Yoga Vasishta Sara (The Essence of Yoga Vasishta): Chapter Four - Dissolution of the Mind

By Swami Sureshananda

(An English Translation from the Sanskrit Original)

Dissolution of the Mind

1.       Consciousness which is undivided imagines to itself desirable objects and runs after them. It is then known as the mind.

2.       From this omnipresent and omnipotent Supreme Lord arose, like ripples in water, the power of imagining separate objects.

3.       Just as fire born out of wind (fanned into a flame) is extinguished by the same wind, so also that which is born of imagination is destroyed by imagination itself.

4.       The mind has come into existence through this (imagination) on account of forgetfulness. Like the experience of one’s own death in a dream it ceases to exist when scrutinised.

5.       The idea of Self in what is not the Self is due to incorrect understanding. The idea of reality in what is unreal, O Rama, know that to be the mind (Chittam).

6.       ‘This is he’, ‘I am this’, ‘That is mine’, such (ideas) constitute the mind; it disappears when one ponders over these false ideas.

7.       It is the nature of the mind to accept certain things and to reject others; this is bondage, nothing else.

8.       The mind is the creator of the world, the mind is the individual (Purusha); only that which is done by the mind is regarded as done, not that which is done by the body. The arm with which one embraces the wife is the very arm with which one embraces the daughter.

9.       The mind is the cause of (i.e. produces) the objects of perception. The three worlds depend upon it. When it is dissolved the world is also dissolved. It is to be cured (i.e. purified) with effort.

10.     The mind is bound by the latent impressions (Vasanas). When there are no impressions it is free. Therefore, O Rama, bring about quickly, through discrimination, the state in which there are no impressions.

11.     Just as a streak of cloud stains (i.e. appears to stain) the moon or a blotch of ink a lime-plastered wall, so also the evil spirit of desire stains the inner man.

12.     O Rama, he who, with in-turned mind, offers all the three worlds, like dried-grass, as an oblation in the fire of knowledge, becomes free from the illusions of the mind.

13.     When one knows the real truth about acceptance and rejection and does not think of anything but abides in himself, abandoning everything, (his) mind does not come into existence.

14.     The mind is terrible (Ghoram) in the waking state, gentle (Santam) in the dream state, dull (Mudham) in deep sleep and dead when not in any of these three states.

15.     Just as the powder of the Kataka seed, after precipitating the dirt in water, becomes merged in the water, so also the mind (after removing all impressions) itself becomes merged (in the Self).

16.     The mind is samsara; the mind is also said to be bondage; the body is activated by the mind just as a tree is shaken by the wind.

17.     Conquer your mind first, by pressing the palm with the palm, grinding the teeth with the teeth and twisting the limbs with the limbs.

18.     Does not the fool feel ashamed to move about in the world as he pleases and talk about meditation when he is not able to conquer even the mind?

19.     The only god to be conquered is the mind. Its conquest leads to the attainment of everything. Without its conquest all other efforts are fruitless.

20.     To be unperturbed is the foundation of blessedness (Sri). One attains liberation by it. To human beings even the conquest of the three worlds, without the conquest of the mind, is as insignificant as a blade of grass.

21.     Association with the wise, abandonment of latent impressions, self-enquiry, control of breathing — these are the means of conquering the mind.

22.     To one who is shod with leather the earth is as good as covered with leather. Even so to the mind which is full (i.e. undivided) the world overflows with nectar.

23.     The mind becomes bound by thinking ‘I am not Brahman’; it becomes completely released by thinking ‘I am Brahman’.

24.     When the mind is abandoned (i.e. dissolves), everything that is dual or single is dissolved. What remains after that is the Supreme Brahman, peaceful, eternal and free from misery.

25.     There is nothing to equal the supreme joy felt by a person of pure mind who has attained the state of pure consciousness and overcome death.

Previous Chapters:

Yoga Vasishta Sara (The Essence of Yoga Vasishta): Chapter One - Dispassion

Yoga Vasishta Sara (The Essence of Yoga Vasishta): Chapter Two - Unreality of the World

Yoga Vasishta Sara (The Essence of Yoga Vasishta): Chapter Three - The Marks of a Liberated Person

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