Sri RAM GITA (YOG VASISHTA SARA, PART II)

Sri RAM GITA (YOG VASISHTA SARA, PART II)

(THE ESSENCE OF YOGA VASISHTA) CHAPTER FIVE THE DESTRUCTION OF LATENT IMPRESSIONS 1. O Rama, this enquiry into the Self of the nature or 'Who am I?' is the fire which burns up the seeds of the evil tree which is the mind. 2. Just as the wind does not affect the creepers in a picture, so also afflictions do not affect one whose understanding is fortified by firmness and (always) reflected in the mirror of enquiry. 3. The knowers of truth declare that enquiry into the truth of the Self is knowledge. What is to be known is contained in it like sweetness in milk. 4. To one who has realized the Self by enquiry Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva are objects of compassion. 5. To one who is fond of enquiring (constantly), 'What is this vast universe?' and 'Who am I?' this world becomes quite unreal. 6. Just as in a mirage the idea of water does not occur to one who knows (that it is a mirage), even so latent impressions do not rise in one whose ignorance has been destroyed by realizing that everything is Brahman. 7. By the abandonment of latent impressions or by the control of breathing, mind ceases to be the mind. Practise whichever you like. 8. O pure soul, cherish the association of sages and the true scriptures; you will attain the state of Supreme Consciousness not in the course of months but days. 9. Latent impressions cease to be active when one associates with sages, discards all thoughts of samsara and remembers that the body has to die. 10. O Raghava, even ignorant persons convert, by the firmness of their conviction, poison into nectar and nectar into poison. 11. When this body is taken to be real it serves the purpose of a body, but when it is seen to be unreal it becomes like space (i.e. unsubstantial). 12. O Rama, while lying on a soft bed you wander about in all directions with a dream body; but now (in this waking state) where is that body? 13. Just as a respectable man avoids contact with an outcast woman carrying dog's flesh, so also one should discard the thought 'I-am-the-body', even if everything were to be lost. 14. When the aspirant (sadhu) thinks only of Brahman and remains calm and free from sorrows his egoity dies of itself. 15. If one realizes the unity of things everywhere, one always remains tranquil, inwardly cool and pure like space without the sense of 'I'. 16. If inwardly one is cool the whole world will be cool, but if inwardly one is hot (i.e. agitated) the whole world will be a burning mass. CHAPTER SIX MEDITATION ON THE SELF 1. I, the pure, stainless and infinite Consciousness beyond maya, look upon this body in action like the body of another. 2. The mind, the intellect, the senses, etc. are all the play of Consciousness. They are unreal and seem to exist only due to lack of insight. 3. Unmoved by adversity, a friend of all the world in prosperity, without ideas of existence and nonexistence, I live free from misery. 4. Inactive am I, desireless, clear as the sky, free from hankering, tranquil, formless, everlasting and unmoving. 5. I have now clearly understood that the five elements, the three worlds and I myself are pure Consciousness. 6. I am above everything; I am present everywhere; I am like space; I am that which (really) exists; I am unable to say anything beyond this. 7. Let imaginary waves of universe rise or fall in me who am the ocean of infinite Consciousness; there is no increase or decrease in me. 8. How wonderful that in me, the infinite ocean of consciousness, waves of jivas (individual souls) rise, sport for a while and disappear according to their nature. 9. The world which has come into existence on account of my ignorance has dissolved likewise in me. I now directly experience the world as supreme bliss of consciousness. 10. I prostrate to myself who am within all beings, the ever-free Self abiding as inner Consciousness. CHAPTER SEVEN METHOD OF PURIFICATION 1. O Raghava, be outwardly active but inwardly inactive, outwardly a doer but inwardly a non-doer, and thus play your part in the world. 2. O Raghava, abandon all desires inwardly, be free from attachments and latent impressions, do everything outwardly and thus play your part in the world. 3. O Raghava, adopt a comprehensive view, characterised by the abandonment of all objects of contemplation, live in your innate Self, liberated even while alive (jivan-mukta), and thus play your part in the world. 4. Burn the forest of duality with the fire of the conviction, 'I am the one pure Consciousness' and remain happy. 5. You are bound firmly on all sides by the idea, I am the body'. Cut that bond by the sword of knowledge 'I am Consciousness' and be happy. 6. Discarding the attachment to non-Self, regarding the world as a partless (whole), concentrated and with attention turned inward, remain as pure Consciousness. 7. Remain always as pure Consciousness which is your constant (i.e. true) nature beyond the states of waking, dream and deep sleep. 8. O mighty-armed, be always free from mental concepts like the heart of a rock though not insentient like it. 9. Do not be that which is understood, nor the one who understands. Abandon all concepts and remain what you are. 10. Eliminate one concept by another and the mind by the mind and abide in the Self. Is this so difficult, O holy man? 11. Sever the mind, which has on account of its cares become red hot, with the mind which is like iron sharpened by the study of scriptures. 12. O Raghava, what have you to do with this inert and dumb body? Why do you feel helpless and miserable by joys and sorrows on account of it? 13. What a vast difference between the flesh, blood, etc. (composing the body) and you, the embodiment of consciousness! Even after knowing this why do you not abandon the idea of Self in this body? 14. The mere knowledge that this body is like a piece of wood or a clod of earth enables one to realize the Supreme Self. 15. How strange that, while the real Brahman is forgotten by men, the unreal called avidya (nescience) appears very real to them (lit. struts about before them). 16. It is again strange that while the Supreme Brahman is forgotten by men, the idea 'this is mine' called avidya is firmly held by them (lit. strongly confronts them). 17. When you do your work do it without attachment even as a crystal which reflects the objects before it (but is not affected by them). 18. The conviction that everything is Brahman leads one to Liberation. Therefore reject entirely the idea of duality which is ignorance. Reject it entirely. CHAPTER EIGHT WORSHIP OF THE SELF 1. If you separate yourself from the body and abide at ease in Consciousness you will become one (the sole Reality), everything else appearing (insignificant) like grass. 2. After knowing that by which you know this (world) turn the mind inward and then you will see clearly (i.e. realize) the effulgence of the Self. 3. O Raghava, that by which you recognise sound, taste, form and smell, know that as your Self, the Supreme Brahman, the Lord of lords. 4. O Raghava, that in which beings vibrate, that which creates them, know that Self to be your real Self. 5. After rejecting, through reasoning, all that can be known as 'non-truth' what remains as pure Consciousness - regard that as your real Self. 6. Knowledge is not separate from you and that which is known is not separate from knowledge. Hence there is nothing other than the Self, nothing separate (from it). 7. 'All that Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, Indra and others always do is done by me, the embodiment of Consciousness' - think in this manner. 8. 'I am the whole universe. I am the undecaying Supreme Self. There is neither past nor future apart from me' - reflect in this manner. 9. 'Everything is the One Brahman, pure Consciousness, the Self of all, indivisible and immutable' reflect in this manner. 10. 'There is neither I nor any other thing. Only Brahman exists always full of bliss everywhere.' - meditate on this calmly. 11. The sense of perceiver and perceived is common to all embodied beings, but the Yogi worships the One Self. CHAPTER NINE EXPOSITION OF THE SELF 1. When this assemblage of body, senses, etc. acts of its own accord there arises an idea 'I am this.' This is the jiva (ego) stained by the dirt of ignorance. 2. When the conviction that everything is the space-like (i.e. all pervasive) Consciousness becomes firm the jiva comes to an end like a lamp without oil. 3. Like a misguided Brahmin, who abandons his own nobility, and adopts the life of a Sudra, the Lord assumes the role of the jiva. 4. Just as a child sees an apparition (created by its own fancy), so also the stupid jiva creates, on account of delusion, this unreal body and sees it (as separate from him). 5. A child superimposes a (real) elephant on a clay elephant and plays with it; even so, an ignorant man superimposes the body, etc., on the Self and carries on his activities. 6. The picture of a snake does not cause fear of a snake when it is realised to be only a picture. Similarly when the jiva-snake is clearly understood there is neither misery nor the cause of misery. 7. The snake superimposed on a garland merges in it; so also the sense of separateness rising from the Self merges in the Self. 8. Although bracelets, etc. appear to be many, as gold they are one. Similarly although the adjuncts are many, the Self is really one. 9. Like the organs of the body and modifications of clay (i.e. vessels of clay) non-duality appears as duality (i.e. multiplicity) in the form of the moving and unmoving objects. 10. Just as a single face is reflected as many in a crystal, in water, or in ghee or in a mirror; so also the (one) Self is reflected in the (many) intellects (or minds). 11. Just as the sky is (i.e. appears to be) stained by dust, smoke and clouds, so also the pure Self in contact with the qualities of maya is (i.e. appears to be) soiled by them. 12. Just as metal in contact with fire acquires the quality of fire (namely heat), so also the senses, etc. in contact with the Self acquire the quality of the Self. 13. Just as the invisible Rahu becomes visible when it is seized by the moon (i.e., comes in contact with the moon), even so the Self is known by experiencing objects of perception. 14. When water and fire come together they acquire the qualities of each other. Even so when the Self and the inert body come together the Self looks like the non-Self and the non-Self looks like the Self. 15. Just as fire thrown into a large sheet of water loses its quality, so also Consciousness in contact with the unreal and the inert seems to lose its real nature and becomes inert. 16. The Self is realised in the body only with effort, like sugar from the sugarcane, oil from sesame seeds, fire from wood, butter from a cow and iron from stones (i.e. ore). 17. Like the sky seen in an unbroken crystal, the Supreme Lord of the nature of consciousness is seen (i.e. exists) in all objects. 18. Just as a big lamp kept inside a vessel made of precious stones illumines by its light both outside and inside, so also the one Self illumines (everything). 19. Just as the sun's reflection in a mirror illumines (other things), so also the reflection of the Self in pure intellects illumines (other things). 20. That in which this wonderful universe appears like a snake in a rope is the eternal luminous Self. 21. The Self is without beginning or end. It is immutable Existence and Consciousness. It manifests space, it is the source of the jiva and higher than the highest. 22. The Self is pure Consciousness, eternal, omnipresent, immutable and self-effulgent like the light of the sun. 23. The omnipresent Self, the substratum of all, is non-different from the effulgent Consciousness like heat from fire. It can only be experienced (not known). 24. Pure Consciousness without intellect, the Supreme Self, the illuminator of all, the indivisible, pervading (everything) within and without, is the firm support (of all). 25. The Self is absolute Consciousness. It is pure awareness, undecaying, free from all ideas of acceptance or rejection and not limited by space, time or genus. 26. Just as the air in the universe pervades everything, so also the Self, the Lord, abides bodiless (in everything). 27. The Consciousness which exists in the expanse of earth, in the ornaments, in the sky and in the sun, exists also inside the worms lying in their shells under the earth. 28. There is neither bondage nor liberation, neither duality nor non-duality. There is only Brahman always shining as Consciousness. 29. Awareness is Brahman; the world is Brahman; the various elements are Brahman; I am Brahman; my enemy is Brahman; my friends and relatives are Brahman. 30. The idea of a consciousness and an object of consciousness is bondage; freedom from it is liberation. Consciousness, the object of consciousness and everything else is the Self; this is the gist of all systems of philosophy. 31. There is only consciousness here; this universe is nothing but consciousness; you are consciousness; I am consciousness; the worlds are consciousness - that is the conclusion. 32. That which exists and that which shines (i.e. is known to exist) are all the Self; anything else which seems to shine does not (really) exist. Consciousness alone shines by itself. Ideas of knower and known are idle postulates. CHAPTER TEN NIRVANA 1. Supreme Bliss cannot be experienced through contact of the senses with their objects. The supreme state is that in which the mind is annihilated through one-pointed enquiry. 2. The bliss arising from the contact of the senses with their objects is inferior. Contact with the sense objects is bondage; freedom from it is liberation. 3. Attain the pure state between existence and nonexistence and hold on to it; do not accept or reject the inner or the outer world. 4. Depend always on that true reality between the sentient and the inert which is the infinite space-like heart. 5. The belief in a knower and the known is called bondage. The knower is bound by the known; he is liberated when there is nothing to know. 6. Abandoning the ideas of seer, seen and sight along with latent desires (vasanas) of the past, we meditate on that Self which is the primal light that is the basis of sight. 7. We meditate on the eternal Self, the light of lights which lies between the two ideas of existence and non-existence. 8. We meditate on that Self of consciousness, the bestower of the fruits of all our thoughts, the illuminator of all radiant objects and the farthest limit of all accepted objects. 9. We meditate on that immutable Self, our reality, the bliss of which arises in the mind on account of the close contact between the seer and the seen. 10. If one meditates on that state which comes at the end of the waking state and the beginning of sleep, he will directly experience undecaying bliss. 11. The rock-like state in which all thoughts are still and which is different from the waking and dream states, is one's supreme state. 12. Like mud in a mud pot the Supreme Lord who is existence and space-like consciousness and bliss exists everywhere non-separate (from things). 13. The Self shines by itself as the one boundless ocean of consciousness agitated by waves of thought. 14. Just as the ocean is nothing but water the entire world of things is nothing but consciousness filling all the quarters like the infinite space. 15. Brahman and space are alike as to their invisibility, all-pervasiveness and indestructibility, but Brahman is also consciousness. 16. There is only the one waveless and profound ocean of pure nectar, sweet through and through (i.e. blissful) everywhere. 17. All this is truly Brahman; all this is Atman. Do not cut up Brahman into 'I am one thing' and 'this is another.' 18. As soon as it is realised that Brahman is allpervasive and indivisible this vast samsara is found to be the Supreme Lord. 19. One who realises that everything is Brahman truly becomes Brahman; who would not become immortal if he were to drink nectar? 20. If you are wise you would become this (Brahman) by such conviction; if not, even if you are repeatedly told it would be (useless like offerings) thrown on ashes. 21. Even if you have known the real truth you have to practise always. Water will not become clear by merely uttering the word kataka fruit. 22. If one has the firm conviction 'I am the Supreme Self called the undecaying Vasudeva' he is liberated; otherwise he remains bound. 23. After eliminating everything as 'not this', 'not this', the Supreme Being (lit. state) which cannot be eliminated remains. Think 'I am That' and be happy. 24. Know always that the Self is Brahman, one and whole. How can that which is indivisible be divided into 'I am the meditator' and 'the other is the object of meditation'? 25. When one thinks 'I am pure consciousness' it is called meditation and when even the idea of meditation is forgotten it is samadhi. 26. The constant flow of mental concepts relating to Brahman without the sense of 'I' achieved through intense practice of Self Enquiry (jnana) is what is called samprajnata samadhi (meditation with concepts). 27. Let violent winds which characterise the end of aeons (kalpas) blow; let all the oceans unite, let the twelve suns burn (simultaneously), still no harm befalls one whose mind is extinct. 28. That consciousness which is the witness of the rise and fall of all beings, know that to be the immortal state of supreme bliss. 29. Every moving or unmoving thing whatsoever is only an object visualised by the mind. When the mind is annihilated duality (i.e. multiplicity) is not perceived. 30. That which is immutable, auspicious and tranquil, that in which this world exists, that which manifests itself as the mutable and immutable objects -that is the sole consciousness. 31. Before discarding the slough the snake regards it as itself, but when once it has discarded it in its hole it does not look upon it as itself any longer. 32. He who has transcended both good and evil does not, like a child, refrain from prohibited acts from a sense of sin, nor does he do what is prescribed from a sense of merit. 33. Just as a statue is contained in a pillar (i.e. block) even if it is not actually carved out, so also the world exists in Brahman. Therefore the Supreme State is not a void. 34. Just as a pillar is said to be devoid of the statue when it has not actually been carved out, so also Brahman is said to be void when it is devoid of the impression of the world. 35. Just as still water may be said to contain or not contain ripples, so also Brahman may be said to contain or not contain the world. It is neither void nor existence. Courtesy: SRI RAMANA MAHARSHI TEACHINGS COMPILED BY CHAMAN LAL GADOO