O Rama, consider how the nature of mind and experience is revealed. Just as oil is drawn from sesame seeds by pressing and emerges with a lasting clarity, so too do pleasure and pain become evident when the mind continually reflects upon them, compressing and distilling these experiences within itself. Know, dear one, that what is called ‘place’ and ‘time’ is but a product of imagination. It is by the mind’s power of imagination that the appearance of space and the flow of time manifest before us. The mind projects the body, and in doing so, rises, subsides, moves, delights, and leaps about. Yet, when this projection is fulfilled, the body itself has no independent existence. The mind, within this body, leaps about in many surges of excitement, each fashioned by its own imagination—like a restless horse galloping within its own enclosure. Therefore, when the mind no longer indulges in inner restlessness, it gains self-control, much like an elephant restrained by a strong tether. The one whose mind does not stir, remaining unmoved like a pillar fixed by a weapon, is the true person; all others, tossed about by their minds, are like worms in the mud. He whose mind, once restless, has become steady and established in one place, pursues the supreme state through meditation, O sinless Rama. When the mind is restrained, the confusion of worldly existence comes to rest, just as the churning of the ocean of milk ceases when Mount Mandara is withdrawn. All the growths that arise in the mind—sprouting from the confusion of desires for enjoyment—are alone the sources of the poisonous tree of worldly existence. The mind, like a restless blue lotus, is surrounded by those who are deluded—dull, quick to folly, intoxicated and slow with confusion—whose minds, torn and scattered in the whirling cycle of samsara, fall like bees lost in the spinning of a wheel. Now, hear of the supreme remedy for the great disease of the mind—a medicine that is self-dependent and easily applied, established within oneself, and to be used with discernment. By one’s own effort, swiftly and with the power of direct self-awareness, the ghost of the mind is subdued through diligence and by abandoning the objects of desire. He who stands free from affliction, having given up the objects of desire, has truly conquered the mind—just as one who has subdued an elephant is called a tamer. With the effort of self-awareness, the childlike mind must be guarded and guided from the unreal to the real, and thus instructed. With the sword of your own mind, O sage, cut off the mind that is scorched by worry and bound to scriptures, just as iron is cut by iron. Just as a child’s mind is easily directed here and there, so too can the mind be turned inward toward nobility—what is so exceedingly difficult in this? When engaged in righteous action, which brings forth future results, direct the mind with your own effort and awareness. If someone finds it difficult to renounce what is within their own power and for their own highest benefit, shame on such a person, who is like a worm among men. By contemplating what is unpleasant as pleasant with one’s own understanding, the mind, like a child to a wrestler, is easily subdued. Through personal effort and diligence, the mind is conquered just as a horse is tamed; and when the mind is no longer an adversary, the state of Brahman is attained. Those who cannot accomplish what is within their own power and easily done—namely, mastery over their own mind—shame on them, for they are jackals among men. Without the mantra of calming the mind, achieved by one’s own effort and renunciation of desires, there is no auspicious attainment. By the mere conquest of the mind, accomplished through one’s own awareness, there arises an unobstructed, beginningless, endless, and flawless state. In the glory of calming the mind—which is the true limb of all desired realization—the teachings of the guru, scriptures, mantras, and other methods are like straw. When the disease of the mind is cut off by the sword of non-conceptualization, all becomes the all-pervading, peaceful Brahman. In this state, attained by self-awareness and the destruction of false notions, what can disturb the one whose nature is tranquil and clear as a spotless cloud? Certainly, disregarding fate—which is only imagined by the deluded mind—one should lead the mind to no-mind through effort and awareness. Pursuing that unique, supreme path for a long time, making the mind consumed by pure consciousness, one becomes even beyond mind itself. Freed from the notion of becoming, established in supreme understanding, remain unwavering, with the mind absorbed in the highest consciousness. Relying on supreme effort, having led the mind to no-mind, attain that supreme path where you are neither this nor anything else. O Rama, the mind, which is like a weak enemy taking the form of mistaken perception, can indeed be quickly conquered by effort alone. Calmness is the root of prosperity; from calmness arises right action. By conquering the mind, one for whom the conquest of the three worlds is as nothing achieves this supreme victory. In that state, where even the slightest disturbance from weapons, fire, calamities, or falling does not occur—where being is merely the cessation of one’s own restless nature—what interference can there be, and by whom? Those base men who are powerless even in matters concerning their own experience—how will they conduct themselves in the various situations of worldly dealings? The notions, ‘I am a man,’ ‘I am seen,’ ‘I am born,’ ‘I am alive,’ are all false perceptions—mere movements of the restless mind, arising from unreality, and passing away. No one here truly dies, and no one here is truly born; it is only the mind that, upon leaving the body, knows its own death and imagines itself to have gone to another world. When the mind departs from here to another world, it manifests itself differently there; it does not perish until liberation—so why should there be fear of death? The mind, taking the form of a body, moves about in this world and the next; until liberation, it persists—there is no other form for it. The suffering that arises in people regarding a son, brother, servant, or others does not occur in their own mind, for their own consciousness is not interrupted—this is my view. Having considered in every way—across, above, and below, again and again—I see that there is truly no means except the pacification of the mind.