When inert things come together, their union only results in a denser state of inertness; but where consciousness and the inert are concerned, their very natures are so distinct that true unity between them never comes to pass. Even when consciousness and inert matter appear to occupy the same place, they remain fundamentally separate, for consciousness is awareness itself, and awareness springs only from consciousness. Consider wood and stone: they are distinct from each other and neither possesses the nature of consciousness. One object is experienced or transformed only by another object of its own kind. Just as taste arises from the tongue and is perceived by it, so too, the substantial and the insubstantial do not truly unite or connect. Therefore, true unity can never arise between the inert and the conscious. What we perceive as inert—stones, walls, and the like—is, in truth, consciousness alone, appearing in these forms, always pervaded by consciousness. When oneness is realized, the distinction between seer and seen becomes blurred and confused; when all things—wood, stone, and everything else—are recognized as the highest reality, then all that is perceived, in every form and manner, appears to be spread out as if infinite. O best among those who know the truth, understand that this universe is nothing but existence itself. Even what appears unreal manifests as the universe through countless illusions of form. When consciousness is filled with wonder, nothing else is truly filled; the world of imagination arises among people, appearing mutually, but not as it truly is. Thus, all creation is established in consciousness, not for the awareness of space and time, but because the very perception of difference is itself the act of creation, born from the delusion of ego and similar notions. Just as, when one forgets the awareness of gold, the illusion of bracelets and ornaments arises, so too do these illusions appear due to circumstances of place and other factors. But when your vision is filled with true understanding, there is no separate supreme ignorance; the diversity of bracelets and such is, in reality, nothing but one pure Brahman. Because of this unity of awareness, creation is only existence, never nonexistence—just as an army made of clay may appear in many forms, but is always only clay. Water is one, yet waves arise; wood is one, yet various carvings are made; clay is one, yet pots and other shapes are formed. In the same way, Brahman alone appears as the illusion of the three worlds. In the relationship between seer and seen, the true essence that lies in the midst of the seer is that which transcends seer, seeing, and seen—this is the supreme. As the mind moves from place to place, the essence within it is the awareness that is free from dullness—always become absorbed in that. Always identify with your eternal essence, which is beyond waking, dreaming, and deep sleep—beyond unconsciousness and insentience, and free from all inertness. Set aside only the dullness that is like the heart of a stone, whether you are disturbed or undisturbed, and become identified with that true essence, O Raghava. Here, nothing truly arises or dissolves in anyone; whether disturbed or undisturbed, remain established in your own nature as you see fit. A person does not truly desire or hate anything at any time in the body; remain established in yourself, free from anxiety, even as you act through the body. Just as you do not dwell in matters of distant villages or cities, so too, having realized your own true nature, do not dwell in the wanderings of the mind. See the mind itself as insentient, like a man in a foreign land, or a piece of wood or stone, in accordance with your true nature. Just as there is no water in a stone and no fire in water, so too, there is no mind in your own Self; how, then, could it exist in the Supreme Self? That by which nothing is perceived or done anywhere—know that, and realize that you are beyond the mind. If you follow the mind, which is utterly not your true self, why not follow some foreigner who dwells at the edge? Constantly disregarding the mind's impurity from afar, remain established in yourself, free from doubt, as if made dull by mud. For me, the mind does not exist—it is gone, as if dead today. Become steadfast like a stone statue, firm in your resolve. In true observation, the mind is not present; thus, you are truly without it. Why, then, are you troubled by what is meaningless, or by what pertains to it? Those who are dominated by the unreal dice of the mind, or excessively so, for them—whose intellect is weak—a thunderbolt seems to arise even from the moon. Abandoning the mind far away, whoever you are, remain as you are, steadfast. Be liberated through contemplation, endowed with supreme reasoning. Let those who follow the unreal, the insubstantial mind, be condemned, for their time is spent only in the actions of the sky and forest, lost in fruitless pursuits. Become a great soul with a mind dissolved, having reached the far shore of existence, with a pure self. Even after long inquiry, nothing impure is found in the mind-self. He neither delights in what has come nor grieves for what has not; free from all anxiety, he simply follows what arrives. O Raghava, you have already known all that is to be known; I believe your tendencies toward all undertakings have become thin. You may abide beyond bodily activity or remain within the body; do not fall into sorrow or joy—you are the Self, free from affliction. When the Self, pure, all-pervading, ever-luminous, abides in you, O Rama, how can there be pleasure or pain, or birth and death? Though you are without relations, why do you grieve over the sorrows of relatives? When the non-dual Self alone exists, who indeed are relatives in the Self? What is seen is only the aggregate of bodily atoms; due to the arising of space, time, and otherness, the Self neither appears nor disappears. Though you are imperishable, why do you grieve, thinking "I perish"? In the Self, which is untouched by death and ever pure, what destruction can there be? When a pot is reduced to fragments, the space within the pot is not destroyed; in the same way, when this body is lost, you are not destroyed.