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VASISTHA
said:
I shall surely do so. I shall now impart to Rama
the wisdom which was revealed to me by the creator,
Brahma, himself.
RAMA said:
Holy sir, kindly tell me first: why was Vedavyasa
considered not liberated while his son Suka was
considered liberated?
VASISTHA said:
O Rama, countless have been the universes that have
come into being and that have been dissolved. In
fact, even the countless universes that exist at
this moment are impossible to conceive of. All this
can immediately be realised in one's own heart, for
these universes are the creations of the desires
that arise in the heart, like castles built in the
air. The living being conjures up this world in his
heart and while he is alive he strengthens this
illusion: when he passes away, he conjures up the
world beyond and experiences it – thus these
arise worlds within worlds just as there are layers
within layers in a plantain stem. Neither the world
of matter not the modes of creation are truly real;
yet the living and the dead think and feel they are
real. Ignorance of this truth keeps up the
appearance.
O Rama, in this cosmic ocean of existence, beings
arise here and there who are equal to others, and
others who are different. This Vedavyasa is the
twenty-third in this stream of creation. He and
other sages will attain embodiment and
disembodiment again and again. In some they will be
equal to others and in others unequal. In this
embodiment Vedavyasa is indeed a liberated sage.
Such liberated sages also are embodied countless
times and they assume relations with others –
and sometimes they are equal to others and
sometimes unequal in their learning, behaviour,
etc.
VASISTHA
continued:
O Rama, even as, whether there are waves or no
waves, water remains water, even so whatever be the
external appearance of the liberated sage, his
wisdom remains unchanged. The difference is only in
the eyes of the ignorant spectator.
Therefore, O Rama, listen to what I am about to
say, which instruction is sure to remove the
darkness of ignorance. In this world, whatever is
gained is gained only by self-effort; where failure
is encountered it is seen that there has been
slackness in the effort. This is obvious; but, what
is called fate is fictitious and is not seen.
Self-effort, Rama, is that mental, verbal and
physical action which is in accordance with the
instructions of a holy person well versed in the
scriptures. It is only by such effort that Indra
became king of heaven, that Brahma became the
creator, and the other deities earned their
place.
Self-effort is of two categories: that of past
births and that of this birth. The latter
effectively counteracts the former. Fate is none
other than self-effort of a past incarnation. There
is constant conflict between these two in this
incarnation; and that which is more powerful
triumphs.
Self-effort which is not in accord with the
scriptures is motivated by delusion. When there is
obstruction in the fruition of self-effort one
should examine it to see if there is such deluded
action, and if there is it should be immediately
corrected. There is no power greater than right
action in the present. Hence, one should take
recourse to self-effort, grinding one's teeth, and
one should overcome evil by good and fate by
present effort. The lazy man is worse than a
donkey. One should never yield to laziness but
strive to attain liberation, seeing that life is
ebbing away every moment. One should not revel in
the fifth known as sense-pleasures, even as a worm
revels in pus.
One who says, "Fate is directing me to do this", is
brainless, and the goddess of fortune abandons him.
Hence, by self-effort acquire wisdom and then
realise that this self-effort is not without its
own end, in the direct realisation of the
Truth.
In this dreadful source of evil named laziness is
not found on earth, who will ever be illiterate and
poor? It is because laziness is found on earth that
people live the life of animals, miserable and
poverty-stricken.
VALMIKI said:
At this stage, it was time for everything prayers
and the assembly broke up for the day.
VASISTHA
began the second days discourse:
As is the effort so is fruit, O Rama: this is the
meaning of self-effort, and it is also known as
fate [divine will]. When afflicted by
suffering, people cry, "Alas, what tragedy" or
"Alas, look at my fate" both of which mean the same
thing. What is called fate or divine will is
nothing other than the action or self-effort of the
past. The present is infinitely more potent than
the past. They indeed are fools who are satisfied
with the fruits of their past effort [which
they regard as divine will] and do not engage
themselves in self-effort now.
If you see that the present self-effort is
sometimes thwarted by fate [or divine
will], you should understand that the present
self-effort is weak. A weak and dull-witted man
sees the hand of providence when he is confronted
by a strong and powerful adversary and succumbs to
him.
Sometimes it happens that without effort someone
makes a great gain: for example, the state elephant
chooses [in accordance with an ancient
practice] a mendicant as the ruler of a country
whose king suddenly died without leaving an heir;
this is certainly not an accident nor some kind of
divine act, but the fruit of the mendicant's
self-effort in the past birth.
Sometimes it happens that a farmer's efforts are
made fruitless by a hailstorm: surely, the
hailstorm's own power was greater than the farmer's
effort and the farmer should put forth greater
effort now. He should not grieve over the
inevitable loss. If such grief is justified, why
should he not weep daily over the inevitability of
death? The wise man should of course know what is
capable of attainment by self-effort and what is
not. It, however, ignorance to attribute all this
to an outside agency and to say that "God sends me
to heaven or to hell", or that "an outside makes me
do this or that". Such an ignorant person should be
shunned.
One should free oneself from likes and dislikes and
engage oneself in righteous self-effort and reached
the Supreme Truth, knowing that self-effort alone
is another name for divine will. We only ridicule
the fatalist. That alone is self-effort which
springs from right understanding which manifests in
one's heart which has been exposed to the teachings
of the scriptures and the conduct of holy ones.
VASISTHA
continued:
With a body free
from illness and mind free from distress, one
should pursue Self-knowledge so that one is not
born again here. Such self-effort has a threefold
root and therefore threefold fruit – an inner
awakening in the intelligence, a decision in the
mind, and the physical action.
Self-effort is based on these three –
knowledge of scriptures, instructions of the
preceptor, and one's own effort. Fate [or
divine dispensation] does not enter here. Hence
he who desires salvation should divert the impure
mind to pure endeavour by persistent effort –
this is the very essence of all scriptures.
The Holy one emphasise: persistently tread the path
that leads to the eternal good. The wise seeker
knows: the fruit of my endeavours will be
commensurate with the intensity of my self-effort
and neither fate nor a god ordain it otherwise.
Indeed, such self-effort alone is responsible for
whatever man gets here; when he is sunk in
unhappiness, to console him people suggest that it
is his fate. This is obvious: one goes abroad, one
appeases one's hunger, by undertaking a journey and
by eating food – not on account of a fate. No
one has seen such a fate, but everyone has
experienced how an action [good or evil]
leads to a result [good or evil]. Hence,
right from one's childhood, one should endeavour to
promote one's true good [salvation] by a
keen intelligent study of the scriptures, by having
the company of the holy ones and by right
self-effort.
Fate or divine dispensation is merely a convention
which has come to be regarded as Truth by being
repeatedly declared to be true. If this god or fate
is truly the ordainer of everything in this world,
of what meaning is any action [even like
bathing, speaking or giving], and whom should
one teach at all? No. in this world everything,
except a corpse, is active and such activity yields
its appropriate result. No one has ever realised
the existence of a fate or divine dispensation.
People use such expressions as "I am impelled by
fate or divine dispensation to do this", for
self-satisfaction, but this is not true. For
example, if an astrologer predicts that a young man
would become a great scholar, does that young man
become a scholar without study? No. Then, why do we
believe in divine dispensation? Rama, this sage
Visvamitra became a Brahma-Rishi by self-effort;
all of us have attained Self-knowledge by
self-effort alone. Hence, renounce fatalism and
apply yourself to self-effort.
[the word used for fate is "daivaim" which
also means a "god"]
RAMA
asked:
Lord, you are indeed the knower of Truth. Pray,
tell me what do people really call god, fate or
daivam.
VASISTHA replied:
The fruition of self-effort by which one
experiences the good and evil results of past
action is called fate or daivam by people. People
also regard that as fate or daivam which
characterises the good and evil nature of such
results. When you see that "this plant grows out of
this seed", it is regarded as an act of this
daivam. But I feel that fate is nothing but the
culmination of one's own action.
In the mind of man are numerous latent tendencies,
and these tendencies give rise to various actions
– physical, verbal and mental. Surely, one's
actions are in strict accordance with these
tendencies, it cannot be otherwise. Such is the
course of action: action is non-different from the
most potent among latent tendencies, and these
tendencies are non-different from the mind. One
cannot definitively determine whether categories
like mind, latent tendencies action and fate
[daivam] are real or unreal: hence, the men
of wisdom have alluded to them symbolically.
RAMA asked again:
Holy Sir, if the latent tendencies brought forward
from the previous birth impel me to act in the
present, where is freedom of action?
VASISTHA said:
Rama, the tendencies brought forward from past
incarnations are of two kinds – pure and
impure. The pure ones lead you towards liberation,
and the impure ones invite trouble. You are indeed
consciousness itself, not inert physical matter.
You are not impelled to action by anything other
than yourself. Hence you are free to strengthen the
pure latent tendencies in preference to the impure
ones. The impure ones have to be abandoned
gradually and the mind turned away from them little
by little, lest there should be violent reaction.
By encouraging the good tendencies to act
repeatedly, strengthen them. The impure ones will
weaken by disuse. You will soon become absorbed in
the expression of the good tendencies, in good
actions. When thus you have overcome the force of
the evil tendencies then you will have to abandon
even the good ones. You will then experience the
Supreme Truth with the intelligent that rises from
the good tendencies.
VASISTHA
continued:
The cosmic order that people refer to as fate,
daivam or niyati and which ensures that every
effort is blessed with appropriate fruition is
based on omnipresent and omnipotent omniscience
[known as Brahman]. By self-effort,
therefore, restrain the senses and the mind; with a
mind that is one pointed calmly listen to what I am
going to say.
This narrative deals with liberation; listening to
it with other wise seekers who are assembled here,
you will realise that Supreme being where there is
no sorrow nor destruction. O Rama, the omnipresent
omniscience or the cosmic being shines eternally in
all beings. When a vibration arises in that cosmic
being, Lord Vishnu is born, even as a wave arises
when the surface of the ocean is agitated. From
that Vishnu, Brahma the creator was born. Brahma
began to create the countless varieties of animate
and inanimate, sentient and insentient beings in
the universe. And the universe was as it was before
the cosmic dissolution.
The creator saw that all living beings in the
universe were subject to disease, death, pain and
suffering. Compassion arose in his heart and he
sought to lay down a path that might lead beings
away from all this. He thereupon instituted noble
virtues [like austerity, charity, truthfulness
and righteous conduct] and centres of
pilgrimage. But these were inadequate; they could
bestow on people only temporary relief from
suffering and not final liberation from sorrow.
Reflecting thus, the creator brought me into being.
He drew me to himself and drew the veil of
ignorance over my heart. Instantly I forgot my
identity and my Self-nature. I was miserable. I
begged of Brahma the creator, my own father, to
show me the way out of this misery. Sunk in my
misery, I was unable and unwilling to do anything,
and I remained lazy and inactive.
In response to my prayer, my father revealed to me
the true knowledge which instantly dispelled the
veil of ignorance that he himself had spread over
me. The creator then said to me: "My son, I veiled
the knowledge and revealed it to you so that you
may experience its glory; for only then will you be
able to understand the travail of ignorant beings
and to help them. O Rama, equipped with his
knowledge, I am here and I will continue to be here
till the end of creation."
VASISTHA
continued:
Even so in every age, the creator wills into being
several sages and myself for the spiritual
enlightenment of all. And, in order to ensure the
due performance of the secular duties by all,
Brahma also creates kings who rule justly and
wisely over parts of the earth. These kings,
however, are soon corrupted by lust for power and
pleasure; conflict of interests leads to wars among
them which in turn give rise to remorse. To remove
their ignorance, the sages used to impart spiritual
wisdom to them. In days of yore, O Rama, kings used
to receive this wisdom and cherish it; hence it was
known as Raja Vidya, Kingly Science.
The highest form of dispassion born of pure
discrimination has arisen in your heart, O Rama,
and it is superior to dispassion born of a
circumstantial cause or an utter disgust. Such
dispassion is surely due to the Grace of God. This
Grace meets the maturity of discrimination at the
exact moment when dispassion is generated in the
heart.
As long as the highest wisdom does not dawn in the
heart, the person revolves in this wheel of birth
and death. Pray, listen to my exposition of this
wisdom with a concentrated mind.
This wisdom destroys the forest of ignorance.
Roaming in this forest one undergoes confusion and
seemingly interminable suffering. One should
therefore approach an enlightened teacher and by
asking the right question with the right attitude,
elicit the teaching. It then becomes an integral
part of one's being. The fool asks irrelevant
questions irreverently; and the greater fool is he
who spurns the sage's wisdom. He is surely not a
sage who responds to the vain questions of a
foolish questioner.
O Rama, you are indeed the best among all seekers,
for you have duly reflected over the Truth and you
are inspired by the best form of dispassion. I am
sure that what I am going to say to you will find a
firm seat in your heart. Indeed, one should
positively strive to enthrone wisdom in one's
heart, for the mind is unsteady like a monkey. And
one should then avoid unwise company.
Rama there are four gate-keepers at the entrance to
the Realm of Freedom, moksha. They are
self-control, spirit of enquiry, contentment and
good company. The wise seeker should diligently
cultivate the friendship of these, or at least one
of them.
VASISTHA
continued:
With a pure heart and a receptive mind, and without
the veil of doubt and the restlessness of the mind,
listen to the exposition of the nature and the
means of liberation, O Rama. For, not until the
Supreme being is realised with the dreadful
miseries of birth and death come to an end. If this
deadly serpent known as ignorant life is not
overcome here and now, it gives rise to
interminable suffering not only in this but in
countless lifetimes to come. One cannot ignore this
suffering. But one should overcome it by means of
the wisdom that I shall impart to you.
O Rama, if you thus overcome this sorrow of
samsara, you will live here on earth itself like a
god, like Brahma or Vishnu! For when delusion is
gone and the Truth is realised by means of enquiry
into Self-nature, when the mind is at peace and the
heart leaps to the Supreme Truth, when all the
disturbing thought-waves in the mind-stuff have
subsided and there is unbroken flow of peace and
the heart is filled with the bliss of the absolute,
when thus the Truth has been seen in the heart,
then this is very world becomes an abode of
bliss.
Such a person has nothing to acquire, nor anything
to shun. He is untainted by the defects of life,
untouched by its sorrow. He does not come into
being nor go out, though he appears to come and go
in the eyes of the beholder. Even religious duties
are found to be unnecessary. He is not affected by
the past tendencies which have lost their momentum:
his mind has given up its restlessness, he rests in
the bliss that is his essential nature. Such bliss
is possible only by Self-knowledge, not by any
other means. Hence, one should apply oneself
constantly to Self-knowledge – this alone is
one's duty.
He who disregards holy scriptures and holy men does
not attain Self-knowledge. Such foolishness is more
harmful than all the illnesses that one is subject
to in this world. Hence, one should devoutly listen
to this scripture which leads one to
Self-knowledge. He who obtains this scripture does
not again fall into the blind well of ignorance. O
Rama, if you want to free yourself from the sorrow
of samsara [repetitive story] receive the
wholesome instructions of sages like me, and be
free.
VASISTHA
continued:
In order to cross this formidable ocean of samsara
[repetitive history], one should resort to
that which is Eternal and Unchanging. He alone is
the best among men, O Rama, whose mind rests in the
Eternal and is, therefore, fully self-controlled
and at peace. He sees that pleasure and pain chase
and cancel each other, and in that wisdom there is
self-control and peace. He who does not see this
sleeps in a burning house.
He who gains the wisdom of the Eternal here is
freed from samsara and he is not born again in
ignorance. One may doubt that such unchanging Truth
exists! If it does not, one comes to no harm by
enquiring into the nature of life for seeking the
Eternal will soften the pain caused by the changes
in life. But, if it exists, then by knowing it one
is freed.
The Eternal is attained neither by rites, rituals,
pilgrimages, nor by wealth; it is to be attained
only by the conquest of one's mind, by the
cultivation of wisdom. Hence everyone – gods,
demons, demi-gods or men – should constantly
seek [whether one is walking, falling or
sitting] the conquest of the mind and
self-control which are the fruits of wisdom.
When the mind is at peace – pure, tranquil,
free from delusion or hallucination and free from
cravings – it does not long for anything nor
does it reject anything. This is self-control or
conquest of mind – one of the four
gate-keepers to liberation which I mentioned
earlier.
All that is good and auspicious flows from
self-control. All evil is dispelled by
self-control. No pleasure in this world or in
heaven is comparable to the delight of
self-control. The delight one experiences in the
presence of the self-controlled is incomparable.
Everyone spontaneously trusts him. No-one [not
even demons and goblins] hates him.
Self-control, O Rama, is the best remedy for all
physical and mental ills. When there is
self-control the food you eat tastes better. He who
wears the armour of self-control is not harmed by
sorrow.
He who even while hearing, touching, seeing,
smelling and tasting what is regarded as pleasant
and unpleasant, is neither elated nor depressed
– he is self-controlled. He who looks upon all
beings with equal vision, having brought under
control the sensations of pleasure and pain, is
self-controlled. He who, though living amongst all
is unaffected by them; who does not feel elated nor
hates – even as one is during sleep – he
is self-controlled.
VASISTHA
continued:
Enquiry [the second gate-keeper to
liberation] should be undertaken by an
intelligence that has been purified by a close
study of the scriptures, and this enquiry should be
unbroken. By such enquiry the intelligence becomes
keen and is able to realise the Supreme; hence
enquiry alone is the best remedy for the
long-lasting illness known as samsara.
The wise man regards strength, intellect,
efficiency and timely action as the fruits of
enquiry. Indeed, kingdom, prosperity, enjoyment as
well as final liberation, are all the fruits of
enquiry. The spirit of enquiry protects one from
the calamities that befall the unthinking fool.
When the mind has been rendered dull by the absence
of enquiry, even the cool rays of the moon turn
into deadly weapons, and the childish imagination
throws up a goblin in every dark spot. Hence, the
non-enquiring fool is really a storehouse of
sorrow. It is the absence of enquiry that gives
rise to actions that are harmful to oneself –
and to others – and to numerous psychosomatic
illnesses. Therefore, one should avoid the company
of such unthinking people. They in whom the spirit
of enquiry is ever awake illumine the world,
enlighten all who come into contact with them,
dispel the ghosts created by an ignorant mind, and
realise the falsity of sense-pleasures and their
objects. O Rama, in the light of enquiry, there is
realisation of the Eternal and Unchanging Reality;
this is the Supreme. With it, one does not long for
any other gain nor does one spurn anything. He is
free from delusion, attachment; he is not inactive
nor does he get downed in action; he lives and
functions in this world and at the end of a natural
life-span he reaches the blissful state of total
freedom.
The eye of spiritual enquiry does not lose its
sight even in the midst of all activities; he who
does not have this eye is indeed to be pitied. It
is better to be born as a frog in the mud, a worm
in dung, a snake in a hole, than to be one without
this eye. What is enquiry? To enquire thus: "Who am
I? How has this evil of samsara [repetitive
history] come into being?" is true enquiry.
Knowledge of Truth arises from such enquiry; from
such knowledge there flows tranquillity in oneself;
and then there arises the Supreme peace that
passeth understanding and the ending of all
sorrow.
[vichara or enquiry is not reasoning or
analysis; it is directly looking into
oneself]
VASISTHA
continued:
Contentment is another gate keeper to liberation.
He who has quaffed the nectar of contentment does
not relish craving for sense pleasures; no delight
in this world is as sweet as contentment which
destroys all sins.
What is contentment? To renounce all craving for
what is not obtained unsought and to be satisfied
with what comes unsought, without being elated or
depressed even by them – is contentment. As
long as one is not satisfied in the Self, he will
be subject to sorrow. With the rise of contentment
the purity of one's heart blooms. The contented man
who possesses nothing owns the world.
Satsang [company of wise, holy and enlightened
persons] is yet another gate keeper to
liberation. satsang enlarges one's intelligence,
destroys one's ignorance and one's psychological
distress. Whatever be the cost, however difficult
it may be, whatever obstacles may stand in its way,
satsang should never be neglected. For satsang
alone is one's light on the path of life. Satsang
is indeed superior to all other forms of religious
practices like charity, austerity, pilgrimage and
the performances of religious rites. One should by
every means in one's power adore and serve the holy
men who have realised the Truth and in whose heart
the darkness of ignorance has been dispelled. They
who, on the other hand, treat such holy men
disrespectfully surely invite great suffering.
These four – contentment, satsang [company
of wise men], the spirit of enquiry, and
self-control – are the four surest means by
which they who are drowning in the ocean of samsara
[repetitive history] can be saved.
Contentment is the Supreme gain. Satsang is the
best companion to the destination. The spirit of
enquiry itself is the greatest wisdom. And,
self-control is Supreme happiness. If you are
unable to resort to these four then practise one.
By the diligent practice of one of these, the
others will also be found in you. The highest
wisdom will seek you of its own accord. Until you
tame the wild elephant of your mind with the help
of these noble qualities you cannot progress
towards the Supreme, even if you become a god,
demi-god or a tree. Therefore, O Rama, strive by
all means to cultivate these noble qualities.
VASISTHA
said:
He who is endowed with the qualities that I have
enumerated thus far is qualified to listen to what
I am about to reveal. You are indeed such a
qualified person, O Rama. Only he would wish to
hear this who is ripe for liberation. But this
revelation is capable of leading one to liberation
even if one does not desire it, as a light is
capable of illumining the eyes of even the sleeping
person. As when the truth that a rope is a rope is
seen and the fear generated by the misunderstanding
that it is a snake disappears, the study of this
scripture frees one from sorrow born of
samsara.
This scripture consists of 32,000 couplets. The
first section known as Vairagya Prakaranam
[chapter on dispassion] imparts to one
knowledge of the true nature of life in this world.
Its careful study purifies the heart. This section
consists of 1,500 couplets.
The next section, known as Mumuksu Vyavahara
Prakaranam [concerning the behaviour of a
seeker of liberation] consists of 1,000
couplets. In this the qualifications of a seeker
are described.
After that comes the Utpatti Prakaranam
[section on creation] which consists of
7,000 couplets. In it are found many inspiring
stories which help illustrate the great Truth,
which is: on account of the interplay of the false
ideas of "this" and "I", the universe which has
never truly been created, appears to be.
The next is Sthiti Prakaranam [section on
existence] and it consists of 3,000 couplets.
With the help of stories again, the Truth
concerning the existence of this world and its
substratum is revealed.
Then comes the Upasanti Prakaranam [section on
cessation] which consists of 5,000 couplets. By
listening to this the deluded perception of the
world comes to an end, leaving only a trace of
ignorance.
Lastly, the Nirvana Prakaranam [section on
liberation] which runs to 14,500 couplets. A
study and understanding of this section destroys
one's fundamental ignorance; and when all kinds of
delusions and hallucinations are set at rest, there
is total freedom. Though still wearing a physical
body, he lives as if he is free from it, free of
all cravings and desires, attachment and aversion.
He is free from samsara [repetitive
history]. Here and now, he is free from the
demon known as egotism. He is one with the
infinite.
VASISTHA
continued:
One who sows the seed of the knowledge of this
scripture soon obtains the fruit of the realisation
of the Truth. Though human in origin, an exposition
of Truth is to be accepted; otherwise even what is
regarded as divine revelation is to be rejected.
Even a young boy's words are to be accepted if they
are words of wisdom; else, reject it like straw
even if uttered by Brahma the creator.
He who listens to and reflects upon the exposition
of this scripture enjoys unfathomable wisdom, firm
conviction and unperturbable coolness of spirit.
Soon he becomes a liberated sage whose glory is
indescribable.
The sage of infinite wisdom sees countless
universes in the one undivided intelligence, for he
has realised the magic maya or cosmic illusion. He
sees the infinity of every atom, and therefore he
is unattached to the rise and fall of the ideas of
creation. Hence, he is ever contented with what
comes unsought [which he does not reject]
and he does not run after or grieve for what has
been taken away from him.
This scripture is easy of comprehension, as it is
richly embellished with a number of interesting
stories. One who studies this scripture and
contemplates its meaning has no need to undertake
austerities, meditation or repetition of a mantra;
for what is greater than liberation which is
granted by a study of this scripture?
One who studies this scripture and comprehends its
teaching is no longer deluded by world-appearance.
When one sees that the yonder deadly snake is a
life-like painting, one is no longer afraid of it.
When the world appearance is seen as an appearance
it does not produce either elation or sorrow. It is
indeed a great pity that even when such a scripture
exists, people seek sense-pleasures which lead to
great sorrow.
O Rama, when a truth that has not been personally
experienced is expounded, one does not grasp it
except with the help of an illustration. Such
illustrations have been used in this scripture with
a definite purpose and a limited intention. They
are not to be taken literally, nor is their
significance to be stretched beyond the intention.
When the scripture is thus studied, the world
appears to be a dream-vision. These indeed are the
purpose and the purport of the illustrations. Let
no one of perverted intellect misinterpret the
illustrations given in this scripture.
VASISTHA
continued:
Parables have only one purpose: to enable the
listener to arrive at the Truth. The realisation of
Truth is so vital that any reasonable method used
is justified, though the parables themselves may be
fictitious. The parables themselves are only partly
applicable to the Truth thus illustrated, and only
that part is to be grasped and the rest ignored.
Study and understanding of the scripture with the
help of illustrations and a qualified teacher are
necessary only till one realises the Truth.
Again, such study should continue till the Truth is
realised; one should not stop short of complete
enlightenment. A little knowledge of the scripture
results in confusion worse confounded.
Non-recognition of the existence of Supreme peace
in the heart and assumption of the reality of
imaginary factors are both born of imperfect
knowledge and the consequent perverted logic.
Even as the ocean is the substratum of all the
waves, direct experience alone is the basis for all
proofs – the direct experience of Truth as It
is. That substratum is the experiencing
intelligence which itself becomes the experiencer,
the act of experiencing, and the experience. The
experiencing alone is the fact; yet, in a state of
non-understanding, this experiencing seems to have
a subject [the experiencer]. Wisdom that is
born of the spirit of enquiry dispels this
non-understanding and the undivided intelligence
shines in its own light. At that stage even the
spirit of enquiry becomes superfluous and dissolves
itself.
Even as movement is inherent in air, manifestation
[as the subtle perceiving mind and as the gross
objects it perceives] is inherent in this
experiencing intelligence. And the perceiving mind,
on account of ignorance, thinks "I am such and such
an object" and thence becomes that. The objet is
experienced only in the subject, not elsewhere!
Rama, till such time as this wisdom arises directly
in you, take recourse to the knowledge transmitted
by the great teachers. When you receive such
knowledge from the great teachers, your behaviour
will mirror theirs; and when thus you grow in their
virtuous qualities, your wisdom will unfold within
you. Wisdom and emulation of the noble behaviour of
holy ones thrive on each other!
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