Posts
Yoga Vashishtha 3.110.51–59
(The mind is not a fixed thing but a Pure Power of construction)
श्रीवसिष्ठ उवाच।
यद्यत्संवेद्यते किंचित्तेन तेनाशु भूयते।
मनो मनननिर्माणं यथेच्छसि तथा कुरु ॥ ५१॥
नानापुरसरिच्छैलरूपतामेत्य देहिनाम्।
तनोत्यन्तःस्थमेवेदं जाग्रत्स्वप्नमयं मनः ॥ ५२॥
सुरत्वाद्दैत्यतामेत्य नागत्वान्नगतामपि।
प्रतिभासवशाच्चित्तमापन्नं लवणो यथा ॥ ५३॥
नरत्वादेति नारीत्वं पितृत्वात्पुत्रतां गतः।
यथा क्षिप्रं प्रति नरः स्वसंकल्पात्तथा मनः ॥ ५४॥
संकल्पतः प्रम्रियते संकल्पाज्जायते पुनः।
मनश्चिरन्तनाभ्यस्ताज्जीवतामेत्यनाकृति ॥ ५५॥
मनो मननसंमूढमूढवासनमाततम्।
संकल्पाद्योनिमायाति सुखदुःखे भयाभये ॥ ५६॥
सुखं दुःखं च मनसि तिले तैलमिव स्थितम्।
तद्देशकालवशतो घनं वा तनु वा भवेत् ॥ ५७॥
तैलं तिलस्य चाक्रान्त्या स्फुटतामेति शाश्वतीम्।
चेतसो मननासंगाद्घनीभूते सुखासुखे ॥ ५८॥
देशकालाभिधानेन राम संकल्प एव हि।
कथ्यते तद्वशाद्यस्माद्देशकालौ स्थितिं गतौ ॥ ५९॥
Sage Vashishta continued:
3.110.51–59
> Whatever the mind comes to know or perceive, it quickly becomes that very thing. The mind is built only by its own thinking; shape it however you wish.
> Taking on the forms of many cities, rivers and mountains, this mind that dwells inside embodied Beings spreads outward what is really only within itself—the stuff of waking and dream.
> From the State of a god it becomes a demon; from a serpent it becomes a mountain. Under the power of mere appearance the mind falls into such States, just as happened with King Lavana.
> From being a man it becomes a woman; from being a father it becomes a son. Just as a person quickly changes through his own intention, so does the mind.
> By its own intention the mind dies; by intention it is born again. Through long-practised habits this formless mind takes on the State of living Beings.
> The mind, deluded by its own thinking and stretched by foolish impressions, enters a new birth through intention—into pleasure and pain, fear and fearlessness.
> Pleasure and pain sit inside the mind the way oil sits inside a sesame seed. According to place and time they become thick or thin.
> Oil becomes fully visible only when the sesame seed is crushed. In the same way, pleasure and pain grow dense and clear when the mind keeps thinking about them.
> What we call place and time, O Rama, is really only this same intention, because place and time come into existence only under its power.
Summary of the teachings:
These verses teach that the mind is not a fixed thing but a pure power of construction. Whatever it knows or thinks about, it instantly becomes. The entire visible World of cities, rivers, mountains, gods, demons, men and women is nothing but the mind’s own thinking projected outward. Because the mind is made only of thought, a person can deliberately reshape it; the choice of what to dwell upon is free and decisive.
The mind’s changes of State are illustrated by the story of King Lavana and by ordinary human experience. Just as Lavana seemed to live an entire life as an outcaste through a momentary appearance, the mind moves from godhood to demonhood, from manhood to womanhood, from fatherhood to sonship, purely by the force of its own resolve. Birth and death themselves are only successive intentions of the same mind.
Long-continued habits and latent impressions give the formless mind the appearance of a living Being. Through these deep-seated tendencies the mind enters new births, experiencing pleasure and pain, fear and security. The root of every new existence is therefore the mind’s own intention, not any external force.
Pleasure and pain are not outside the mind; they reside within it exactly as oil resides inside a sesame seed. Their intensity—whether thick or thin—depends on the circumstances of place and time. Only when the mind repeatedly presses and dwells upon them do they become fully manifest and solid, just as oil appears only when the seed is crushed.
Finally, the verses declare that even the notions of Space and Time are only names for the mind’s intention. Space and Time exist and continue solely because the mind’s resolve sustains them. Understanding this brings the teaching full circle: the whole framework of Worldly experience is a projection of thought, and therefore it can be mastered by changing the direction of thought itself.
No comments:
Post a Comment