Suffering And Liberation (Vasishtha Yoga)

In the beginning a division arose in a higher being or infinite consciousness, and the infinite as it were became both an observer and an observable.

When this observer wanted to understand what was being observed, a mixture of (real and unreal) or confusion arose.

Because of this confusion in the infinite consciousness, the concept of limitation arose.

The limited mind then creates endless ideas within itself that weaken and obscure it, leading to suffering - which the mind greatly exaggerates.

These ideas and these sensations leave their mark on the mind, forming impressions or conditioning trends that are mostly hidden or potential. But, when the mind is freed from them, the covers disappear at the moment like dew in the sun, and suffering disappears with them.



Up to this point, the mind plays with everything, as young children play with the chicks and torment them, not understanding it. An unclean mind sees a ghost where there is only a pillar, and spoils all relations, spreading suspicion among friends and making them enemies, like a drunken man sees that the world revolves around him.

A suffering mind turns food into poison and causes illness and death.

An impure mind, laden with hidden trends, is the cause of delusions, mania, and phobias.

A person should try to uproot and throw away like that.

What is man, if not his own mind? The body is inert and unconscious.

It cannot be said that the mind is inert, although it cannot be said that it is intelligent.

What is done by the mind is action, that which the mind has given up is called renunciation.

The mind is the whole world, the mind is the atmosphere, the mind is heaven, the mind is earth, the mind is wind, and the mind is great.

Only a person whose mind is stupid is called a fool - one body without intellect, for example, after death, is not called a fool! The mind sees - and the eyes form.

The mind hears - and ears appear.

It also happens with other senses - the mind creates them.

Reason decides what is sweet and what is bitter, who is friend and who is enemy.

Reason makes a decision on time - the king of Laban survived in less than an hour what happened over a lifetime.

Reason decides what is heaven and what is hell.

Therefore, if you learn to control the mind, you will learn to control everything, including feelings.

Vasishtha continued:



What is even more mysterious, O Rama, than the ability of the mind to shut itself off from the omnipresent, pure, eternal and infinite consciousness, forcing itself to confuse consciousness with this inert physical body? The mind itself manifests itself as wind in moving elements, as light in luminous, hardness in the earth and emptiness in space.



If the mind wanders somewhere, even the taste of the food you eat is not felt. If the mind is “not here,” even that which is right in front of the eyes cannot be seen.

The senses are born of the mind, and not vice versa.

Only from the point of view of a fool is the body and mind considered completely different; in fact, they are not different, and are only the mind.

Salutations to those wise men who truly realized this truth.

A sage who realizes this does not worry, even if a woman embraces his body - for him it is the same as if a piece of wood were touching his body.

Even if his hands are cut off, he will not feel it. He is able to turn all suffering into bliss. If the mind is absent, then even listening to the story, you will not hear anything.

As an actor is able to portray the characters of different characters, so the mind is able to create different states of consciousness, such as sleep and wakefulness.

How mysterious is the reason that made King Laban believe that he lives in a wild tribe! The mind feels what it itself creates, the mind is only that which was created by thoughts; knowing this, do as you wish.

Verily, only reason, because of repeated thoughts, thinks that he is born, that he is dying; and although he has no form, he thinks he is an individual consciousness with form, etc.

Only through his thoughts he finds himself a nationality, and enjoys or suffers from pleasures and pain - and all this inside himself, like butter is inside the seed.

One who does not allow the mind to wander among the objects of pleasure is able to defeat it. Just as a person chained to a pillar cannot move away from him, so the mind of a noble person does not move away from reality - and only he is a human being, the rest are more like worms.

He reaches the highest state by constant meditation. Vasishtha continued: Victory over the goblin of the mind is possible only when, through your own efforts, knowledge of yourself is achieved and aspirations for what the mind sees as pleasures are abandoned.

This is easy to achieve without any effort (how easy it is to divert the attention of the child), putting him in the right place.

Alas, he who cannot give up aspirations, because this rejection is the only way to his own good.

By intense efforts it is possible to defeat the mind, and then without the slightest effort the individualized consciousness dissolves into infinite consciousness, and its individuality is interrupted. This is easily achieved — those who cannot do this are truly vultures in human form.

There is no other way to save yourself, except to control your own mind, which means a firm decision to abandon all sorts of aspirations of the mind.

Firmly decide to kill the mind, which is easy to do, without any doubt.



Until he abandoned the desires of reason, all the instructions of the teacher, studying books, chanting mantras and other practices are as useful as straw! Only when the very root of reason is chopped off with the ax of rejection of concepts can one achieve absolute Brahman, which is the omnipresent supreme tranquility.



Conceptualization or imagination leads to errors and suffering, but it is so easy to get rid of it through self-knowledge - and when you get rid of it, such peace comes!

Why is this considered so difficult? Stop relying on fate or gods created by not-so-smart people, and by your own efforts and self-knowledge turn your mind into non-mind.

Allow the infinite consciousness to swallow the finite mind and then go beyond everything.

With the intellect combined with the higher, hold on to that which is indestructible.

When the mind is defeated and remains completely unperturbed, even the conquest of three worlds will seem useless to you.

The victory over the mind does not include the study of scriptures, the ups and downs - nothing but self-knowledge.

Why do you find it difficult? If this is considered difficult, how does a person generally live in a world without knowledge of himself? One who knows the immortal nature of the higher self is not afraid of death.

He is not affected by parting with friends and relatives.

Feelings “this is me” and “this is mine” - this is the mind; when they disappear, the mind also disappears.

Then you become fearless.

Weapons - knives or sabers - give rise to fear, and weapons - the wisdom that destroys egoism - gives rise to fearlessness. Vasishtha continued: Whatever object the mind strives for, in it he sees the fulfillment of his desires.

The reason for this movement in a certain direction is not obvious; like waves on the surface of the ocean, a strong movement appears here and there, appears and disappears. But as the cool is inseparable from the ice, this restless movement is inseparable from the mind.

Rama asked: But how then, O saint, can you curb the restless movement of the mind without causing even more concern? Vasishtha said: Of course, there is no reason without anxiety; restlessness is the very essence of reason.

This work of restlessness of the mind, based on infinite consciousness, manifests itself as this world, O Rama — such is the true power of the mind.

But when the mind loses its restlessness, it is called the dead mind, and this is both practice, and also confirmation of the scriptures and liberation.

When the mind is absorbed in infinite consciousness, immeasurable calm sets in, but when the mind is involved in thoughts, suffering comes.

The restless nature of the mind itself is known as misunderstanding and ignorance; it is the abode of tendencies, inclinations and limitations; destroy it with your research, as well as a firm refusal to think about objects of sensual pleasures.

O Rama, the mind constantly sways like a pendulum between reality and external manifestations, between consciousness and inertia.

When the mind thinks about inert objects for a long time, it itself acquires the characteristics of such inertness.

When the same mind devotes all its time to study and wisdom, it shakes off all limitations and returns to its original essence of pure consciousness. Reason takes the very form that it reflects on, whether it is natural or developed.

Therefore, think decisively, but smartly, about a state outside of suffering, free from all doubt.

Reason is able to calm itself, verily, there is no other way.

A wise person removes from his mind the manifestations of hidden tendencies or limitations (which is the only reason) as they appear - this is how misunderstanding is removed.

First, destroy mental limitations by abandoning desires, then remove even the concept of bondage and liberation from your mind.

Be completely free from restrictions. Vasishtha continued: Psychological trends (limitations or predispositions of the mind) are unrealistic, but nevertheless arise in the mind, and therefore they can be compared with the vision of two moons in a person suffering from a split vision.

Therefore, this trend should be abandoned as a complete misconception.

The result of misunderstanding is real only for the misunderstanding; for the wise, this is only a verbal expression (as if to speak of the son of a barren woman). Do not be a fool, O Rama, try to become wise by rejecting mental limitations, like ideas that there is a second moon.

You are not the one who is doing something here, O Rama, why do you ascribe actions to yourself? If there is only one, who does what and how? Do not become passive, because what is achieved by not doing? What must be done must be done.

Therefore, come to the higher Self.

If you are not attached to actions, then even doing everything that is natural for you, you do nothing.

If you do nothing and become attached to your doing nothing (when you do nothing), you become a doer!



If the whole world is like an illusionist’s trick, what should be abandoned and what to look for? The germ of this apparent world is misunderstanding; if one does not see him “as is,” this misunderstanding takes on the quality of truth! A psychological tendency (or mental restriction) is the force that creates this apparent world and makes it spin, just like a potter makes a potter's wheel spin.



Like bamboo, it is empty inside.

Like waves in a river, it does not die, even if it is cut into pieces.

It’s impossible to master. She is thin and soft, but has the power of a sword.

Although it is perceived in its own reflections as their consequences, it is useless for the search for truth.

Due to this trend or limitation, objects of this world see non-existent differences.

Although it cannot be said that she lives in a particular place, she is visible everywhere.

This trend, or limitation, is not a manifestation of intelligence, but, being based on it, has the appearance of intelligence.

Although it is constantly changing, it creates within itself the illusion of permanence.

Due to its proximity to infinite consciousness, it seems active; and when this infinite consciousness is realized, it (tendency or limitation) ends.

A mental restriction dies if it is not fueled by attachment to objects, but even in the absence of such attachment, it continues to remain in its potential form.

Vasishtha continued:

Misunderstanding, or mental self-restraint, is acquired by a person without effort and it seems that it contributes to pleasures, but in fact, only troubles come from him.

It only creates the illusion of pleasure, completely hiding self-awareness. So it made King Laban survive a lifetime in less than an hour.

Misunderstanding or mental self-restraint is powerless to do anything, but nevertheless seems very active, like a mirror seems to actively reflect the light of a lamp.

As even the most plausible portrayal of a woman cannot fulfill the duties of a living woman, this misunderstanding or mental restriction is not able to act, although it seems powerful.

It is even incapable of deceiving a wise person, although it defeats a fool - this is how a mirage can deceive an animal, but not an intelligent person. This misunderstanding or mental self-restraint exists for only a moment, but because of its duration, it seems to be permanent like a river.

It seems real because it obscures reality, but when you try to find it, you find nothing.

Nevertheless, over and over again it gains strength and firmness because of these qualities of the seeming world - so thin fragile fibers gain strength if they are rolled into a rope.

This limitation seems to be growing, but in fact it is not growing. As soon as you try to grab it, it disappears like the tip of a flame.

And again, as the sky seems blue, this limitation seems to have something like reality in it! It was born as the second moon with double vision, it exists as objects exist in a dream, and it deceives perception, as for people sitting in a boat, the shore seems to be moving.

When it is active, it creates a deception of a long sleep about the apparent world.

It distorts all relationships and sensations.

This misunderstanding or mental restriction is responsible for creating and perceiving duality, separation and subsequent confusion in perceptions and sensations.

When this misunderstanding or mental restriction is conquered by perceiving its unreality, then the mind ceases - as when the flow of water stops, the river dries up. Yoga Vasishitha