Bondage, dear one, arises within the mind through the force of deep-seated tendencies, much like how a child’s playful energy fades into calmness as dusk settles. As long as the visible world appears before us, it is a sign of ignorance—an ignorance that gradually wanes. But when one turns inward and contemplates the Self, what is that Self truly? The Self is the very essence of consciousness—untouched by objects, present everywhere, impossible to describe. It is the Supreme Lord. From Brahma, the creator, down to the smallest blade of grass, all that exists in this world is, in truth, nothing but the Self. For the sinless, ignorance has no place. Everything is Brahman—eternal, solid consciousness, imperishable. There is no separate entity called ‘mind’ conjured by imagination. In these three worlds, nothing is ever born nor dies; no real modifications ever occur. Here, only pure consciousness exists—unmixed, unbroken, universal, untouched by objects, undisturbed. In this eternal, pure, undisturbed, peaceful, and all-pervasive consciousness, the Self emerges, unchanged. By its own nature, it arises and rushes forth through its own imagining. Consciousness, when it becomes the object of its own awareness, withers on its own, and this withering is remembered as the mind. From the one, all-pervading, divine, all-powerful, great Self, arises the power of division and calculation, like a wave rising from water. In the one, expansive, peaceful reality where nothing exists, whatever departs through mere thought attains perfection in the Supreme Self. Thus, accomplishment that arises through thought is destroyed by thought alone; just as it appeared, it disappears, like a flame extinguished by the wind. When ignorance takes the form of enjoyment through effort, it is dissolved simply by the absence of thought. If the mind holds firmly, ‘I am not Brahman,’ it becomes bound. But with the conviction, ‘All is Brahman,’ it is liberated. Thought is the highest bondage; absence of thought is liberation. Having conquered thought within, one may act as one wishes. I have seen, high in the sky, a lotus with golden petals, restless bees of beryl flitting about, fragrant, adorned with the directions as its garment. She laughs, her arms like lotus stalks, displaying her proud curves, as if mocking the circle of rays from the shining moon. In the same way, the web of imagination, though unreal, appears real; it is conjured by the mind, just as a child invents things, only to disturb its own peace. Here, in this world, ignorance is imagined by the restless child-mind, binding itself with thoughts of existence and nonexistence, bringing only suffering. Thinking, ‘I am thin, I am greatly afflicted, I am bound, I possess hands and feet,’ one is bound according to the nature of such thoughts and actions. But thinking, ‘I am not afflicted, I have no body, what bondage can there be for this conscious self?’—one is freed, in accordance with such thoughts and actions. He who is firmly convinced within, ‘I am not flesh, nor bones; I am other than the body, I am the supreme,’ is said to have destroyed ignorance within. Just as the brilliance atop a lofty mountain of sapphire or the radiance above, difficult to pierce even by the sun’s rays, stands above the splendor of darkness, so too, as darkness in the sky is imagined by someone on earth, due to his own nature and conception. Ignorance—the notion of self in what is not the self—is merely imagined by one who is not awakened, not by one who is awakened, O Raghava. This is not the luster of a sapphire from Mount Meru, nor the glow of darkness; so tell me, O Brahman, what causes the blueness of the sky? O Rama, the blueness of the sky does not exist as a quality in the void; it is not due to the radiance of any gem, nor is it the luster of the Meru sapphire. Because the cosmic egg is made of light, because of the brilliance of the perfected ones, and because of the luminosity beyond the cosmic shell, darkness cannot arise here. This is merely emptiness, O fortunate one, though it appears in many ways; it is like the ignorance that fits each age, not composed of reality. When one’s own vision is lost, only nonexistence arises as darkness; thus, the blackness seen in the sky is due to the very nature of the object. Just as, with right understanding, the darkness seen in the sky is known not to be real darkness, so too, in the gloom of ignorance, knowledge arises. The wise have said that the restraint of ignorance is simply the absence of imagination, just as with the sky-lotus; and this is very easy in itself. For this world-illusion, which has arisen like the color of the sky, O noble one, I consider non-remembrance to be better—forgetting is preferable. Just as a person perishes in sorrow by the thought ‘I am lost,’ so too, by the thought ‘I am awakened,’ one attains happiness. In the same way, from deluded thoughts one again falls into delusion; from the noble thought of awakening, one pursues awakening. From a moment’s recollection, perpetual ignorance arises; by effortful forgetting, the object truly dissolves. Imagination is the creator of all states, the deluder of all beings; it liberates in the destruction of the self, and destroys in the growth of the self. Whatever the mind contemplates, the senses immediately carry out, just as ministers obey the command of a king. Therefore, one who does not let the mind dwell on objects, but with inner awareness and effort, attains peace. That which did not exist at the beginning does not exist even now; what appears as this is the one peaceful, unblemished Brahman.