Listen, O Rāma, to the wisdom that was spoken. The sage explained: When a being carries the residue of a previous body and is accompanied by the impressions of past actions, memory arises—this memory is the very cause for the continuation of transmigration, the endless cycle of birth and death. But consider Brahman, the Absolute. For Brahman, there are no prior actions at all—so how could any memory of a previous existence arise? From where, and in what manner, could such memory come? Thus, it becomes clear: Brahman appears to have no cause. If there is any cause at all, it is found only in its own mind. Being self-caused, without any other essence or origin, the self-born is established in itself. The body of this self-born is not physical but subtle—it is mental in nature. The physical body does not pertain to the unborn, O Rāma. There are truly only two kinds of bodies: the subtle (mental) and the physical. Of all classes of beings, Brahman possesses only the subtle body—what else could it have? All beings that are causes themselves possess two bodies, but for the unborn, which has no cause, there is only the subtle, mental body. Among all beings, only one is the unborn, the supreme cause; and because the unborn has no cause, it alone possesses a single, subtle body. The first progenitor, then, has no physical body. He appears only as a subtle form, whose essence is like space itself. His body is made of mind alone, not composed of earth or any of the other elements. This first progenitor, with a form like space, extends forth all creatures. These beings, born from him, are of the nature of liberation and are not shaped by any other cause. Whatever arises from whatever, that alone is experienced by all. At the very beginning is pure liberation, the supreme awareness; this alone is mind. It remains as mind and does not become earth or anything of the like. For all beings with minds, engaged in the dealings of the world, that first reflection—the body of mind—arises from itself. From that prior reflection, which is not different from its own nature, this creation has spread forth, just as the movement of the wind is seen. From this form of pure intelligence, which holds only the form of intelligence, this creation shines forth and is established as a real experience. Consider this: the city seen in a dream and the enjoyment with a dream-woman—though unreal, by the wealth of experience, they shine with the light of true perception. He appears as if not made of earth and the other elements, with a form like space, without a physical body. Yet, like the lord of beings with a body, he stands as a person, self-born. Because his nature is consciousness and will, he appears to arise and then subside; but since his nature is self-dependent, in truth, he neither arises nor subsides. Brahma is free from will and has a form devoid of earth and the other elements; his essence is pure consciousness alone, the cause of the existence of the three worlds. This will moves about as its own nature, just as a name arises from itself. This one, whose essence is space, appears like a mountain, formed by your own will. By the firm and exclusive forgetfulness of the ethereal state, through the knowledge of the physical world, it appears falsely, like a ghost. Yet this forgetfulness of the ethereal state does not arise in the great consciousness that is awakened at the very beginning of effort, because of its pure awareness. Therefore, in that state, the ghostly condition of physicality does not arise. Being unreal, like a mirage, it is false and gives rise to the delusion of dullness. When Brahman is only mind, not composed of earth or other elements, then the universe is only mind; whatever arises from it is indeed that alone. There are no auxiliary causes for the unborn; likewise, for what is born, those causes do not truly exist, except for a few. The diversity of effects arises from causes; thus, nothing exists here apart from this. As the cause is pure, so the effect is established here. But in truth, the relation of cause and effect does not apply at all. Just as the supreme Brahman is, so too is the threefold world. The world is projected by Brahman, as if through the power of mind, just as fluidity is projected from pure water, not from anything else. Everything is projected by the mind; all this is unreal and spread out, like a city imagined in thought or like the city of the Gandharvas. There is no physicality here, just as there is no snake in a rope; how could awakened ones like Brahma and others remain there? Only the subtle body exists, and not for one whose mind is awakened; so, what discussion is there here about the physical body, and how? The realm of the mind, which bears the name 'man', takes on various forms; the world, as the kingdom of the mind, appears as if it were reality. Know that the mind itself is the creator, composed of imagination; having expanded its own form, the mind projects this world. The creator is a form of the mind, and the mind is the body of the creator; earth and the rest do not exist here, thus earth and the rest are imagined. Just as a lotus resides within the eye of a lotus, so within the heart of the mind is the visible; the seer and the seen of the mind are never truly separate. Likewise, in this context, the sovereignty of the mind is like the dreaming and imagining of the wise; this is evident through one's own experience, therefore the visible exists in the heart. Thus, just as a demon dwelling in the mind's confusion kills a child, so this inner faculty, which takes the form of the seen, destroys the seer. Just as a sprout, situated within a seed, produces a radiant body according to place and time, so does the faculty of perception generate the visible. If the suffering of the seen never ceases, then it does not cease in the seen, nor does pure awareness arise in the knower; when the seen does not exist in the knower, the state of the knower ceases—even if the seen remains, this is called liberation. As the chief sage uttered these extraordinary words, all those gathered, united in their desire to listen, remained silently attentive. The tinkling of ornaments was hushed, no one stirred, and even the parrots in their cages ceased their playful activities, as all were absorbed in the depth of the teaching.