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I prostrate myself before Govinda, the true Guru and ultimate Bliss, who is the unattainable resort of all scriptures and Vedanta. 1 Human nature is the hardest of creaturely states to obtain, even more so that of manhood [note: at the time of this writing the higher practices were more available to men]. Brahminhood is rarer still, and beyond that dedication to the path of Vedic religion. Beyond even that there is discrimination between self and non-self, but liberation by persistence in the state of the unity of God and self is not to be achieved except by the meritorious deeds of hundreds of thousands of lives. 2 These three things are hard to achieve, and are attained only by the grace of God -- human nature, the desire for liberation, and finding refuge with a great sage. 3 He is a suicide who has somehow achieved human birth and even manhood and full knowledge of the scriptures but does not strive for self-liberation, for he destroys himself by clinging to the unreal. 4 Who could be more foolish than the man who has achieved the difficult attainment of a human body and even manhood but still neglects his true good? 5 People may quote the scriptures, make sacrifices to the gods, perform actions and pay homage to the deities, but there is no liberation without recognising the oneness of one's own true being - not even in the lifetime of a hundred Brahmas (countless millions of years). 6 Scripture declares that there is no hope of immortality by means of wealth, so it is evident that liberation cannot be brought about by actions. 7 So let the man of understanding strive for liberation, abandoning desire for the enjoyment of external aims and pleasures, and after becoming the pupil of a good and great teacher, let him fix his mind on the goal he indicates. 8 Sunk in the sea of samsara, one should oneself rouse oneself by holding onto right understanding until one reaches the state of the attainment of union. 9 Abandoning all actions and breaking free from the bonds of achievements, the wise and intelligent should apply themselves to self-knowledge. 10 Action is for the purification of the mind, not for the understanding of reality. The recognition of reality is through discrimination, and not by even tens of millions of actions. 11 Proper analysis leads to the realisation of the reality of the rope, and this is the end of the pain of the fear of the great snake caused by delusion. 12 The realisation of the truth is seen to depend on meditation on statements about what is good, not on bathing or donations or by hundreds of yogic breathing exercises. 13 Achievement of the goal depends primarily on a fit seeker. Things like locality and time are merely secondary in this matter. 14 So he who would know his own nature should practise meditation on the subject after taking refuge with a guru who is a true knower of God and an ocean of compassion. 15 It is the wise and learned man, skilled in sorting out the pros and cons of an argument who is really endowed with the qualities necessary for self-realisation. 16 Discriminating and dispassionate, endowed with peace and similar qualities, and longing for liberation - such is the man who is considered fit to practise seeking for God. 17 The wise talk here of four qualities, possessed of which one will succeed, but without which one will fail. 18 First is listed discrimination between unchanging and changing realities, and after that dispassion for the enjoyment of the fruits of action both here and hereafter, and then the group of six qualities including peace and of course the desire for liberation. 19 " God is the Truth and the world is unreal." It is this realisation that is considered discrimination between the permanent and the impermanent. 20 Dispassion is the turning away from what can be seen and heard and so on in everything which is impermanent, from the body up to the highest heavenly states. 21 The settling of the mind in its goal, by turning away from the mass of objects through observing their defects again and again, is known as peace. 22 The establishment of the senses each in its own source by means of turning away from their objects is known as control. The supreme restraint is in the mind function not being involved in anything external. 23 Bearing all afflictions without retaliation and without mental disturbance is what is known as patience. 24 The holding on to the knowledge of the truth of the Scriptures and the guru's teaching is called faith. It is by means of this that reality is grasped. 25 The continual holding onto the awareness of God alone - continually, is known as concentration - not just mental self- gratification. 26 The wish to be freed by the knowledge of one's true nature from such bonds as seeing oneself as the agent, which are contingent on the body and created by ignorance - this is desire for liberation. 27 This desire for liberation can bear fruit through dispassion, peacefulness etc. by the grace of the guru, even when only weak or mediocre. 28 It is in a man who has strong dispassion and desire for liberation though that peacefulness and so on are really fruitful. 29 But where there is a weakness in these qualities of renunciation and desire for liberation, apparent peacefulness and such like have as much substance as water in the desert. 30 Among the contributory factors of liberation, devotion stands supreme, and it is the search for one's own true nature that is meant by devotion. 31 Others say that devotion is inquiry into the reality of one's own nature. He who possesses the above qualities and would know the truth about his own nature should take refuge with a wise guru who can free him from his bonds. 32 The guru should be one who knows the scriptures, is blameless and a supreme knower of God. He should be at peace in God, tranquil as a fire that has run out of fuel. He should be a boundless ocean of compassion and the friend of those who seek his protection. 33 After prostrating oneself with devotion before the guru and satisfying him with prostrations, humble devotion and service, one should ask him what one needs to know. 34 Hail, lord, friend of those who bow before you, and ocean of compassion. I have fallen into this sea of samsara. Save me with a direct glance from your eye which bestows grace like nectar. 35 I am stricken by the unquenchable forest fire of samsara and blown about by unforseeable winds of circumstances. Save me from death, for I am afraid and take refuge in you, for I know of no one else to help me. 36 Good and peaceful, great men living for the good of all, and having themselves crossed the fearful torrent of becoming, with no ulterior motive help others to cross too . 37 It is the nature of great souls to act spontaneously for the relief of the distress of others, just as the moon here of itself protects the earth parched by the heat of the fierce rays of the sun. 38 Pour upon me your sweet words, imbued with the taste of God's bliss. They spring from your lips as if poured out of a jug, and are pleasing to the ear. For I am tormented by samsara's afflictions, like the flames of a forest fire, Lord. Blessed are those who receive even a passing glance from your eyes. 39 How can I cross this sea of changing circumstances? What should I do, what means employ? In your mercy, Lord, show me how to end the pain of samsara, for I understand nothing. 40 As he said this, tormented by the forest fire of samsara, the great Sage looked at him with a gaze full of compassion, urging him to abandon fear, now that he had taken refuge in him. 41 Out of compassion the Sage undertakes his instruction since he has come to him for help in his search for liberation, is willing to do as he is told, is pacified of mind and calm. 42 Don't be afraid, master. Destruction is not for you. There is indeed a means of crossing the sea of samsara, the way taken by which those who have crossed over before, and I will now instruct you in it. 43 There is a certain great means which puts an end to the fear of samsara. Crossing the sea of change by means of it, you will achieve the ultimate joy. 44 Supreme understanding springs from meditating on the meaning of Vedanta, and that is followed immediately by the elimination of the pain of samsara. 45 The practice of faith, devotion and meditation are declared by scripture to be the means to liberation for a seeker after liberation. He who perseveres in these will achieve freedom from the bondage to the body, created by ignorance. 46 Linked with ignorance, your supreme self has become involved in the bonds of non self, and from that in samsara. The fire of the knowledge born from discriminating between these two will burn out the consequences of ignorance along with its very root. 47 The disciple Out of compassion hear this question I put to you, so that when I have heard the reply from your lips I will be able to put it into practice. 48 What exactly is bondage? How does it come about and remain? How is one freed from it? What exactly is non self? What is the Supreme Self? And how does one discriminate between them? Explain this to me. 49 The guru replied You are indeed blessed, for you have achieved the true purpose of life and sanctified your family, in that you seek deification by liberation from the bonds of ignorance. 50 Sons and suchlike are able free their father from debts, but no-one can free some-one else from bondage. 51 The pain of something like a weight on the head can be removed by others, but the pain of things like hunger can be put an end to by no-one but oneself. 52 A sick man is seen to get better by taking the appropriate medicine - not through treatment undertaken by others. 53 Reality can be experienced only with the eye of understanding, not just by a scholar. What the moon is like must be seen with one's own eyes. How can others do it for you? 54 Who but yourself can free you from the bonds of the fetters of things like ignorance, lust and the consequences of your actions - even in hundreds of thousands of years? 55 Liberation is achieved not by observances or by analysis, nor by deeds or learning, but only by the realisation of one's oneness with God, and by no other means. 56 The beauty of a lute and skill in playing its cords can bring some pleasure to people but can hardly make you a king. 57 In the same way, speech alone, even a deluge of words, with scholarship and skill in commenting on the scriptures, may achieve some personal satisfaction but not liberation. 58 When the supreme reality is not understood, the study of the scriptures is useless, and study of the scriptures is useless when the supreme reality has been understood. 59 The tangle of words is a great forest which leads the mind off wandering about, so wise men should strive to get to know the truth about their own nature. 60 Except for the medicine of the knowledge of God, what use are Vedas, scriptures, mantras and such medicines when you have been bitten by the snake of ignorance? 61 An illness is not cured just by pronouncing the name of the medicine without drinking it, and you will not be liberated by just pronouncing the word God without direct experience. 62 How can one reach liberation by just pronouncing the word God without achieving the elimination of the visible universe and realising the truth about one's own nature? It will just be a waste of speech. 63 One cannot become a king just by saying, "I am the king," without defeating one's enemies and taking possession of the country. 64 A buried treasure will not come out just by calling it, but needs a good map, digging, removal of obstructing stones and so on to get at it. In the same way the pure reality, hidden by the effects of Maya, cannot be achieved by just abusing it, but by instruction from a knower of God, reflection, meditation and so on. 65 So the wise should strive with all their ability for liberation from the bonds of change, as they would in the case of sickness and things like that. 66 The question you have asked today is a good one in the opinion of those learned in the scriptures, to the point and full of meaning. It needs to be understood by those seeking liberation. 67 Listen careful to what I say, master. By hearing this you will be freed from the bonds of change. 68 The primary basis of liberation is held to be total dispassion for everything impermanent, and after that peacefulness, restraint, patience, and the complete renunciation of scriptural observances. 69 After that the practicant finds there comes listening, reflection on what one has heard, and long meditation on the truth. Then the wise man will experience the supreme non-dual state and come here and now to the bliss of Nirvana. 70 When you have heard me fully explain what you need to know about the discrimination between self and non-self, then bear it in mind. 71 The body, constituted of marrow, bone, fat, flesh, ligament and skin, and composed of feet, legs, chest, arms, back and head, is the seat of the "I" and "mine" delusion, and is known as the physical body by the wise, while space, air, fire, water and earth are the subtle elements. 72 - 73 When these various elements are combined, they form the physical body, while in themselves they constitute the objects of the senses, the five types of sound and so on, for the enjoyment of the individual. 74 The ignorant who are bound to the senses by the strong, hardly breakable bonds of desire, are borne here and there, up and down, in the control of their own karmic impulses. 75 Deer, elephant, moth, fish and wasp, these five have all died from attachment by their own volition to one of the five senses, sound etc., so what about the man who is attached to all five! 76 The effect of the senses is more deadly than even that of a cobra. Their poison kills a man who only just looks at them with his eyes. 77 Only he who is free from the terrible hankering after the senses which is so hard to overcome is fit for liberation, and no-one else, not even if he is an expert in the six branches of scripture. 78 The shark of longing grasps those whose desire for liberation is only superficial by the throat as they try to cross the sea of samsara and drowns them halfway. 79 He who has killed the shark of the senses with the sword of firm dispassion can cross the sea of samsara without impediment. 80 Realise that death quickly waylays the senseless man who follows the uneven way of the senses, but that man achieves his purpose who follows the guidance of a true, compassionate guru. Know this as the truth. 81 If you really have a desire for liberation, avoid the senses from a great distance, as you would poison, and continually practice the nectar-like qualities of contentment, compassion, forbearance, honesty, calm and restraint. 82 He who neglects that which should be undertaken at all times, the liberation from the bonds created by beginningless ignorance, and gets stuck in pandering to the alien good of this body, is committing suicide by doing so. 83 He who seeks to know himself while pampering of the body is crossing a river holding onto a crocodile in mistake for a log. 84 This infatuation with the body and such things is a great death for the seeker after liberation. He who has overcome this infatuation is worthy of liberation. 85 Overcome this great death of infatuation with such things as the body, wives and children. Sages who have overcome it go to the supreme realm of God. 86 This body is material and offensive, consisting of skin, flesh, blood, sinews, veins, fat, marrow and bones, and full of urine and excrement. 87 This material body, which arises from past action out of material elements formed by the combination of subtle elements, is the vehicle of sensation for the individual. This is the state of a waking person perceiving material objects. 88 The life force creates for itself, out of itself, material object of enjoyment by means of the external senses - such colourful things as flowers, perfumes, women, etc. That is why this has its fullest enjoyment in the waking state. 89 See this material body, all that the external existence of a man depends on, as just like the house of a house-dweller. 90 Birth, old age and death are inherent in the physical body, as are such conditions as a heavy build and childhood, while there are different circumstances like caste and occupation, all sorts of diseases, and various different types of treatment, like respect and contempt to bear with. 91 Ears, skin, eyes, nose and tongue are organs of sense, since they enable the experience of objects, while voice, hands, feet and bowels are organs of action through their inclination to activity. 92 The inner sense is known variously as mind, understanding, the sense of agency, or volition, depending on its particular function - mind as imagining and analysing, understanding as establishing the truth of a matter, the sense of responsibility from relating everything to oneself, and volition as seeking its own good. 93, 94 The one vital breath (prana) takes the form of all the various breathings, exhalations and psychic currents and fields according to the various functions and characteristics, as do gold and water and such things. 95 The eight citadels of groups of five categories, starting respectively with speech, hearing, vital breath, ether, intelligence, ignorance desire and action, constitute what is known as the subtle body. 96 Hear that this higher body, also known as the subtle body, with its desires and its tendency to follow the course of causal conditioning, is derived from the undifferentiated elements, and is a beginningless superimposition, due to its ignorance, on the true self. 97 Sleep is a distinct state of the self in which it shines by itself alone, whereas in dreaming the mind itself assumes the sense of agency due to the various desires of the waking state, while the supreme self shines on, on its own, as pure consciousness, the witness of everything from anger and such things on, without being itself affected by any of the actions performed by the mind. Since it is unattached to action, it is not affected by anything done by its superimpositions. 98, 99 The subtle body is the vehicle of all operations for the self, like an axe and so on for the carpenter. The self itself is pure consciousness, and, as such, remains unattached. 100 Blindness, short-sightedness and sharp eyesight are simply due to the healthiness or defectiveness of the eye, just as such states as deafness and dumbness are conditions of the ear etc., not of the self, the knower. 101 Breathing in and out, yawning, sneezing and bodily secretions are described by experts as functions depending on the Inner Energy, while hunger and thirst for truth are functions of the Inner Energy direct. 102 The mind, as a reflection of Light, resides in the body with its senses, the eyes etc., through identifying itself with them. 103 The sense of responsibility is what feels itself as the doer and bearer of the consequences, and in together with the three Attributes, purity etc., undergoes the three states (of sleeping, dreaming and waking). 104 When the senses are favourable it is happy, and when they are not it is unhappy. So happiness and suffering are its attributes, and not those of the ever blissful self. 105 The senses are enjoyable only for the sake of oneself, not for themselves. The self is the most dear of everything, and consequently the self is ever blissful, and never experiences suffering. 106 That we experience the bliss of the self free from the senses in deep sleep is verified by the scriptures, by direct experience, by tradition and by deduction. 107 The so-called Inexpressible, the Lord's power, is the ultimate, beginningless ignorance made up of the three qualities (gunas), the pure Maya knowable through its effects, out of which this whole world is produced. 108 It cannot be said to either exist or not exist, to be divisible or indivisible, composite or unitary or both. It is amazing and indescribable. 109 It can be overcome by the realisation of the pure non-dual God, like the false idea of a snake through the recognition of the rope. It is composed of the three qualities (gunas) of passion, dullness and purity, recognised by their effects. 110 The distracting power of passion is by nature active, and from it the primeval emanation of activity has taken place. The mental states like desire and pain continually arise from it as well. 111 Lust, anger, greed, pride, envy, self-importance and jealousy - these are the awful effects produced by passion. Consequently this passion quality is the cause of bondage. 112 The veiling effect of the dullness quality is the power that distorts the appearance of things. It is the cause of samsara in man, and what leads to the activation of the distracting power (of passion). 113 Even a wise and learned man and an adept in the knowledge of the extremely subtle self can be overcome by dullness, and fail to realise it, even when demonstrated it in many different ways. What is presented by delusion he looks on as good, and grasps at its qualities. Such, alas, is the strength of the great veiling power of this awful dullness quality! 114 Lack of sense or distorted understanding, lack of judgement, and bewilderment - these never leave him who is caught in this delusion, and the distracting power torments him continually. 115 Ignorance, laziness, drowsiness, sleep, carelessness, stupidity and so on are the effects of the dullness quality. One stuck in these does not understand anything, but remains as if asleep, like a wooden post. 116 Clear purity is like water, but combined with these other qualities it leads to samsara, though in this purity the nature of the self is reflected, like the disk of the sun illuminating the whole world. 117 In purity mixed with the other qualities virtues such as humility, restraint, truthfulness, faith, devotion, desire for liberation, spiritual tendencies and freedom from entanglement occur. 118 In real purity however the qualities which occur are contentment, self-understanding, supreme peace, fulfilment, joy and abiding in one's supreme self, through which one experiences real bliss. 119 This Inexpressible, described as made up of the three qualities (gunas), is the active body of the self. Deep sleep is a special condition of it, in which the activity of all functions of awareness cease. 120 Deep sleep is the cessation of all forms of awareness, and the reversion of consciousness to a latent form of the self. "I knew nothing" is the universal experience. 121 The body, its functions, vital energies, the thinking mind, etc., and all forms, objects, enjoyment, etc. the physical elements such as the ether, in fact everything up to this Inexpressible are not one's true nature. 122 Everything is the creation of Maya from space itself down to the individual body. Look on it all as a desert mirage, unreal and not yourself. 123 Now I will instruct you in the true nature of your supreme self, by understanding which a man is freed from his bonds and achieves final fulfilment. 124 There IS something your own, unchanging, the "I", the substratum, the basis, which is the triple observer, distinct from the five sheaths. 125 The awareness that knows everything whether waking, dreaming or in deed sleep, and whether or not there is movement in the mind, that is the "I". 126 It is that which experiences everything, but which nothing else can experience, which thinks through the intelligence etc., but which nothing else can think. - 127 It is that by which all this is filled, but which nothing else can fill, and which, in shining, makes all this shines as well. 128 It is that whose mere presence makes the body, bodily senses, and mind etc. keep to their appropriate functions like servants. 129 It is that by which everything from the ego function down to the body is known like an earthen vessel, for its very nature is everlasting consciousness. 130 This is one's inmost nature, the eternal Person, whose very essence is unbroken awareness of happiness, who is ever unchanging and pure consciousness, and in obedience to whom the various bodily function continue. 131 In one of pure nature, the morning light of the Unmanifest shines even here in the cave of the mind, illuminating all this with its glory, like the sun up there in space. 132 That which knows the thinking mind and ego functions takes its form from the body with its senses and other functions, like fire does in a ball of iron, but it neither acts nor changes in any way. 133 It is never born, never dies, grows, decays, or changes. Even when the body is destroyed it does not cease to be, like the space in an earthen vessel. 134 The true self, of the nature of pure consciousness, and separate from the productions of nature, illuminates all this, real and unreal, without itself changing. It plays in the states of waking and so on, as the foundation sense of 'I exist', as the awareness, witness of all experience. 135 By means of a trained mind, and thanks to your faculty of understanding, experience in practice the true self of this 'I exist' in yourself, cross the ocean of Samsara's waves of birth and death, and established in the nature of God, and achieve the goal (of life). 136 Seeing 'This is me' in what is not really oneself, this is man's bondage, the result of ignorance and the cause of the descent into the pain of birth and death. It is because of this that one sees this unreal body as real, and identifying oneself with it, feeds it and cares for it with the senses, like a grub in its cocoon. 137 One who is confused by lack of clarity sees something which is not there, like a man mistaking a rope for a snake through lack of understanding, and experiencing great pain etc. from mistakenly taking hold of it. So, my friend, hear this - Bondage is thinking that something non-existent exists. 138 This obscuring power conceals the infinite glory of one's true self which radiates with its indivisible, eternal and unified power of understanding, like an eclipse obscures the sun's disk, and creates darkness. 139 When he has lost sight of his true self, immaculate and resplendent, a man identifies himself with his body out of ignorance. Then the great so-called dispersive power torments him with its fetters of continuous desire, hatred etc. 140 When a man has fallen to the state of being swallowed up by the great shark of ignorance, he assumes to himself the various states superimposed upon him, and in a pitiful state wanders rising and sinking in the great ocean of Samsara. 141 Just as cloud formations, arising from the suns rays, obscure the sun and fill the sky, so the sense of self-identity, arising from one's true nature, obscures the existence of the true self and itself fills experience. 142 Just as the thick clouds covering the sun on a bad day are buffeted by cold, howling blasts of wind, so, when one's true nature is obscured by deep ignorance, the strong dispersive power torments the confused understanding with many afflictions. 143 It is from these powers that man's bondage has arisen. Confused by them, he mistakes the body for himself and wanders in error. 144 The seed of the Samsara tree is ignorance, identification with the body is its shoot, desire is its first leaves, activity its water, the bodily frame its trunk, the vital forces its branches, the faculties its twigs, the senses its flowers, the manifold pains arising from various actions its fruit, and the bird on it is the individual experiencing them. 145 Ignorance is the root of this bondage to what is not one's true nature, a bondage which is called beginningless and endless. It gives rise to the long course of suffering - birth, death, sickness, old age, etc. 146 It cannot be destroyed by weapons, wind or fire, nor even by countless actions - by nothing, in fact, except by the wonderful sword of wisdom, sharpened by God's grace. 147 He who is devoted to the authority of the scriptures achieves steadiness in his religious life, and that brings inner purity. The man of pure understanding comes to the experience of his true nature, and by this Samsara is destroyed, root and all. 148 One's true nature does not shine out when covered by the five sheaths, material and otherwise, although they are the product of its own power, like the water in a pool, covered with algae. 149 On removing the algae, the clean, thirst-quenching and joy-inducing water is revealed to a man. 150 When the five sheaths have been removed, the supreme light shines forth, pure, eternally blissful, single in essence, and within. 151 To be free from bondage the wise man must practise discrimination between self and non-self. By that alone he will become full of joy, recognising himself as Being, Consciousness and Bliss. 152 Just as one separates a blade of grass from its sheaths, so by discriminating one's true nature as internal, unattached and free from action, and abandoning all else, one is free and identified only with one's true self. 153 This body is the product of food, and constitutes the material sheath. It depends on food and dies without it. It is a mass of skin, flesh, blood, bones and uncleanness. It is not fit to see as oneself, who is ever pure. 154 The body did not exist before birth, nor will it exist after death. It is born for a moment, its qualities are momentary, and it is inherently changing. It is not a single thing, but inert, and should be viewed like an earthen pot. How could it be one's true self, which is the observer of changing phenomena? 155 Made up of arms and legs and so on, the body cannot be one's true self as it can live on without various limbs, and other faculties persist without them. What is controlled cannot be the controller. 156 While the body of the observer is of a specific nature, behaviour and situation, it is clear that the nature of one's true self is devoid of characteristics. 157 How could the body, which is a heap of bones, covered with flesh, full of filth and highly impure, be oneself, the featureless observer? 158 The deluded man makes the assumption that he is the mass of skin, flesh, fat bones and filth, while the man who is strong in discrimination knows himself as devoid of characteristics, the innate supreme Reality. 159 'I am the body' is the opinion of the fool. 'I am body and soul' is the view of the scholar, while for the great-souled, discriminating man, his inner knowledge is 'I am God'. 160 Get rid of the opinion of yourself as this mass of skin, flesh, fat, bones and filth, foolish one, and make yourself instead the self of everything, the God beyond all thought, and enjoy supreme peace. 161 While the scholar does not overcome his sense of 'I am this' in the body and its faculties, there is no liberation for him, however much he may be learned in religion and philosophy. 162 Just as you have no self identification with your shadow-body, reflection-body, dream-body or imagination-body, so you should not have with the living body either. 163 Identification of oneself with the body is the seed of the pain of birth etc. in people attached to the unreal, so get rid of it with care. When this thought is eliminated, there is no more desire for rebirth. 164 The vital energy joined to the five activities forms the vitality sheath, by which the material sheath is filled, and engages in all these activities. 165 The Breath, being a product of the vital energy, is not one's true nature either. Like the air, it enters and leaves the body, and knows neither its own or other people's good or bad, dependent as it is on something else. 166 The faculty of knowledge and the mind itself constitute the mind-made sheath, the cause of such distinctions as 'me' and 'mine'. It is strong and has the faculty of creating distinctions of perception etc., and works itself through the vitality sheath. 167 The mind-made fire burns the multiplicity of experience in the fuel of numerous desires of the senses presented as oblations in the form of sense objects by the five senses like five priests. 168 There is no such thing as ignorance beyond the thinking mind. Thought is itself ignorance, the cause of the bondage of becoming. When thought is eliminated, everything else is eliminated. When thought increases everything else increases. 169 In sleep which is devoid of actual experience, it is the mind alone which produces everything, the experiencer and everything else, by its own power, and in the waking state there is no difference. All this is the product of the mind. 170 In deep sleep when the thinking mind has gone into abeyance there is nothing, by every one's experience, so man's Samsara is a mind creation, and has no real existence. 171 Cloud is gathered by the wind, and is driven away by it too. Bondage is imagined by the mind, and liberation is imagined by it too. 172 By dwelling with desire on the body and other senses the mind binds a man like an animal with a rope, and the same mind liberates him from the bond by creating simple distaste for the senses as if they were poison. 173 Thus the mind is the cause of a man's finding both bondage and liberation. When soiled with the attribute of desire it is the cause of bondage, and when clear of desire and ignorance it is the cause of liberation. 174 By achieving the purity of an habitual discrimination and dispassion, the mind is inclined to liberation, so the wise seeker after liberation should first develop these. 175 A great tiger known as the mind lives in the forest of the senses, so pious seekers after liberation should not go there. 176 The mind continually presents endless coarse or subtle sense experiences for a person -- all the differences of physique, caste, state and birth, and the fruits resulting from attributes and actions. 177 The mind continually confuses that which is by nature unattached, binding it with the fetters of body, senses and faculties so that it thinks in terms of 'me' and 'mine' in the experiences he is achieving. 178 Man's Samsara is due to the error of additions (to his true nature), and it is from the mind's imagination that the bondage of these additions comes. This is the cause of the pain of birth and so on for the man without discrimination who is filled with desire and ignorance. 179 That is why the wise who have experienced reality call the mind ignorance, for it is by that that everything is driven, like a mass of clouds by the wind. 180 So the mind must be earnestly purified by the seeker after liberation. Once it is purified, the fruit of liberation comes easily to hand. 181 Completely rooting out desire for the senses and abandoning all activity by one-pointed devotion to liberation, he who is established with true faith in study etc., purges away the passion from his understanding. 182 What is mind-made cannot be one's true nature, because it is changeable, having a beginning and an end, because it is subject to pain, and because it is itself an object. The knower cannot be seen as an object of consciousness. 183 The intellect along with its faculties, its activities and its characteristic of seeing itself as the agent, constitutes the knowledge sheath which is the cause of man's samsara. 184 Intellectual knowledge which as a function is a distant reflection of pure consciousness, is a natural faculty. It continually creates the awareness 'I exist', and strongly identifies itself with the body, its faculties and so on. 185 This sense of self is from beginningless time. As the person it is the agent of all relative occupations. Through its proclivities from the past it performs good and bad actions, and bears their fruit. 186 After experiencing them it is born in all sorts of different wombs, and progresses up and down in life, the experiencer of the knowledge-created states of waking, sleeping etc., and of pleasure and pain. 187 It always sees as its own such things as the body, and its circumstances, states, duties, actions and functions. The knowledge sheath is very impressive owing to its inherent affinity to the supreme self, which, identifying itself with the superimposition, experiences samsara because of this illusion. 188 This knowledge-created light shines among the faculties of the heart, and the true self, although itself motionless, becomes the actor and the experiencer while identified with this superimposition. 189 Allied to the intellect, just a part of itself, although the true self of everything, and beyond the limitations of such an existence, it identifies itself with this illusory self - as if clay were to identify itself with earthen jars. 190 In conjunction with such additional qualities, the supreme self seems to manifest the same characteristics, just as the undifferentiated fire seems to take on the qualities of the iron it heats. 191 The disciple Whether it is by mistake or for some other reason that the supreme self has become a living being, the identification is beginningless, and there can be no end to what has no beginning. 192 So the state of a living being is going to be a continual samsara, and there can be no liberation for it. Can you explain this to me? 193 The teacher You have asked the right question, wise one, so now listen. The mistaken imagination of illusion is not a reality. 194 Outside of illusion no attachment can come about for what is by nature unattached, actionless and formless, as in the case of blueness and space (the sky). 195 Existence as a living being, due to the mistaken intellect identifying itself with its own light, the inner joy of understanding, beyond qualities and beyond activity does not really exist, so when the illusion ceases, it does too, having no real existence of its own. 196 So long as the illusion exists, it too has existence, created by the confusion of misunderstanding, in the same way that a rope seems to be a snake so long as the illusion persists. When the illusion comes to an end, so does the snake. 197 Ignorance and its effects are seen as beginningless until with the arising of insight, ignorance and its effects are destroyed along with its root, even if beginningless, like dreams on awaking from sleep. Even if beginningless this world of appearances is not eternal - like something originally non-existent. 198, 199 Even if beginningless, something originally non-existent is seen to come to an end. In the same way the living organism which is thought to belong to oneself through its identification with the intellect, does not really exist. On the other hand, the true self is quite distinct from it, and the identification of oneself with the intellect is due to misunderstanding. 200, 201 Even if beginningless, something originally non-existent is seen to come to an end. In the same way the living organism which is thought to belong to oneself through its identification with the intellect, does not really exist. On the other hand, the true self is quite distinct from it, and the identification of oneself with the intellect is due to misunderstanding. 200, 201 The cessation of that wrong identification is achieved by right understanding, and by no other means. Right understanding is held by scripture to be the recognition of the oneness of God and oneself. 202 This recognition is achieved by right discrimination between what is truly oneself and what is not, so one must develop this discrimination between the conventional self and one's true self. 203 Like very muddy water, which is clearly water again when the mud is removed, one's true self shines forth again when the contamination is removed. 204 When the non-existent is removed the individual is disclosed as the supreme self, so one must see to the removal of thoughts about "me" and suchlike from oneself. 205 The level of sense awareness cannot be one's true self since it is changeable, physical, restricted, a sense-object and intermittent. What is transient should not be mistaken what is eternal. 206 The level of pleasure is the aspect of ignorance which is a sort of reflection the blissfulness of the true self. Its attributes are the qualities of enjoyment and so on, which are experienced when an enjoyable object is present. It presents itself spontaneously to those fortunate enough to experience the fruits of good deeds, something from which everyone experiences great pleasure without trying to. 207 The pleasure level is manifest at its fullest extent in deep sleep, whereas in dreams and the waking state it is only partially manifest, stimulated by such things as the sight of enjoyable objects. 208 The pleasure level cannot be the true self either, since it is changeable, a conditioned phenomenon, the result of good deeds, and involved in the other levels of consciousness as well. 209 When all these five levels have been disposed of by meditating on scripture, when everything as been eliminated there remains the witness, pure consciousness itself. 210 This self, the light itself, beyond the five levels, the witness of the three states, changeless, unsullied, eternal joy - this should be recognised by the wise as one's real self. 211 The disciple After transcending these five levels as unreal, master, I find nothing but a nothingness, the absence of everything. What object remains for a wise person to identify with? 212 The teacher You have spoken the truth, learned one. You are skilled in discrimination. That by which all other phenomena, starting with the thought of "me", are experienced, but which is itself experienced by none, know that, by the subtlest of understanding, as your true self. 213, 214 Whatever is experienced by something else has that as its witness. When there is nothing else to experience something, one cannot talk of it being witnessed. 215 This has the nature of self-awareness, since it is conscious of itself. Thus the individual self is by its self-awareness none other than the Supreme itself. 216 That which is fully manifest in the waking state, dream and deep sleep, which is perceived within in the form of the various experiences and impressions like self-consciousness, and which is experienced as the eternal Bliss, and Consciousness of one's true self, see this within your own heart. 217 The ignorant see the reflection of the sun in the water of a jar and think it is the sun itself. In the same way the fool sees the reflection of consciousness in its associated qualities and mistakenly identifies himself with it. 218 The wise man ignores jar, water and the sun's reflection in it, and sees the self-illuminating sun itself which gives light to all three but is independent of them. 219 When a man abandons the body and the intellect which is just a derivative of consciousness, and recognising one's true self, the experiencer, pure awareness, the source of everything existent and non-existent, itself devoid of attributes, eternal, all-pervading, omnipresent, subtle, empty of inside and outside, and itself none other than one's true self (for this is truly inborn), he becomes free from evil, sinless and immortal, free from pain, and the incarnation of joy. Master of himself he is afraid of no-one. There is no other way to the breaking of the bonds of temporal existence for the seeker after liberation than the realisation of his own true nature. 220, 221, 222 The recognition of one's inseparable oneness with God is the means of liberation from temporal existence, by which the wise person achieves the non-dual, blissful nature of God. 223 Having attained the nature of God, the knower returns no more to the temporal state, so it is essential to recognise one's own true inseparable oneness with God. 224 God is the truth, knowledge and eternal. He is pure, transcendent and self-sufficient - the everlasting, undiluted bliss which is enthroned undivided and inseparable within. 225 This supreme Reality is non-dual in the absence of any other reality beside itself. In the state of knowledge of ultimate truth there is nothing else. 226 This great variety of things which we experience through our failure to understand is all really God himself, once the distortion of thought is removed. 227 A pot made of clay is nothing other than clay, and its true reality is always simply clay. The pot is no more than the shape of a pot, and is just a mistake of imagination based on the name. 228 No one can show that the reality of the pot is different from the clay, so the pot is just an imagination based on misunderstanding, and the clay is the only final reality. 229 Similarly everything which is made of God is just God and has no separate existence. Whoever says it exists is not yet free from delusion and is like someone talking in his sleep. 230 The supreme scripture of the Arthava Veda declares that "All this is God", so all this is simply God, and anything in addition to that has no reality. 231 If it has any reality, that is the end of any eternal reality for oneself, the scriptures are false, and the Lord himself a liar, three things which are quite unacceptable to great souls. 232 The Lord, who knows the reality of things, has stated "I do not depend on them" (Bhagavad Gita 9.4) and "Things do not exist in me" (Bhagavad Gita 9.5). 233 If everything really existed, it ought to exist in deep sleep too. Since nothing does, then it follows that it is unreal and an illusion like a dream. 234 So the world is not distinct from the Supreme Self, and its perception is an illusion like all attributes. What we add to That has no reality, but merely appears to exist in addition to That through misunderstanding. 235 Whatever a deluded person experiences in his delusion is still always God. The silver is only mother-of-pearl. It is always God that is mistaken for something else, and whatever is added to God is just a name. 236 So there exists only the supreme God, the One Reality without a second, consisting of pure consciousness, without any blemish, peace itself and without beginning or end, actionless and having the nature of pure bliss. 237 Beyond all delusion-created distinctions, this Whatever shines by its own light, eternal, fulfilled, indivisible, infinite, formless, inexpressible, nameless and indestructible. 238 Seers know this supreme Reality, free from the distinctions of knower, known and knowledge, infinite, complete in itself and consisting of pure Awareness. 239 What cannot be got rid of or taken hold of, beyond the sphere of mind and speech, measureless and beginning-and-endless is God, one's true self and supreme glory. 240 The words "God" and "yourself", referred to by the terms "That" and "Thou" are conscientiously purified by repetition of the scriptural phrase "Thou art That", and are clearly seen to be identical. 241 Their identity can be indicated but not described, since they have mutually exclusive meanings like a firefly and the sun, a king and a slave, a well and the ocean, or an atom and mount Meru. 242 The distinction between them is due to the imagined additional associations, but in reality there are no such additions. The primary mental activity is due to the Lord's Maya, and in the case of the individual it is the result of the five sheaths. 243 These are additions to the Lord and the individual, and when they are removed, there is neither Supreme nor individual. A ruler is known by his kingdom, and a warrior by his arms. Take these away, and there is neither warrior nor king. 244 Scripture itself, with the words "Here is the teaching" (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 2.3.6), denies the imagined duality in God. One must get rid of these additions by means of understanding backed up by the authority of the scriptures. 245 " Not this, not this" (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 2.3.6) means that nothing one can think of is real, like a rope mistaken for a snake, or like a dream. Carefully getting rid of the apparent in this way, one should then come to understand the oneness of the Lord and the individual. 246 So the meaning of these two expressions, Lord and individual, must be carefully considered until their essential oneness is understood. It is not enough just to reject or accept either of them. One must come to the recognition of the identity of the meaning of them both. 247 In the phrase "this person is Devadatta" the identity is indicated by removing the distinction, and in the same way, in the expression "Thou art That" the wise must get rid of the apparent contradiction and recognise the complete identity of God and self by carefully identifying the shared attribute of pure consciousness. Hundreds of scriptural sayings declare the identity of oneself and God in this way. 248, 249 In accordance with "It is nothing material" (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 3.8.8) eliminate the unreal and find that which like the sky is pure and solitary, and is beyond thought. Eliminate too this purely illusory body which you have hitherto identified with yourself. Then recognising, "I am God" with purified understanding, see your true self as undifferentiated consciousness. 250 Everything made of clay, such as pot, is always to be seen as purely clay. In the same way, everything deriving from this supreme Self must be simply recognised as pure Reality. Since there is no reality beyond that, it is truly one's very self, and you are that still, unblemished, non-dual, supreme Reality of God. 251 Just as the things like places, time, objects and observer imagined in a dream are unreal, so the world experienced in the waking state too is created by one's own ignorance. Since the body-creating forces, self-identification, and so on, are also unreal, you are that still, unblemished, non-dual, supreme Reality of God. 252 That which is mistakenly imagined to exist is recognised by wisdom to be That alone, and is thus undifferentiated. The colourful world of a dream disappears. What remains other than oneself on waking? 253 Beyond birth, creed, family and tribe, free from the distortion of attributes of name and appearance, transcending locality, time and objects, you are That, God himself. Meditate on the fact within yourself. 254 That supreme Reality beyond the realm of anything that can be said, but the resort of the pure eye of understanding, the pure reality of Consciousness-Awareness-Mind, etc. - you are That, God himself. Meditate on the fact within yourself. 255 That which is unaffected by the six afflictions (of aging, death, hunger, thirst, desire and ignorance), which is meditated on in the heart of the devotee, unrecognised by the senses, unknown by the intellect - you are That, God himself. Meditate on the fact within yourself. 256 That basis on which the mistakenly imagined world exists, itself dependent on nothing else, devoid of true and false, without parts, and without mental image - you are That, God himself. Meditate on the fact within yourself. 257 That which is indestructible, free from birth, growth, development, decay, illness and death; which is the cause of the creation, maintenance and destruction of everything - you are That, God himself. Meditate on the fact within yourself. 258 Free of parts, of an unchanging quality, undisturbed like a waveless sea, declared to be of an eternally indivisible nature - you are That, God ihimself. Meditate on the fact within yourself. 259 Itself One but the cause of the many, the supreme Cause which does away with all other causes, itself devoid of distinctions of "cause" and "effect" - you are That, God himself. Meditate on the fact within yourself. 260 Without modification, great and unending, the supreme Reality beyond destruction and indestructibility, the eternal unfading, unblemished, fulfilment - you are That, God himself. Meditate on the fact within yourself. 261 That Reality which manifests itself as the many through the illusions of names, shapes, attributes and changes, but which, like gold is always itself unchanged (in different objects) - you are That, God himself. Meditate on the fact within yourself. 262 That, beyond which there is nothing, but which shines beyond everything else, the inner, uniform self-nature of being-consciousness-joy, infinite and eternal - you are That, God himself. Meditate on the fact within yourself. 263 One should meditate within oneself with the mind well controlled on the truth declared here. Then the truth will be disclosed free from doubt, like water in the palm of one's hand. 264 Realising one's true nature as pure consciousness, one should remain always established in oneself, like a king surrounded by his army, and should redirect all that is back into God. 265 In the cave of the mind, free from attributes of being and not-being, there exists God, the Truth, supreme and without a second. He who by himself dwells in that cave returns no more to a mother's womb. 266 Even when one knows the truth, there still remains the strong, beginningless tendency to think "I am the doer and the reaper of the consequences" which is the cause of samsara. It must be carefully removed by living in the state of observing the truth within oneself. The wise call that removal of this tendency liberation. 267 The tendency to see "me" and "mine" in the body and the senses, which are not oneself must be done way with by the wise by remaining identified with one's true self. 268 Recognising one's true inner self, the witness of the mind and its operations, and reflecting on the truth of "I am That", get rid of this wrong opinion about oneself. 269 Abandoning the concerns of the world, abandoning concern about the body, and abandoning even concern about scriptures, see to the removal wrong assumptions about yourself. 270 It is owing to people's worldly desires, their desires for scriptures, and their desires concerning their bodies that they do not achieve realisation. 271 Those who know about these things call these three desires the iron fetter that binds the feet of those who are seeking escape from the prison-house of samsara. He who is free from them reaches liberation. 272 The beautiful smell of aloe wood which is masked by a bad smell through contamination by water and such things becomes evident again when it is rubbed clean. 273 Desire for one's true self which is veiled by endless internal other desires becomes pure and evident again like the smell of sandalwood through application with wisdom. 274 When the mass of desires for things other than oneself obscuring the contrary desire for one's real self are eliminated by constant self-remembrance, then it discloses itself of its own accord. 275 As the mind becomes more and more inward-turned, it becomes gradually freed from external desires, and when all such desires are fully eliminated self-realisation is completely freed from obstruction. 276 When he is always poised in self-awareness the yogi's thinking mind stops, and the cessation of desires takes place as a result, so see to the removal of all ideas of additions to your true self. 277 Dullness (tamas) is removed by passion (rajas) and purity (sattva), desire is removed by purity, and purity when itself purified, so establishing yourself in purity, see to the removal of all ideas of additions to your true self. 278 Recognising that the effects of past conditioning will sustain the body, remain undisturbed and work away hard at seeing to the removal of all ideas of additions to your true self. 279 " I am not the individual life. I am God." Getting rid of all previous misidentifications like this, see to the removal of all ideas of additions to your true self created by the power of desires. 280 Recognising yourself as the self of everything by the authority of scripture, by reasoning and by personal experience, see to the removal of all ideas of additions to your true self whenever they manifest themselves. 281 The wise man has no business concerning himself with the acquisition or disposal of things, so by adherence to the one reality, see to the removal of all ideas of additions to your true self. 282 Realising the identity of yourself and God by the help of sayings like "You are That", see to the removal of all ideas of additions to your true self so as to strengthen the adherence of yourself in God. 283 Eliminate completely your self-identification with this body, and with determination see that your mind is devoted to the removal of all ideas of additions to your true self. 284 So long as even a dream-like awareness of yourself as an individual in the world remains, as a wise person persistently see to the removal of all ideas of additions to your true self. 285 Without giving way to the least descent into forgetfulness through sleep, worldly affairs or the various senses, meditate on yourself within. 286 Shunning the body which is derived from the impurities of your mother and father and itself made up of impurities and flesh as you would an outcaste from a good distance, become Godlike and achieve the goal of life. 287 Restoring the self in you to the supreme Self like the space in a jar back to Space itself by meditation on their indivisibility, always remain silent, wise one. 288 Taking up through your true self the condition of your real glory, reject thoughts of a divine universe as much as of yourself as a reality, as you would a dish of filth. 289 Transferring your present self-identification with the body to yourself as consciousness, being and bliss, abandon the body and be complete forever. 290 When you know "I am that very God" in which the reflection of the world appears, like a city in a mirror, then you will be one who has achieved the goal of life. 291 Attaining that Reality which is self-existent and primal, non-dual consciousness, and bliss, formless and actionless, one should abandon the unreal body taken on by oneself, like an actor doffing his costume. 292 All this experienced by oneself is false, and so is the sense of I-hood in view of its ephemeral nature. How can "I know everything" be true of something which is itself ephemeral. 293 That which warrants the term "I" on the other hand is that which is the observer of the thought "I" etc. in view of its permanent existence even in the state of deep sleep. Scripture itself declares that it is "unborn and eternal" (Katha Upanishad 1.2.18). That true inner self is distinct from both being and not-being. 294 The knower of all the changes in changing things must itself be permanent and unchanging. The unreality in the extremes of being and not-being is repeatedly seen in the experience of thought, dreaming and deep sleep. 295 So give up identification with this mass of flesh as well as with what thinks it a mass. Both are intellectual imaginations. Recognise your true self as undifferentiated awareness, unaffected by time, past, present or future, and enter Peace. 296 Give up identification with family, tribe, name, shape and status which depend on the putrid body. Give up physical properties too such as the sense of being the doer and be the very nature of undifferentiated joy. 297 There are other obstacles seen to be the cause of samsara for men. Of these the root and first manifestation is the sense of doership. 298 So long as one has any association with this awful sense of being the doer there cannot be the least achievement of liberation which is something very different. 299 Free from the grasp of feeling oneself the doer, one achieves ones true nature which is, like the moon, pure, consummate, self-illuminating being and bliss. 300 Even he who, with a mind under the influence of strong dullness, has thought of himself as the body, will attain to full identification with God when that delusion is completely removed. 301 The treasure of the bliss of God is coiled round by the very powerful, terrible snake of doership which guards it with its three fierce heads consisting of the three qualities (dullness, passion and purity) but the wise man can enjoy this bliss-imparting treasure by cutting off the snake's three heads with the great sword of understanding of the scriptures. 302 How can one be free from pain so long as there is there is any trace of poison in the body? The same applies to the pain of self-consciousness in an aspirant's liberation. 303 In the total cessation of self-identification and the ending of the multifarious mental misrepresentations it causes, the truth of "This is what I am" is achieved through inner discernment. 304 Get rid forthwith of doership, your self-identification, that is, with the agent, a distorted vision of yourself which stops you from resting in your true nature, and by identification with which you, who are really pure consciousness and a manifestation of joy itself, experience samsara with all its birth, decay, death and suffering. 305 You are really unchanging, the eternally unvarying Lord, consciousness, bliss and indestructible glory. If it were not for the wrong identification with a false self you would not be subject to samsara. 306 So cut down your enemy, this sense of being the doer, with the great sword of knowledge, caught like a splinter in the throat of some-one having a meal, and enjoy to your heart's content the joy of the possession of your true nature. 307 Stop the activity of the false self-identification and so on, get rid of desire by the attainment of the supreme Reality, and practice silence in the experience of the joy of your true self, free from fantasies, with your true nature fulfilled in God. 308 Even when thoroughly eradicated, a great sense of doership can revive again and create a hundred different distractions, if it is once dwelt on again for a moment in the mind, like monsoon rain-clouds driven on by the wind. 309 Overcoming the enemy of the false self, one should give it no opportunity by dwelling on the senses again, because that is the way it comes back to life, like water for a withered citrous tree. 310 He who is attached to the idea of himself as the body is desirous of physical pleasure, but how could some-one devoid of such an idea seek physical pleasure? Hence separation from one's true good is the cause of bondage to samsara since one is stuck in seeing things as separate from oneself. 311 A seed is seen to grow with the development of the necessary conditions, while the failure of the conditions leads to the failure of the seed. So one must remove these conditions. 312 The increase of desires leads to activity, and from the increase of activity there is more desire. Thus a man prospers in every way, and samsara never comes to an end. 313 To break the bonds of samsara, the ascetic should burn away both of these (desire and activity), since thinking about these and external activity lead to the increase of desires. 314 The increase of these two is the cause of one's samsara, and the means to the destruction of these three is to see everything as simply God everywhere, always and in all circumstances. By the increase of desire for becoming the Truth, these three come to an end. 315, 316 Through the stopping of activity there comes the stopping of thinking, and then the cessation of desires. The cessation of desires is liberation, and is what is known as here-and-now liberation. 317 When the force of the desire for the Truth blossoms, selfish desires wither away, just like darkness vanishes before the radiance of the light of dawn. 318 Darkness and the mass of evils produced by darkness no longer exist when the sun has risen. Similarly, when one has tasted undifferentiated bliss, no bondage or trace of suffering remains. 319 Transcending everything to do with the senses, cultivating the blissful and only Truth, and at peace within and without - this is how one should pass one's time so long as any bonds of karma remain. 320 One should never permit carelessness in one's adherence to God. "Carelessness is death" (Mahabharata 5.42.43) says the Master (Sanatkumara) who was of Brahma's son. 321 There is no greater evil than carelessness about his own true nature for a wise man. From this comes delusion, from this comes misconceptions about oneself, from this comes bondage, from this comes suffering. 322 Forgetfulness afflicts even a wise man with harmful mental states when it finds him well-disposed to the senses, like a woman does her infatuated lover. 323 Just as the algae cleared off water does not stay off even for a moment, so illusion obscures the sight of even a wise man whose mind is outward-directed. 324 When the mind loses its direction towards its goal and becomes outward-turned it runs from one thing to another, like a play-ball carelessly dropped on the steps of some stairs. 325 A mind directed towards the senses dwells with imagination on their qualities. From imagining finally comes desire, and from desire comes the way a man directs his activity. 326 As a result, there is no death like carelessness in meditation to the wise knower of God. The meditator achieves perfect fulfilment, so carefully practice peace of mind. 327 From carelessness one turns aside from one's true nature, and he who turns aside from it slips downwards. He who has thus fallen invariably comes to disaster, but is not seen to rise again. 328 So one should abandon the imagination which is the cause of all ills. He has reached fulfilment who is completely dead while still alive. The Yajur Veda (Taittiriya Upanishad 2.7) declares there is still something to fear for anyone who still sees distinctions in things. 329 Whenever a wise man sees the least distinction in the infinite God, whatever he has carelessly perceived as a distinction then becomes a source of fear for him. 330 When, in spite of hundreds of testimonies to the contrary in the Vedas and other scriptures, one identifies oneself with anything to do with the senses, one experiences countless sorrows, doing something prohibited like a thief. 331 He who is devoted to meditating on the Truth attains the eternal glory of his true nature, while he who delights in dwelling on the unreal perishes. This can be seen even in the case of whether someone is a thief or not. 332 An ascetic should abandon dwelling on the unreal which is the cause of bondage, and should fix his attention on himself in his knowledge that "This is what I am". Establishment in God through self-awareness leads to joy and finally removes the suffering caused by ignorance. 333 Dwelling on externals increases the fruit of superfluous evil desires for all sorts of things, so wisely recognising this fact, one should abandon externals and cultivate attention to one's true nature within. 334 When externals are abandoned there comes peace of mind. When the mind is at peace there comes awareness of one's supreme self. When that is fully experienced there comes the destruction of the bonds of samsara, so abandonment of externals is the road to liberation. 335 What man, being learned, and aware of the distinction between real and unreal, relying on the scriptures and seeking the supreme goal of life, would knowingly, like a child, hanker after resting in the unreal, the cause of his own downfall. 336 There is no liberation for him who is deliberately attached to the body and such things, while there is no self-identification with such things as the body for a liberated man. There is no being awake for some-one asleep, nor sleep for some-one awake, for these two states are by their very nature distinct. 337 He who knows himself within and without, and recognises himself as the underlying support in all things moving and unmoving, remaining indivisible, fulfilled in himself by abandoning all that is not himself - he is liberated. 338 The means of liberation from bondage is through the one self in everything, and there is nothing higher than this one self in everything. When one does not cling to anything to do with the senses, one achieves these things, and being the one self in everything depends on resting in one's true self. 339 How is not clinging to the senses possible when one's basis is self-identification with the body, and one's mind is attached to enjoying external pleasures, and on doing whatever is necessary to do so? But it can be achieved within themselves by those who have abandoned all objects of rules and observances, who are always resting in self-awareness, who know the Truth and energetically seek the bliss of Reality. 340 Scripture prescribes meditation for realisation of the self in everything to the ascetic who has fulfilled the requirement of listening to scripture, saying "At peace and self-controlled" and so on (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4.4.23). 341 Even wise men cannot get rid of the sense of doership all of a sudden when it has grown strong, but those who are unwavering in so-called imageless samadhi can, whose desire for this has been developed over countless lives. 342 The outward-turning power of the mind binds a man to the sense of doership by its veiling effect, and confuses him by the attributes of that power. 343 To overcome the outward-turning power of the mind is hard to accomplish without completely eliminating the veiling effect, but the covering over one's inner self can be removed by discriminating between seer and objects, like between milk and water. Absence of an barrier is finally unquestionable when there is no longer any distraction caused by illusory objects. 344 Perfect discrimination, born of direct experience establishing the truth of the distinction between seer and objects, severs the bonds of delusion produced by Maya (the creative power, which makes things appear to exist), and as a result the liberated person is no longer subject to samsara. 345 The fire of the knowledge of the oneness of above and below burns up completely the tangled forest of ignorance. What seed of samsara could there still be for such a person who has achieved non-duality? 346 The veiling effect only disappears with full experience of Reality, and the elimination of false knowledge leads to the end of the suffering caused by that distraction. 347 These three (the removal of veiling effect, false knowlege and suffering) are clearly apparent in the case of recognising the true nature of the rope, so a wise man should get to know the truth about the underlying reality if he wants to be liberated from his bonds. 348 Like fire in conjunction with iron, the mind manifests itself as knower and objects by dependence on something real, but as the duality that causes is seen to be unreal in the case of delusions, dreams and fantasies, so the products of natural causation, from the idea of doership down to the body itself and all its senses, are also unreal in view of the way they are changing every moment, while one's true nature itself never changes. 349, 350 The supreme self is the internal reality of Truth and Bliss, eternally indivisible and pure consciousness, the witness of the intellect and the other faculties, distinct from being or not-being, the reality implied by the word "I". 351 Distinguishing the real from the unreal in this way by means of his inborn capacity of understanding, and liberated from these bonds, a wise man attains peace by recognising his own true nature as undifferentiated awareness. 352 The knot of ignorance in the heart is finally removed when one comes to see one's own true non-dual nature by means of imageless samadhi. 353 Assumptions of "you", "me", "it" occur in the non-dual, undifferentiated supreme self because of a failure in the understanding, but all a man's false assumptions disappear in samadhi and are completely destroyed by the realisation of the truth of the underlying reality. 354 An ascetic who is peaceful, disciplined, fully withdrawn, long-suffering and meditative always cultivates the presence of the self of everything in himself. Eradicating in this way the false assumptions created by the distorting vision of ignorance, he lives happily in God free from action and free from imaginations. 355 Only those who have achieved samadhi and who have withdrawn the external senses, the mind and their sense of doership into their true nature as consciousness are free from being trapped in the snare of samsara, not those who just repeat the statements of others. 356 Because of the diversity of the things he identifies himself with, a man tends to see himself as complex, but with the removal of the identification, he is himself again and perfect as he is. For this reason a wise man should get rid of self-identifications and always cultivate imageless samadhi. 357 Adhering to the Real a man comes to share in the nature of that Reality by his one-pointed concentration on it, in the same way that a grub is able to become a wasp by concentration on a wasp. 358 A grub achieves wasphood by abandoning attachment to other activities and concentrating on the nature of being a wasp. In the same way an ascetic meditates on the reality of the supreme self and achieves it through his one-pointed concentration on it. 359 The reality of the supreme self is extremely subtle and is not capable of being experienced by those of coarse vision, but it can be known by those worthy of it by reason of their very pure understanding by means of a mind made extremely subtle by meditation. 360 As gold purified in a furnace loses its impurities and achieves its own true nature, the mind gets rid of the impurities of the attributes of delusion, passion and purity through meditation and attains Reality. 361 When by the effect of constant meditation the purified mind becomes one with God, then samadhi, now freed from images, experiences in itself the state of non-dual bliss. 362 The destruction of the bonds of all desires through this samadhi is the destruction of all karma, and there follows the manifestation of one's true nature without effort, inside, outside, everywhere and always. 363 Thought should be considered a hundred times better than hearing, and meditation is thousands of times better than thought, while imageless samadhi is infinite in its effect. 364 The experience of the reality of God becomes permanent though imageless samadhi, but not otherwise as it is mixed with other things by the restlessness of the mind. 365 So, established in meditation, with the senses controlled, the mind calmed and continually turned inwards, destroy the darkness of beginningless ignorance by recognising the oneness of Reality. 366 The primary door to union with God is cutting off talking, not accepting possessions, freedom from expectation, dispassion and a secluded manner of life. 367 Living in seclusion is the cause of control of the senses, restraint of the mind leads to inner stillness and tranquillity leads to mastery of self-centred desire. From that comes the ascetic's continual experience of the unbroken bliss of God. So the wise man should always strive for the cessation of thought. 368 Restrain speech within. Restrain the mind in the understanding and restrain the understanding in the consciousness that observes the understanding. Restrain that in the perfect and imageless self, and enjoy supreme peace. 369 Body, functions, senses, mind, understanding and so on - whichever of these adjuncts the mind's activity is connected with, that becomes the ascetic's identity for the time. 370 When this process is stopped, the wise man knows the perfect joy of the letting go of everything, and experiences the attainment of the overwhelming bliss of Reality. 371 Internal renunciation and external renunciation - it is the dispassionate man who is capable of these. The dispassionate man abandons fetters internal and external because of his yearning for liberation. 372 The dispassionate man, established in God, is indeed capable of abandoning the external bond of the senses and the internal one of selfishness and so on. 373 As a discriminating person realise that dispassion and understanding are like a bird's wings for a man. Without them both he cannot reach the nectar of liberation growing on top of a creeper. 374 The extremely dispassionate man achieves samadhi. A person in samadhi experiences steady enlightenment. He who is enlightened to the Truth achieves liberation from bondage, and he who is truly liberated experiences eternal joy. 375 I know of no higher source of happiness for a self-controlled man than dispassion, and when allied to thoroughly pure self-knowledge it leads to the sovereign state of self-mastery. Since this is the gate to the unfading maiden of liberation, always and with all eagerness develop this supreme wisdom within yourself in happiness. 376 Cut off desire for the poison-like senses, for these are death-dealing. Get rid of pride in birth, family and state of life, and throw achievements far away. Drop such unreal things as the body into the sacrificial bowl of your true self, and develop wisdom within. You are the Witness. You are beyond the thinking mind. You are truly God, non-dual and supreme. 377 Direct the mind resolutely towards God, restraining the senses in their various seats, and looking on the state of the body as a matter of indifference. Realise your oneness with God, remaining continually intent on identifying with its nature, and joyfully drink the bliss of God within, for what use is there in other, empty things? 378 Stop thinking about anything which is not your true self, for that is degrading and productive of pain, and instead think about your true nature, which is bliss itself and productive of liberation. 379 This treasure of consciousness shines unfading with its own light as the witness of everything. Meditate continually on it, making this your aim, distinct as it is from the unreal. 380 This one should be aware of with unbroken application, continually turning to it with a mind empty of everything else, knowing it to be one's own true nature. 381 This one should identify with firmly, abandoning the sense of doership and so on, remaining indifferent to them, as one is to things like a cracked jar. 382 Turning one's purified awareness within on the witness as pure consciousness, one should gradually bring it to stillness and then become aware of the perfection of one's true nature. 383 One should become aware of oneself, indivisible and perfect like Space itself, when free from identification with such things as one's body, senses, functions, mind and sense of doership, which are all the products of one's own ignorance. 384 Space when freed from the hundreds of additional objects like pots and pans, receptacles and needles is one, and in the same way the supreme Reality becomes no longer multiple but one and pure when freed from the sense of doership and so on. 385 All additional objects from Brahma to the last clump of grass are simply unreal, so one should be aware of one's own perfect true nature abiding alone and by itself. 386 When rightly seen, what had been mistaken in error for something else is only what it always was and not something different. When the mistaken perception is removed the reality of the rope is seen for what it is, and the same is true for the way everything is really oneself. 387 One is oneself Brahma, one is Vishnu, one is Indra, one is Shiva, and one is oneself all this. Nothing else exists except oneself. 388 Oneself is what is within, oneself is without, oneself is in front and oneself is behind. Oneself is to the south, oneself is to the north, and oneself is also above and below. 389 Just as waves, foam, whirlpool and bubbles are all in reality just water, so consciousness is all this from the body to the sense of doership. Everything is just the one pure consciousness. 390 This whole world known to speech and mind is really the supreme Reality. Nothing else exists but the Reality situated beyond the limits of the natural world. Are pots, jars, tubs and so on different from clay? It is the man confused by the wine of Maya that talks of "you" and "me". 391 The scripture talks of the absence of duality in the expression "where there is nothing else" (Chandogya Upanishad 7.24.1) with several verbs to remove any idea of false attribution. 392 What else is there to know but one's true supreme nature, God himself, like space pure, imageless, unmoving, unchanging, free of within or without, without a second and non-dual. What more is to be said here? The individual is himself God. Scripture declares that this whole extended world is the indivisible God. Those who have been illuminated by the thought "I am God", themselves live steadfastly as God, abandoning external objects, as the eternal consciousness and bliss. 394 Destroy the desires arising from opinions about yourself in this impure body, and even more so those of the subtle mental level, and remain as yourself, the God within, the eternal body of bliss, celebrated by the scriptures. 395 So long as a man is concerned about the corpse-like body, he is impure and suffers from his enemies in the shape of birth, death and sickness. When however he thinks of himself as pure godlike and immovable, then he is freed from those enemies, as the scriptures proclaim. 396 Getting rid of all apparent realities within oneself, one is oneself the supreme God, perfect, non-dual and actionless. 397 When the mind waves are put to rest in one's true nature, the imageless God, then this false assumption exists no longer, but is recognised as just empty talk. 398 What we call "All this" is a false idea and mistaken assumption of in the one Reality. How can there be distinctions in something which is changeless, formless and without characteristics? 399 Seer, seeing and seen and so on have no existence in the one Reality. How can there be distinctions in something which is changeless, formless and without characteristics? 400 In the one Reality which is completely perfect like the primal ocean, how can there be distinctions in something which is changeless, formless and without characteristics? 401 When the cause of error has been annihilated like darkness in light, how can there be distinctions in something which is changeless, formless and without characteristics? 402 How can there be distinctions in a supreme reality which is by nature one? Who has noticed any distinctions in the pure joy of deep sleep? 403 After realisation of the supreme Truth, all this no longer exists in one's true nature of the imageless God. The snake is not to be found in time past, present or future, and not a drop of water is to be found in a mirage. 404 Scripture declares that this dualism is Maya-created and actually non-dual in the final analysis. It is experienced for oneself in deep sleep. 405 The identity of a projection with its underlying reality is recognised by the wise in the case of the rope and the snake, etc. The false assumption arises from a mistake. 406 This falsely imagined reality depends on thought, and in the absence of thought it no longer exists, so put thought to rest in samadhi in the inner reality of one's higher nature. 407 The wise man experiences the perfection of God in his heart in samadhi as something which is eternal consciousness, complete bliss, incomparable, transcendent, ever free, free from effort, and like infinite space indivisible and unimaginable. 408 The wise man experiences the perfection of God in his heart in samadhi as something which is free from natural causation, a reality beyond thought, uniform, unequalled, far from the associations of pride, vouched for by the pronouncements of scripture, eternal, and familiar to us as ourselves. 409 The wise man experiences the perfection of God in his heart in samadhi as something which is unaging, undying, the abiding reality among changing objects, formless, like a calm sea free from questions and answers, where the effects of natural attributes are at rest, eternal, peaceful and one. 410 With the mind pacified by samadhi within, recognise the infinite glory of yourself, sever the sweet-smelling bonds of samsara, and energetically become one who has achieved the goal of human existence. 411 Free from all false self-identification, meditate on yourself as the non-dual being-consciousness-bliss within yourself, and | |
