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TRANQUILLITY OF MIND

A tranquil mind is a sagacious state of serenity, mental calm, peace, calmness, and contentment, free from anxiety, stress, agitation, and chaotic thoughts. This state of freedom from fear or excessive desire represents a stable, resilient, and enduring composure. A tranquil mind is not merely a state of temporary calmness, teaches sage philosopher Swami Krishnananda, but an organically connected state of consciousness that occurs when the mind ceases to desire, rests in Atman , or Self, and perceives the world as an interconnected whole (In the Light of Wisdom, by Swami Krishnananda, Divine Life Society, Rishikesh). He maintains that a tranquil mind is a Sattvic (pure) state where desires have ceased. Desires act like winds that disturb the lake of the mind, causing it to oscillate. The mind remains in a tranquil and serene state when it oscillates inwards to experience joy and the eternal infinity bliss of infinitude. It is cultivated through Self-mindfulness, Self-reflection, Self-...
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NECESSITY OF ACTIVITY

Advaita Vedanta's foundational text, Yoga-Vasistha, emphasises the nature of the mind, Self-realisation, and achieving liberation via Self-knowledge. It emphasises that Self-effort, or Purushartha , is supreme, advocating for intentional action over fatalism. It teaches that the mind creates reality and that intentional, diligent, and purposeful action is necessary to achieve liberation and shape one's destiny. Yoga-Vasistha advocates that fatalism is not an inevitability but rather can be neutralised by sincere, virtuous and determined human efforts. It states that fate is merely the result of past actions or thoughts. The power of human endeavour (Purushartha) can overcome past actions, making it essential to act diligently to shape one's future, as this proactive approach allows individuation. Actions from their circumstances and achieve their desired outcomes. The origin of all thoughts and actions is mind.  actions of the body are secondary. Intentional, mental exerti...
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INVALIDATION OF FATALISM

Fate is nothing other than a name for our past actions of the earlier state. It can be kept at a safe distance by extricating oneself from one's past fetters by Self-effort, Self-knowledge, Self-realisation, Satsanga , or association with sages, or virtuous people, and study of sacred scriptures, proclaims Yoga-Vasistha (2.6.1-8). Swami Sivananda, in his commentary on Yoga-Vasistha, highlights that all beings strive for liberation, or absolute freedom from phenomenal entrapment. He says that Shanti (quiescence of mind), Santosha (contentment), Satsanga (association with sages, or virtuous people) and Vichara (Self-enquiry) are the four sentinels who guard the gates of Moksha , or liberation. If one makes friendship with them, one will easily enter the kingdom of Moksha . Even if one keeps company with one of them, he will surely introduce you to his other three companions. The student should have an unshakable conviction that Brahman is the only Reality, that everything is Bra...
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TRUE KNOWLEDGE

True knowledge is Self-knowledge. Self, or Atman , is independent, unattached, eternal, infinite, imperishable, uncaused, and not limited by limited adjuncts of space, time and causation. In that Self-knowledge sets enabling universal principles to reason, understand, be aware, be conscious and realise one's Atman , or true Self, an inseparable essence of Brahman , or Cosmic Self. True knowledge is to know respectfully what to ask, what to understand, what is to speak, what is to listen to, what is to introspect, what is to contemplate and what is to meditate upon (Yoga-Vasistha, 2.12.1). It is to orient the mind by exercising to achieve a state of tranquillity, calmness and quiescence as a primal goal seeking to realise Atman as true knowledge. It implies a deep, discerning, and often scenic, undisturbed quietude, a lack of agitation, noise, or motion, serene and lasting. This serene state enables one to delve deeper into the essence of existence, fostering an environment where w...
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TRUE LIVING

Sri Rama in Yoga-Vasistha (1.14.1), through his discourses with Sage Vasistha, dwells on the impermanence of human life processes. He says, "Human life is as fragile as a drop of water trembling on the tip of a leaf. It departs from the body unexpectedly, like a raving madman breaking loose from imprisonment." Yoga-Vasistha speaks of the impermanence of existence and the uncertainty of death. It says life is not guaranteed, as it is so delicate, like a dewdrop that can fall at any moment, urging the seeker not to waste time on worldly attachments but to pursue spiritual knowledge. In that context, Yoga-Vasistha urges for "true living", a living that is towards wholesomeness and completeness and in consonance with Self-living and Self-pathways. It may be living the life of transcendental tranquillity, quiescence, detachment, equanimity, forbearance and Jivanmukta, or living liberation.. The pathways are Self-knowledge, Self-consciousness, or Self-awareness, or Self-r...
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TEMPORAL WELFARE

He who pursues the path of spiritual ignorance and who uses clever techniques to master the illusions of the world, mistaking the pursuit of worldly pleasures or psychic powers for true happiness, Yoga-Vasistha (5.89.15) highlights, they are in temporal welfare, as they are blind to the salvation of Atman , or Self; no matter how advanced their techniques may appear to be, they are against the course of the holy sages and saints. In reality, they are not for Atmajnana , or Self-knowledge, and Ātmabodha , or Self-awareness. They, in spite of their mastery and fleeting skills of worldly experience of senses, remain immersed in Avidya , or ignorance. Those of the former are truly self-realised, contented, and maintain virtues of detachment, equanimity and forbearance.  They denote the realisation that one's true nature is the witness-conscious Atman , or Self, of Purusha , the eternal, imperishable and fundamentally one with Paramatma , or Brahman , or the Absolute Existence. It is di...
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EGOISM

Ego, or Ahamkara , is a form of bondage to the body-mind complex that generates desires, attachment and possession to an insatiable level. It forges a knot of bondages as a separate personality, although transient, in that complex. Bondages, desires, attachments and possessions rooted in separateness are concubines of ego. It remains in two states of consciousness, Jagrat , or waking, and Svapna , or dreaming, to savour the sensual pleasures in the phenomenal dimension of the world. It is interwoven with ignorance, or Avidya . They complement each other. When Avidya rules, the ego of the self is not far behind. Vidya , or knowledge, perspicaciously discriminates between real and unreal, or eternal and ephemeral. It activates Self-enquiry to know 'who am I' for Self-knowledge and Self-realisation. Avidya strives to gloss over all these through the navigation of psycho-physical apparatus into the state of ignorance. Ego is the supreme enemy of Self, or Atman . It remains in its...
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