# A poignant selection from the Vasistha Yoga



## jen (Jun 20, 2005)

Venkatesananda, Swami. _ The Concise Yoga Vasistha. _ State University of New York Press: New York, 1984.

* Valmiki * The king urged the chamberlain to invite Rama to the court. In the meantime, Rama himself got ready to meet his father. Even from a distance he saw and saluted his father and the sages, and they saw that though young, his face shown with the peace of maturity. He bowed to the feet of the king, who embraced him, lifted him up and said to him, "What makes you so sad my son? Dejection is an open invitation to a host of miseries."

* Rama * Holy sir, I shall duly answer your question. I grew up happily in my father's abode; I was instructed by worthy teachers. Recently I went on a pilgrimage. During this period a trend of thought has taken hold of me, robbing me of all hope in this world. My heart begins to question: what do people call happiness if can it be had in the ever-changing objects of this world? I do not perceive any meaning in all these transient phenomena, which are the roots of suffering and sin. Unrelated beings come together; the mind conjures up a relationship between them. Everything in the world is dependent upon the mind, upon one's mental attitude. On examination, the mind itself appears to be unreal! But we are bewitched by it. We seem to be running after a mirage in the desert to slake our thirst.

Holy sir, I am bewildered and scared when I contemplate the coming into being of the dreadful enemy of wisdom known as egoism. It comes into being in the darkness of ignorance, and flourishes in ignorance. All suffering surely revolves around egoism (it is the 'I' who suffers), and egoism is the sole cause of mental distress. I feel that egoism is my worst disease! Spreading the net of wordly objects of pleasure, it is this egoism that traps living beings. Egoism eclipses self-control, destroys virtue and dissipates equanimity. Giving up the egoistic notion _I am Rama_, I wish to rest in the self. I realize that whatever I have done with an egoistic notion is vain: non-egoism is the truth. When I am under the influence of egoism I am unhappy; when I am free from egoism I am happy. Egoism promotes cravings; withouth it they perish.

Though I adopt various methods to restrain this craving, the latter overpowers me in a moment and helplessly drives me astray, even as a gale drives a straw away. Whatever hope I have of developing dispassion and such other qualities, craving cuts that hope away, even as a rat snaps a thread. And I helplessly revolve, caught in the wheel of craving. Like birds caught in a net, we are unable, though we have the wings for it, to fly to our goal or abode of self-knowledge. Though it appears as if the craving is for happiness, this craving leads neither to happiness nor to fruitfulnes in this life; on the contrary, it involves vain effort and leads to every kind of inauspiciousness. Even when it occupies the stage called life on which several happy and unhappy situations play, this craving, like an aged actress, is incapable of performing anything good and noble and suffers defeat and discomfiture at every turn. Yet it does not give up dancing on the stage!

Craving now ascends to the skies, now dives into the depths of the nether world; it is ever restless. For it is based on the emptiness of the mind. The body is the home of illness, the field for mental distress and changing emotions and mental states. In the mind the light of wisdom momentarily shines, but there is delusion the next moment. How futile to pin out faith and our hope on it!

I wish to remain at peace within this world. I am constantly inquiring, "How can I wean my heart completely away from even thinking of this ever-changing phantom called the world?" Hence pray, tell me: what is that attitude that enables one not to be influenced by various kinds of activities and experiences? Pray tell me: how can the mind be made to view the world both as one's own self and also as no more valuable as a blade of grass? Holy sir, instruct me in that wisdom which will enable my otherwise restless mind to be steady like a mountain.

What is the secret? What is that secret that counteracts the habit of the mind that is spread out in the form of this universe?

* Valkimi * All those who had assembled in the court were highly inspired by the flaming words of Rama's wisdom, which is capable of dispelling the delusion of the mind. They felt as if themselves had been rid of all their doubts and deluded misunderstanding. Surely, no one but Rama, who was full of _dispassion_, could have uttered the words that he gave expression to -- not even the preceptor of the gods could. We were extremely fortunate to have been able to listen to him. While we listened to him, it seemed as though we were filled with the feeling that there is no happiness, even in heaven.

*The Perfected Sages* The Perfected Sages in the assembly said: Hearing all this, all the sages of the world hastened to the court to listen to the answer of the supreme sage Vasistha. Surely, if in our heart the lofty wisdom of Rama is not reflected, we shall indeed be the losers. Whatever out abilities and faculties, we shall thereby prove that we have lost our intelligence!


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## Pablo (Sep 1, 2005)

I wish the perfected sages would expand on their answer a little bit.maybe I have just lost my intelligence. I liked the read though


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## jen (Jun 20, 2005)

That's when my fingertips went cold; the intelligence lies in the raw feeling of the question. That a even a feeling could be a question bearing wisdom.


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