The seeker approached the revered teacher, eager to understand the path to steadfastness. The teacher explained, “It is through action that one becomes steadfast; without action, there can be no firmness. Therefore, action must be sought and known.” The student, filled with longing for this wisdom, asked respectfully, “Revered sir, I wish to know action.” The teacher continued, “But why does one act? It is only when one attains happiness that one acts; without happiness, there is no action. Therefore, happiness itself must be sought and known.” The student’s yearning deepened. “Revered sir, I wish to know happiness.” To this, the teacher replied, “Happiness is found in the vast, not in the small. The vast alone is happiness; the small cannot contain it. Therefore, seek to know the vast.” The student, with humility, responded, “Revered sir, I wish to know the vast.” The teacher then revealed the nature of the vast: “Where one perceives no other, hears no other, knows no other—that is the vast. Where one sees, hears, or knows another, that is the small. The vast is immortal; the small is mortal.” The student asked, “Revered sir, in what does the vast rest?” The teacher replied, “It rests in its own greatness—or perhaps not even in greatness as people commonly understand it.” People, the teacher explained, often call greatness by the names of cattle, horses, elephants, gold, servants, wives, fields, and houses. “But I do not say so,” he declared. When the student asked what then is truly great, the teacher said, “One thing is established in another.” He then described the all-pervading presence: “He is below, he is above, he is behind, he is before, he is to the right, he is to the left—he alone is all this. Therefore, the teaching concerning the self is: I am below, I am above, I am behind, I am before, I am to the right, I am to the left; I alone am all this.” Thus, the instruction is: the self is everywhere, in every direction, pervading all. One who truly sees, thinks, and knows in this way delights in the self, plays in the self, mates with the self, rejoices in the self—he becomes sovereign. In all worlds, he moves as he wishes. But those who know otherwise are ruled by others; their worlds are perishable, and they do not move freely. For the one who truly sees and knows thus, from the self arises all: life, hope, memory, space, fire, water, appearance and disappearance, food, strength, knowledge, meditation, understanding, intention, mind, speech, name, mantras, and actions. All this is, indeed, the self. A verse affirms this truth: He who sees thus does not encounter death, sickness, or pain; he sees all and attains all. He becomes one, threefold, fivefold, sevenfold, ninefold, even elevenfold; a hundred, ten, and one, and also twenty thousand are said. When food is pure, the mind becomes pure; when the mind is pure, memory is steady; when memory is steady, all the knots of the heart are loosened. To the one whose stains are washed away, the venerable Sanatkumara shows the further shore beyond darkness. He is known as Skanda. Now, the teacher spoke of the city of Brahman: “Within this city lies a small lotus-like dwelling, and within that, a small space. That which is within should be sought and known.” If one asked, “What is there to be sought in this small space?” the answer would be: as vast as the outer space is, so vast is the space within the heart. Heaven and earth, fire and air, sun and moon, lightning and stars, all that is and all that is not—everything is contained within it. If someone wondered, “When old age overtakes the body or it is destroyed, what remains of all that is contained in the heart?” the answer is: “By old age, this does not age; by death, this is not killed. This is the true city of Brahman, where all desires dwell. This self is free from evil, ageless, deathless, without sorrow, hunger, or thirst; its desires and intentions are true. As people enter this world according to their conduct, so too, according to their desires, do they attain whatever end they wish.” Just as the worlds gained by action here perish, so too do the worlds gained by merit. But those who depart from this world after knowing the self and these true desires have freedom in all worlds; they move as they wish. Those who leave without such knowledge find no such freedom. If a person desires the world of the ancestors, by mere intention, his ancestors appear and he is fulfilled. If he desires the world of mothers, mothers arise for him. The same is true for brothers, sisters, friends, perfumes and garlands, food and drink, song and music, or even the company of women—whatever end he desires, by mere intention it arises for him, and he is exalted. Yet, these true desires are often covered by the untrue, hidden from sight. One who departs without knowing these does not attain them. Just as those who do not know the location of a hidden treasure of gold may pass over it again and again and never find it, so too do beings, day by day, go to the world of Brahman but do not find it, being turned away by the untrue. The self within the heart is to be known; its true name is ‘heart’ because it is in the heart. One who knows this attains the heavenly world each day. This serene one, rising from the body, attains the highest light and manifests in his own true form. This is the self, the immortal, the fearless—this is Brahman, whose name is ‘Truth.’ This truth is expressed in the three syllables ‘sat-ti-yam’: ‘sat’ is the immortal, ‘ti’ the mortal, and ‘yam’ unites both. By this union, one who knows thus attains the heavenly world each day. The self is the bridge and support of all worlds, keeping them distinct and safe from merging. Neither day nor night, old age, death, sorrow, nor good or evil deeds cross this bridge; all evils turn back from it. This is the world of Brahman, free from evil. Having crossed this bridge, one is untouched by blindness, injury, or affliction. Even after crossing, one manifests only as day, never as night, for the world of Brahman is always radiant. Those who seek this world through brahmacharya—chastity—truly attain it, and for them, in all worlds, there is freedom of movement according to their will. If people say, “It is sacrifice,” know that it is brahmacharya alone that leads to this attainment. If they say, “It is offering,” it is brahmacharya alone, for through it, one finds the self. What is called ‘sattrāyaṇa’ is truly celibacy, for by celibacy alone one protects the self. What is called ‘silence’ is also celibacy, for through it, one contemplates the self. ‘Anāśakāyana’ is celibacy, for the self does not perish—he who attains it through celibacy. ‘Miti’ is also celibacy. There are two lakes, Ara and Nya, in the world of Brahman; beyond this heaven is the third lake, Airam, the Asvattha tree, the Soma pressing ground, the golden boundary. Those who, through celibacy, attain these lakes in the world of Brahman, for them alone is the world of Brahman; they move freely in all worlds as they desire. The teacher then spoke of the subtle channels of the heart, which rest in the subtle body, colored reddish, white, blue, yellow, and red—just as the sun appears in these hues. The rays of the sun, like great highways, traverse both this world and that. From the sun, they return and pour into these channels, and from these channels, they return and pour back into the sun. When one is completely tranquil and serene, dreams cease; at that time, one is poured into those channels. No evil touches him then, for he is filled with radiance. Thus, the teacher revealed the journey inward, the vastness within the heart, and the immortal self that is the source and support of all.