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STATE OF DELIRIUM

It is the fallacy of the human mind, which views the forms as realities and causes one to think of his Atman , which is freed from action, name and form, as being born, living and dead, as a man sees a city to rise and fall in his delirium (Yoga-Vasistha, 3.67.14-16). The varying intellect, according to Yoga-Vasistha, erroneously conceives its unreal egoism of "I" and "mineness" as realities, from its ignorance of its unity with Brahman, the Ultimate Reality, and also from its felicity of enjoyments peculiar to its varied state. It states that the human mind suffers from a fundamental illusionary fallacy of name and form. It mistakes ephemeral physical names and forms as ultimate reality. It is forgetful of its essential nature as eternal and immortal Atman , beyond the space-time frame. It is timeless, spaceless, changeless, and free from the cycles of birth and death. Because of the mind's limitations, it superimposes these names and forms onto Jivatma , or th...
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ON TRUTH

Yoga-Vasistha ( Utpatti Khanda , Chapter LXVII) defines Truth as the non-dualistic realisation that Brahman , or the Supreme Self, is the omnipresent, ultimate reality. The best way to express it, according to Brihadaranyaka Upanishad (2.3.6), is "Neti, neti" (Not this, not this). It signifies that Brahman , or the Supreme Self, cannot be described by any finite words, objects, or mental concepts, as It is beyond comprehension and reason. It expresses that Brahman is Absolute Truth and Pure Consciousness and is uncaused, unbounded, infinite, eternal, and non-dual. Absolute Truth is One only and not subject to limitations of space-time and existence. It is from Him that the transient universe manifests as well as unmanifests in a cycling process through His own will. Sage Vasistha in Yoga-Vasistha teaches Sri Rama that the objective world is Maya , or an illusion, and is guided by Prarabdha (predestination) and Purushartha (free will, or self-effort). The phenomenal world...
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NEVER SPEAK UNTRUTH

Cosmic laws and orders are sacrosanct, and nobody can ever dare to ignore the same. This has been instructed by the scriptures and ascertained by the sages for ages. Sage Vasistha, in Yoga-Vasistha (3.20.13-26 ), assures the seeker Sri Rama of his absolute honesty in this realm by stating that breaking cosmic law or lying is impossible for enlightened beings. He invokes the foundational ethical rule Nānṛtaṃ vadeta (never utter falsehood), emphasising that higher consciousness naturally abides in Absolute Truth. According to Swami Chidananda, he who speaks truth is God, and God is truth. It is a clarion call to practise truthfulness, honesty, and transparency without any division, duality, or intrusion. Swami Chidananda invokes seekers to imbibe the virtues of truthfulness in thoughts, words, and deeds. In thoughts, there should not be self-delusion, hidden hypocrisy, and pretence; in words, speak with accuracy, integrity, forthrightness, and subtlety; and in deeds, ensure outward acti...
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EVERYTHING IS EVERYWHERE

""Everything is everywhere" describes a state or a condition of universal omnipresence, or the universality of being, elaborated and explained by sage philosopher Swami Krishnananda (The Universality of Being, Swami Krishnananda, Divine Life Society, Rishikesh). This underlying reality is often described as Pure Consciousness, or the Absolute Existence. This reality at the fundamental level is asserted by Swami Krishnananda: existence is a single, non-dual, complete whole, where space, time, individual objects, names, and forms are merely projections of only One non-dual, universal consciousness. In this underlying reality every point in space and time contains the potentiality and essence of the entire cosmos. It is an absolute truth, or cosmic law and order, regarding everything being everywhere, or the universality of being. It speaks of universal toleration, as nothing exists in isolation. Srimad Bhagavad Gita (Chapter 14) speaks of Prakriti (insentient) and Purush...
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WISDOM IN PRACTICE

Wisdom is enhancing the ability to understand, be aware, and realise Brahman, or the Supreme Self, and to discriminate between Ultimate Reality and ephemerality. Wisdom in practice is not physical convolution but cognising and becoming conscious of the eternity, non-duality, imperishability and infinity of Absolute Existence. It is a constant endeavour of detachment, equanimity, forbearance, discrimination, discipline and dispassion for non-dual consciousness in any situation or of opposites. Wisdom is compressed into direct experiential statements pronounced in the Upanishads as Mahavākyas , or Great Sayings: " Aham Brahmasmi ", or "I am Brahman", Brihadāranyaka Upanishad (1.4.10), Śukla Yajur Veda; " Prajnanam Brahma ", or "Consciousness is Brahman ", Aitareya Upanishad (3.3), Rig Veda; " Ayam Ātmā Brahma ", or "This Self (Atman) is Brahman ", Mandukya Upanishad (1.2), Atharva Veda; and " Tat Tvam Asi ", or "...
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BEYOND COSMIC DISSOLUTION

  Mahapralaya is the cosmic dissolution of the entire universe, where all projected manifestations of Brahman , or the Supreme Self, reverse back to the original unmanifestation. The Upanishads teach that the ultimate reality, Brahman , remains untouched beyond this cataclysm. It is a realm of Pure Consciousness, Sat-Chit-Ananda (Existence-Consciousness-Bliss), and  where all limited adjuncts of space-time, name and forms cease to operate and exist. Ultimately, Brihadaranyaka Upanishad states that dissolution is merely the recognition that the universe is conceptually ideational. Yoga-Vasistha, (Book 3, Utpatti Khanda, Chapter 10, Description of the chaotic state, or Mahapralaya, or universal dissolution) explaining that our perception of the world is a mental construct. To achieve ultimate liberation, one must transcend the conditioned mind. Yoga-Vasistha (3.10.46-54) contends that the visible universe is merely a projection of Brahman , or Supreme Self, or Pure Consci...
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CAUSES OF BONDAGE

Moksha , or liberation, is intertwined in the relationship between the observer (the seer) and the observed (the world). Yoga-Vasistha (3.1.1-48) delves into the causes of bondage to it. It says the root cause of suffering is the bonding, or the relationship between the observer (mind) and the observed (manifest objects). The mind paints its world and then gets lost in the painting. That is the relationship between the mind and the objects. That relationship is a mental trap; when the mind fastens itself to an object of sight, sound, or desire, it becomes tethered to it. This mental attachment to the external world through the sensory organs is the root cause of bondage. The sensory organs constantly feed exterior information to the mind, provoking desires, attachments, and egoism. The mind acts like a mirror. When it reflects external objects and mistakes those reflections for Ultimate Reality, it enters into the myriad nets of Maya , or a state of illusion. This cycle keeps the Jivat...
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