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Download: pdf for print / eBook for readers Essential Yoga VasisthaVI. Dealing With Liberation, Part II When one has made up his mind
To go to a certain place
The feet function without mental activity
Function like those feet and perform action here
When false abandonment
Is mistaken for abandonment
The deluded are possessed
By this goblin of false abandonment
No remedy for sense-craving
Other than firm abandonment of desire
No medicines, pilgrimage or ritual
And no mantras are of any use
Brahman has infinite potencies
Inertia too manifests in consciousness
Existing as a potentiality in Brahman
As future waves in the calm ocean
In the company of holy ones
Half the ignorance ceases
One-quarter by the study of scripture
And one-quarter by one's self-effort
This world-appearance will continue
To flow with ever-changing scenes
Until the truth is realized
Maya will continue to operate
World exists in the meaning of 'ego-sense' The world exists in the meaning of 'ego-sense'
And the ego-sense in turn exists
In the very meaning of the word 'world'
Both are thus interdependent
Just as a sentient object can visualize within itself
The individual experiences many things
Including the three worlds within himself
Like a delusion or false perception
Advice to the seeker Work to earn an honest living
Eat to sustain the life-force
Sustain life-force for self-knowledge
And inquire into that which frees
There is really no difference
Between the ignorant and a knower of truth
Except that the latter
Is free from the conditioned mind
All the pleasures of the world
Inevitably end in sorrow
Therefore sorrow is preferable
To pleasure which leads to sorrow
Dependence alone is bondage
Non-dependence is emancipation
He who rests in the 'fullness'
Does not desire anything
In sorrow and in calamity
Remain free from sorrow within
Still behave with local etiquette
Seemingly experiencing pleasure and pain
Just as there is no fear of destruction
In the battle painted on canvas
The knower of truth is never affected
As he is established in inner equanimity
Inquire relentlessly till life's end
'Who am I?', 'How did this world arise?'
'What is jiva or the individual personality and life?'
As instructed by the knowers of truth
I am Brahman, the world is Brahman
There is neither beginning nor ceasing
Hence, where is the reason to rejoice?
And where is the reason to grieve?
Vainly studying the scriptures
Hearing the preceptors instructions
Will not help one bit without
Cessation of all desires
Injunctions and prohibitions
Do not apply to one of self-knowledge
Who will wish to give what instruction
To one in whom all desires have ceased?
How experience arises Since the subject and object
Of experience are consciousness
The object merges in the subject
Like water with water
When one is spiritually awakened
His wakeful state resembles deep sleep
The state in which he is as self-nature
Leads one to liberation
The ignorant regard samsara as real
In reality it does not exist at all
What exists after this appearance is rejected
Is the truth—but it has no name
On this field known as the mind
The seed of turning away from the world
Falls of its own accord
In the solitude of wisdom's forest
Thus having obtained rest
The deer which is the mind
Delights in being right there
Not seeking to go elsewhere
The yogi is then seen to be
In a state of unbroken meditation
Firmly established in steady meditation
Samadhi— just like a mountain
Sincere worship of the Lord
Bestows viveka or wisdom
Holy company and insight to scriptural truth
Brings one closer to the state of oneness
The omnipresent is omniscient consciousness
Existing everywhere as everything
Therefore, we exist as the dream-objects
Of the dreams of original dreamers
This illusory apprehension of the objective world
Which goes by the name avidya or ignorance
Does not in fact exist
Without substance are these words
In the original creation
The dream of undivided consciousness
Is known as the wakeful state
The world which is experienced in it
When one's mind is perfectly concentrated
The passage of time is unnoticed
Hundreds of years can pass silently
As if in the twinkling of an eye
Behold the entire universe
As you would behold a dream
Composed of endless variety
Yet empty though appearing to have form
The supreme truth or consciousness
Is indestructible—it cannot be destroyed
It is not realized by those who do not know it
It is realized by those with awakened intelligence
Witness all this within the self
See it assuming all forms that are seen
People within whom are minds
In those minds are worlds and people
I consider child-widowhood
Even death, disease or calamity
Preferable to a spouse
Whose nature is not after one's own heart
In due course of time
Those afflicted by extreme delusion
Are enlightened or awakened too
Because there is nothing but the eternal
Seeing through the illusion When you know the seen is an illusion
What else can be accepted as real?
How can anything be accepted as real
Which is established by what is unreal?
Time, space, matter, and mind
Are parts of consciousness like parts of a rock
As the notions in the mind fall away
Mountains and oceans too disintegrate
Compared to the great mountains
A subatomic particle is minute
Even so with the universe
And eternal infinite consciousness
While people weep and wail
Yogis strive for immortality
Let things be as they are
Be concerned with pursuing the good
A bracelet of gold will always be gold
So also with infinite consciousness
Because of this creation made manifest
Consciousness can never be other than itself
Whatever exists and functions here
Is real to the self who perceives it
Not to another who does not perceive
Or who is unaware of it
A rock is seen with physical eyes
As if it lies at a distance
Only the rock is seen
But never what's called creation
When one contemplates notions and experiences
That state of being is known as I-ness or ego-sense
One becomes what one contemplates deeply
While consciousness ever remains unchanged
When one's thoughts or notions cease
That which thoughts brought ceases as well
When my wish for a hermitage ceased
It disappeared—as if in thin air
If ideas of division are deep-rooted
You will lack the power to realize your wish
The sage has weakened division's perception
It is possible for him to realize his wish
Liberation confers lasting peace of mind
Bondage promotes psychological distress
Knowing this, one does not strive for liberation
Most foolish are people who choose bondage!
Stay free of notions Whatever be one's conviction
If one adheres to that conviction
One surely reaches the same goal
As long as he stays free of notions
Notions like 'I am this', 'this is mine'
Are common to humans and worms
With all the implications of such notions
Why not rise higher than the lowest rung?
If one knows self is pure consciousness
There is no samsara when death arrives
If one's understanding is still not purified
It remains with samsara's unreal support
To such a one even the rocks become friends
Trees in the forest are dear relations
Even while living in the middle of a forest
The very animals become kith and kin
A pot is but clay
Without clay there's no pot
All objects are pure consciousness
If consciousness is not, nothing is seen
Hence, though alive
Everything is as if dead
Even so you and I
Are as if dead though alive
Free of this burden of substance
Hence, regarded as maya
Not even the learned and the wise
Understand space or its function
Avoid siddhis or psychic powers The inner power is known as kundalini
Because it is coiled in appearance
It is the supreme power in all beings
And the prime mover of all power
The deluded pursue psychic powers
Towards which the yogi is indifferent
As he is intent on self-knowledge
For which siddhis are a premature exit
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