seen to do, whether of goodness or otherwise or pleasurable or painful, in and whatsoever they are engaged, are nil and as nothing, and do not affect them as they do the other worldly mortals. For what is it that is called an action, but the exertion of mental and voluntary energies, with a fixed determination and desire of performing some physical acts, which they call the actions of a person. The production of an act by appliance of the proper means, and the exertion and action of the body in conformity with one’s ability, and the completion of the effect compatible with one’s intention, together with the enjoyment of the result of such agency, are defined and determined as the action of the man. Moreover, whether a man is agent or no agent of an action, and whether he goes to heaven or dwells in hell, his mind is subject to the same feelings, as he has the desires in his heart. Hence the agency of the ignorant, arises from their wishing to do a thing, whether they do it or not; but not so of the wise, who having no will, are not culpable even for their involuntary actions. Untutored minds are full with the weeds of vice, but well cultivated souls are quite devoid of them.
He who has the knowledge of truth (tatwajnāna), becomes relaxed in his earthly desires; and though he acts his part well, he does not long eagerly for its result as others. He acts with his body but with a quiet unconcerned mind. When successful, he attributes the gain to the will of God; but the worldly minded arrogate the result to themselves, though they could not bring it about. Whatever the mind intends, comes verily to pass, and nothing is achieved without the application of the mind; whereupon the agency belongeth to the mind and not to the body. The world doth proceed from the Mind (Divine); it is the mind (by being a development of it), and is situated in the (infinite and eternal) mind; knowing all things as such manifestations of the powers of the intellect, the wise man remains in the coolness of his desire or lukewarmness. The minds of spiritualists (or those knowing the soul), come to the state of that perfect insensibility of their desires, as when the false watery mirage is set down by the raining clouds, and the particles of morning dews, are dried up by the raging sun. It is then that the soul is said to rest in its perfect bliss (The turya). But the ignorant mind (which is unacquainted with this state of transport) is transported by its thirst after the moving waters of earthly pleasures; as an elephant is misled to the foul pool, where he is plunged in its mud and mire, without finding any thing that is really good. It is by means of this positive consciousness, that we know our egoism or self-existence; it strikes us more glaringly than a spark of fire, and enlightens us to the knowledge of ourselves more than any other light. Egoism differentiates the soul from our ideas of space and time, and stirs within it like the breath of winds, by reason of its subjectivity of thoughts. The mind takes the form of a spark of fire by thinking on its essence, which gradually developes itself like the germ of a seed, in the form of the mundane egg by its internal force. Thoughts are the seeds of action, and action is the soul of life. Past acts are productive of future consequence, but inaction is attended with no result. All other living souls that appeared in the various forms of their bodies, had such forms given to them by Brahmā, according to their acts and desires in premundane creations in former Kalpas.
How could the self-cogitation of Brahma, as the infinite spirit and one without a second, conceive in it a finite living soul other than itself, and which was not in Being? The immense and transparent Spirit of Brahma, remained in a state of asat—non-existence, a state of ineffable bliss as seen by the adept Yogi; but of formidable vastness as conceived by the uninitiated novice (i. e. the meditation of the Infinite is a delight to the spiritualist, but it is a horror to the gross idolator, whose mind knows nothing beyond matter and material forms).
One calamity is enough to turn the brain out of order; but what will be the case when it is followed by other calamities in endless succession. I see the demon of despair rising before me, upon my penitence of this day; and threatening to make an end of this body, of which I have made an offering to him. I cannot expect to raise myself higher, while I am lying in the sea of ignorance; what blind man can perceive the glorious sun-light, who is guided by the flash of fireflies? The ignorant are found to throw away a golden jewel, as useless on the ground as a piece of glass; and so have I cast aside my shining body, for a bit of this blackest needle.
That particle is all yet nothing, it is neither I, thou or he. It is the Almighty soul and its power is the cause of all. But ignorance of the soul, stretches the bonds of our worldliness and repeated transmigrations, with their evils growing like the rankest weeds in spring; until they are rooted out by spiritual knowledge. Whatever is imprinted in the intellect, the same appears exprest without it. The fond embrace of passionate lovers in dream and imagination, serves to exemplify this truth.
The hobby that has entered in the heart, shows itself on the outside also, as in the instance of the whims of children. If the sun and other luminous bodies in the world, were dull and dark in the beginning; then what was the nature of the primeval light and where did it abide? There is no difference in the lights of the sun, moon and fire from the darkness, out of which these lights were produced: the difference is only that of the two colours black and white. The light of this blazing soul, has lighted the sun, which diffuses its light all over the three worlds; it has filled the capacious womb of earth with a variety of provisions, as they lay up large panniers of food in a store-house (i. e. it is the sun-light that grows and ripens all things for our food). All our notions and ideas are contained in the particle of the intellect, as a healthy seed contains the leaves and fruits and flowers of the future tree in its breast. The particle of divine spirit is altogether tasteless, being so very vapid and void of qualities; yet it is always delectable as the giver of flavour to all things. Yet this all knowing spirit encompasses the world, knowing it to be a trifle, just as a child holds a particle of rice in his hand. This is an act of māyā or delusion.
Mental actions (thoughts) being brought to practice, tend to involve their unguarded agents of ungoverned minds, into the endurance of its consequence. Thus the mind is the seed (root) of all efforts and exertions, of all acts and actions, of all their results and productions, and the source of suffering the consequences of actions. By doing away with your mind, you make a clean sweep of all your actions, and thereby avoid all your miseries resulting from your acts. All these are at an end with the anaesthesia of the mind. Behold the boy is led by his mind (fancy) to build his toy or hobby-horse, which he dresses and daubs at his wilful play, without showing any concern or feeling of pleasure or pain, in its making or breaking of it at his pleasure. So doth man build his aerial castle, and level it without the sense of his gain or loss therein. It is by his acting in this manner in all worldly matters, that no man is spiritually entangled to them.
It is in vain to wish for liberation, when the mind is tied down to the earth; and so it is redundant to talk of bondage, when the mind is already fastened to it. Shun them both by ignoring your egoism, and remain fixed to the true Ego, and continue thus to manage yourself with your unruffled mind on earth.
