With a heart yearning for truth, the seeker asked, “Here, as I prepare to leave behind this body with a mind attuned to pure being, I wish to journey to that supreme realm—please, tell me of it.” The sage replied with gentle clarity, “Consider, for a moment, your wish-formed tree that appears in the sky. Though it exists in your vision, it is of the nature of space—it is not like a wall, nor is it hindered by a wall, nor does it destroy one. In the same way, the body that arises from the mind—formed of pure, single substance—exists subtly, and its manifestation is only slightly different from the supreme itself. “This body, then, is of such a kind. I do not abandon it to travel elsewhere. With this very body, I reach that supreme place, just as fragrance is carried effortlessly 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 such subtle bodies. “Yet, the awareness tied to the earthly cannot merge with that which is beyond the earth. Where is the union between two mountains, if they exist only in imagination? This mind-formed body of yours is truly a vehicle for passage, but because of long-standing conception, the intellect grasps it as if it were solid and material. “Think of dreams, of prolonged meditation, of delusions, or the fixed idea of one caught in addiction, or the illusory city of the Gandharvas—all are experiences that seem real due to the mind’s impressions. When these subtle impressions are truly diminished, and your mind finds stability, then the physical state does not return to the body. “When the belief in the subtle body is firm, this body appears solid; but when that belief is lost in delusion, the body perishes. Whatever exists by name may pass through cycles of destruction and persistence, but what does not truly exist cannot be destroyed—what kind of destruction could there be for what is not? “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, for the snake was never there to begin with. In the same way, through true knowledge, the physical is not seen; and through knowledge of the subtle body, the physical is not perceived. “If an imagined thing is removed, then that imagination ceases—like a stone cast away, it is not present here at any time. This body and its components exist, each supporting the other; this is the truth we witness, though you may not perceive it. “At the very beginning of creation, when the mind is shaped by imagination, from that moment onward, individuality appears as if it were an object. But when only the supreme reality remains—tranquil, undivided by direction, time, or any distinction—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 too, 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. “There is no dust in the sky; in the supreme, there is no division. This reality is undivided, peaceful, unborn, and free from all conceptualization. Whatever knowledge shines forth is pure and belongs only to that—the way the luster of a jewel is called gold by the goldsmiths’ tale. “For so long, O Devi, we have wandered—who indeed are these beings, endlessly confused by notions of duality and non-duality? You have long been disturbed and confused by restless, unexamined thought; this confusion arises from its own nature and disappears through inquiry. “Unexamined thought is instantly destroyed by inquiry; thus, it is truly nonexistent, and ignorance does not exist within. Therefore, there is truly no absence of inquiry, no ignorance, no bondage, nor is there liberation. This world is pure consciousness, undisturbed. “For as long as you did not reflect upon this, you remained unawakened—confused and agitated, like the restless ocean. But from today onward, you are awakened, liberated, and discerning; the seed of residual impressions has fallen away from your mind. “In the very beginning, the spectacle—the drama of worldly existence—never truly arose; so when, how, and by whom could any impression or tendency be experienced? When one attains complete absence—of seer, seen, and seeing—then, established in supreme one-pointedness, one abides in non-conceptual samadhi. “If, in this state where the seed of impressions is exhausted, even a slight sprout arises in the heart, then gradually perceptions such as attraction and aversion will emerge. This arising of worldly existence will then be uprooted, and your establishment in non-conceptual samadhi will become firm. “Freed from the stain of conceptualization, spotless as the clear sky, you will continue for a while, carried by the force of a few remaining actions of the senses and their causes. “Consider this: Just as, upon recognizing the nature of a dream, the dream body is seen as unreal, so too, even though it is experienced, this waking body is not real. Just as, upon understanding the dream, the dream body ceases when impressions are exhausted, so too, the waking body ceases when impressions are thinned out. “At the end of the dream-body, formed by imagination, this body is regarded as such; likewise, at the end of waking imagination, another subtle body arises. In a dream, when the seed of impression is absent, deep sleep arises; in waking, when the seed of impression is absent, liberation arises. “The impression that exists in the liberated while living is not truly an impression; it is called pure existence, the common substratum of being. The impression that remains in sleep is called deep sleep; the impression that remains in waking is called dense delusion. Sleep in which impressions are exhausted is described as ‘the fourth’; this also occurs in waking, when the supreme state is realized. “This state of living with exhausted impressions is not recognized by those who are not liberated; that is called liberation while living.