Let us journey to the mountain village where the brahmin dwells with his wife, and observe that creation together. To do so, we must rely on a supreme, pure vision—a vision that encompasses both inert and conscious forms. By abandoning the mere appearance of things and releasing the impurities of existence, we come to perceive the truth. In this way, you will attain the self that is vast and sky-like, established in space, just as a man’s thought on earth is like a city imagined within the sky. Let us observe the brahmin, situated in his home, along with all the creation that unfolds there. Through the gateway of this vision, we see that the body itself is the supreme barrier. With this body, O Devi, another world may be attained—or not. The reasoning behind this is not easily explained, for it is grasped only by grace. These worlds, though inherently formless, are perceived as possessing form due to mistaken apprehension; you have understood them by likening them to golden waves. Even in the forest of waves that appear as forms within gold, there is no real wave-nature; similarly, in the form of the world, world-nature does not exist in the realm of consciousness. This world is only space—it is Brahman alone, not something visible or tangible. Whatever is seen here is merely a speck of dust in the vast ocean. Brahman alone perceives Brahman; Brahman does not perceive anything other than itself. Its nature is thus, though it is known by names such as creation and so forth. There is no arising of cause and effect between Brahman and the world, for all causes and their auxiliaries are absent. As long as your mind, through the practice of yoga, has not become peaceful and free from division, you will not perceive Brahman as it truly is. Those who, like us, have attained steadfastness through practice and knowledge of Brahman, truly see that state. Just as the city of imagination exists only in thought, so too is my body made of space. I see that this very breath is Brahman, and with this body, I behold that supreme state. I am the body of pure knowledge; just as these beings—born from the lotus and others—Brahman, the self, the world, and all things are but limbs within our own being. Without your practice, child, the form has not attained the state of Brahman; it remains as the mind-made self, and thus you do not perceive that. Where your own city of imagination is not found within your body, there too, the city of another’s imagination cannot be found within your body. Therefore, abandoning this body, which is of the nature of consciousness-space, you will see That; do this swiftly, O best among those who know what is to be done. The city of imagination is real only for the one who imagines it; whether with body or without body, for others it is nothing at all. At the beginning of creation, world-delusion arose and came to this state; from that time onward, destiny has gained strength. You said, O goddess, "Let us go to the house of the brahmin and his wife." To this, I ask: how should we go, mother? Here, leaving behind this body with a mind aligned to pure being, I go to that supreme realm—tell me about it. Just as your wish-formed tree in the sky, though existing, is of the nature of space—it does not possess the nature of a wall, nor is it obstructed by a wall, nor does it destroy a wall. That is indeed the nature of a mind-formed body made of pure, single substance; therefore, its manifestation is only slightly different from the supreme. So, this body is of such a kind; I do not abandon it and go elsewhere. With this very body, I reach that place, just as fragrance is carried by the wind. Just as water merges with water, fire with fire, and wind with wind, so too does the mind-made body unite with other mind-made bodies. Yet, the awareness belonging to the earthly does not merge with the awareness that is not earthly; where is the union between two mountains made of imagination? This mind-formed body of yours is indeed a vehicle of passage; but, due to long-standing conception, it is grasped by the intellect as if it were material. Just as in a dream, or in prolonged meditation, or in delusions, or in the fixed idea of an addict, or in the city of the Gandharvas—illusory cities— When the subtle impressions are truly diminished and your mind attains stability, then the physical condition does not return to the body. When the belief in the subtle body becomes firm, this body attains solidity; but when that belief is lost in delusion, this body perishes. Whatever exists by name may undergo cycles of destruction and persistence; but what does not truly exist cannot be destroyed—what kind of destruction could there be? When the illusion of a snake in a rope is dispelled by true understanding, the snake is not destroyed, nor is it not destroyed—such talk is meaningless. Just as, through true knowledge, the physical is not seen, so too, through knowledge of the subtle body, the physical is not perceived. If an imagined thing is removed by someone, then that imagination ceases; like a stone that is cast away, it is not present here at any time. This body and its components exist, each fulfilling the other; this is the truth, dear one, which we see, though you do not perceive it. At the beginning of creation, when the mind is shaped by imagination, from that moment onward, individuality is seen as if it were an object. When the supreme reality alone remains, tranquil and undivided by directions, time, and other distinctions, how could there be any scope for imagination? Just as the quality of a bracelet exists in gold, or a wave in water, or reality in dream-cities and imagined worlds— So, in the experience of truth and in the realm of consciousness, there is absolutely no imagination apart from the self, which is by nature free from affliction. Just as there is no dust in the sky, so too, in the supreme there is no division; this undivided, peaceful, unborn reality is free from all conceptualization.