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Yoga Vashishtha 3.91.23–35
(The mind and its tendencies)
ब्रह्मोवाच।
कथ्यते जीवनाम्नैतच्चित्तं प्रतनुवासनम्।
शान्तदेहचमत्कारं जीवं विद्धि क्रमात्परम् ॥ २३॥
नाहं न चान्यदस्तीह चित्रं चित्तमिदं स्थितम्।
वसिष्ठैन्दवसंविद्वदसत्सत्तामिवागतम् ॥ २४॥
यथैन्दव मनो ब्रह्मा तथैवायमहं स्थितः।
तत्कृतं चाहमेवेदं संकल्पात्मैव भासते ॥ २५॥
कश्चिच्चित्तविलासोऽयं ब्रह्माहमिह संस्थितः।
स्वभाव एव देहादि विद्धि शून्यतरात्मखात् ॥ २६॥
शुद्धचित्परमार्थैकरूपिणीत्येव भावनात्।
जीवो भूयो मनो भूत्वा वेत्तीत्थं देहतां मुधा ॥ २७॥
सर्वमैन्दवसंसारवदिदं भाति चिद्वपुः।
संपन्नसंप्रबोधात्मा स्वप्नो दीर्घः स्वशक्तिजः ॥ २८॥
द्विचन्द्रविभ्रमाकारं तन्मात्राभासपूर्वकम्।
ऐन्दवाम्बरवद्रूढं चित्तादेवाखिलं भवेत् ॥ २९॥
न सन्नासदहंरूपं सत्तासत्ते तदेव च।
उपलम्भेन सद्रूपमसत्यं तद्विरोधतः ॥ ३०॥
जडाजडं मनो विद्धि संकल्पात्म बृहद्वपुः।
अजडं ब्रह्मरूपत्वाज्जडं दृश्यात्मतावशात् ॥ ३१॥
दृश्यानुभवसत्यात्म न सद्भावे विलासि तत्।
कटकत्वं यथा हेम्नि तथा ब्रह्मणि संस्थितम् ॥ ३२॥
सर्वत्वाद्ब्रह्मणः सर्वं जडं चिन्मयभेव च।
अस्मदादिशिलान्तात्म न जडं न च चेतनम् ॥ ३३॥
दार्वादीनामचित्त्वेन नोपलम्भस्य संभवः।
उपलम्भो हि सदृशसंबन्धादेव जायते ॥ ३४॥
उपलब्धेऽजडं विद्धि तेनेदं सर्वमेव हि।
उपलम्भो हि सदृशसंबन्धात्स्यात्समात्मनोः ॥ ३५॥
Brahmadev continued:
3.91.23–28
> This mind with its subtle residual tendencies covers the individual living soul (jiva). Know that when the body’s wondrous display becomes calm, the jiva gradually becomes the Supreme.
> There is neither “I” nor any other thing here. Only this wondrous mind remains. Like the sons of Indu who imagined themselves as Brahma, the unreal appears to have taken on existence.
> Just as the mind of the sons of Indu became Brahma, so my mind makes me stand as Brahma. Whatever this mind has created appears through its own imagination.
> This is only a play of the mind in which I, Brahma, am situated here. Know that the body and all else arise from the empty nature of the Self and are more empty still.
> Through the constant feeling that Pure Consciousness alone is the Highest Reality, the jiva again becomes the mind and then uselessly regards the body as real.
> Just as the world of the sons of Indu appears, so this entire Universe appears as the body of Consciousness. It is a long dream born of its own power, arising when full awakening has not yet come.
3.91.29–35
> Like the illusion of two moons or the appearance of subtle elements, the whole World is firmly established like the sky of the sons of Indu and arises only from the mind.
> There is neither Real nor unreal in the form of “I.” Existence and non-existence are the same. By perception something seems Real; by contradiction it is known as unreal.
> Know the mind to be both inert and non-inert, a vast body made of imagination. It is non-inert because it is of the nature of Brahm; it is inert because it appears as the visible World.
> The experience of the visible World seems True, yet it dissolves when true existence is known. Just as “bracelet” is only a form in gold, so the world exists only in Brahm.
> Because Brahm is everything, all that appears inert is also Pure Consciousness. From us down to a stone, nothing is purely inert and nothing is purely Conscious.
> Things like wood have no Consciousness, so perception of them is impossible. Perception arises only from a relation of similarity.
> Therefore know that whatever is perceived is non-inert. All this exists only because perception arises from the similar relation of the Self with itself.
Summary of the teachings:
These verses teach that the individual living soul is covered with the mind when it is filled with subtle residual tendencies and desires. When those tendencies calm down and the restless display of the body ceases, the same jiva is gradually revealed as the Supreme Reality itself. There is no separate “I” or “other”; only pure mind exists, and whatever appears as a person or a world is only the mind’s own imagination, just as certain sons of Indu once imagined themselves to be creator-gods and thereby seemed to become them.
The mind creates everything through its own thought. Just as those imaginary creators produced whole Worlds by mental force, so every being appears as Brahma or as a limited person solely according to the idea it holds of itself. Bodies, objects and the entire universe are empty of independent Reality; they arise only from the empty, spacious Nature of Consciousness and have no substance of their own.
The pure mind that constantly contemplates Pure Consciousness draws near the Divine. But when that same mind becomes clouded by many desires it turns into the limited living soul, then into animal life, and finally appears as a physical body. The whole World is therefore a long dream projected by Consciousness through its own power. Like the illusion of seeing two moons or the imagined sky of those earlier creators, everything visible is only a reflection arising from the mind.
Nothing is ultimately Real or unreal in itself; both labels depend on mental conception. The mind is both conscious and inert: Conscious because its Essence is Brahm, inert because it appears as the changing visible World. The experience of the world seems solid only while the mind believes in it; when true understanding dawns, the appearance dissolves, just as the name “bracelet” disappears into the single reality of gold.
Because Brahm alone is everything, even what looks inert is actually Consciousness. From human beings down to stones there is neither pure inertness nor pure Consciousness as separate categories. Perception itself is possible only because of an underlying similarity or identity with the Self. Therefore whatever is perceived is non-inert, and the entire Universe exists solely as the Self relating to itself. Realisation consists in recognising this single, undivided Consciousness and letting the dream-like play of mind come to rest.
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