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Download pdf / photo composite Yoga Vasistha in PoemChapter VI: Dealing with Liberation6. The Story of the Rock (Nature of Consciousness) The Great Rock There is a great rock though most tender
Affectionate, omnipresent and eternal
Within it countless lotuses blossom
With countless petals seen and unseen
All things exist in it though they do not
This rock is indeed cosmic consciousness
It appears rock-like in its homogeneity
Harboring within universes of diversity
The rock has infinite form potential
A sculptor sees all these in a rock
So does all appear in consciousness
Infinite expressions within consciousness
All manifestations are Brahman only
Cosmic consciousness appears as all
Appearing modified though unmodified
How can it change when it alone is
So with pure infinite consciousness
It gives rise to itself within itself
Duality ceases when this is realized
Consciousness always remains itself
Time, space and other such factors
These too are pure consciousness
Self is indivisible, infinite existence
Unity expressing diversity within itself
Brahman and world are synonyms
There is no essential difference
See all with the eye that is wisdom
Behold consciousness as all these forms
Infinite consciousness pervades all
All exists in infinite consciousness
Diversity appears in non-duality
Without modifying existing unity
Must be Attained by Direct Experience Sages are active but they are not fooled
They are firmly rooted in the unchanging
They work with minds that do not move
Having abandoned conceptualizing completely
That alone exists, naught else
No body, senses, life-force or mind
Freed from all these—experience it
As the self in all that is ever seen
This self is everywhere, inside and out
In all and as all bodies it alone exists
Unaffected while individuals act different
Though the infinite stays ever the same
Unmodified, Appearing Modified True modification is real transformation
The substance itself must have changed
Such is not the case with Brahman
Which stays unchanged through dissolution
The Difficulty in Instruction What is said to be momentary disturbance
Is not really disturbance—just mere words
There is no other way to give instruction
Try to see what is intended through these
If one declared 'All this is Brahman'
To one who has not awakened as yet
It is like asking a tree for relief
From suffering he is creating himself
Self alone is the reality in all beings
As clay is the reality in all pots seen
Inner movement of energy gives rise to
Apparent diversity in consciousness
Sense organs are present in all beings
But the dead do not experience sensations
While alive the same senses experience
What is not possible when death arrives
All is Infinite Consciousness Only Birth, death, senses and the mind
We use these terms to communicate
All is infinite consciousness only
Appearing and functioning differently
Though free from all modifications
The notion 'I am' arises in it
Localized it is known as the individual
Ego-sense, thoughts and mind arise
This 'I am' sees other formations
They too feel the same 'I am'
Localized formations in consciousness
Thus 'you are' and 'they are' do arise
Similar bodies and substance are all
Still because the 'I am' feels localized
They feel differences and separation
From each other though they are all one
But the individual or localized form
Is but a notion in its own mind
Persistent feelings of separateness
Make notions appear as reality
When you observe something very keenly
You will see that these notions try to interfere
Keep observing without being distracted
And see how these notions soon disappear
Infinite consciousness alone assumes
All forms including the individual
But all these are notions within itself
Nothing is really created or assumed
A Great Power Great is the power of infinite consciousness
It cannot be challenged by anyone at all
When the individual surrenders individuality
Consciousness realizes itself as consciousness
All through this delusional experience
Consciousness stays unchanged, ever pure
Just as gold remains gold in any form
Be it a bracelet or ring—gold ever stays gold
It Can Be Overcome But an error yesterday can be corrected
If we resolve rightly today, this moment
So also the habit of separative existence
Can be abolished by attaining liberation
Confusion is the interference of conditioning
What appears with how you would like it to be
Delusion is feeling you are an individual
Separate from all that is seen and experienced
All throughout this truth remains unchanged
Brahman alone exists—there is naught else
The bondage of illusion can be overcome
By abandoning conditioning—attaining freedom
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