The revered teachers of Vedānta, their minds firmly anchored in the realization that “all this is Brahman,” carefully establish their doctrines. They support their teachings with clear reasoning and the steady disciplines of tranquility and self-control, convinced that liberation is attainable only by such means. With great steadfastness, they expound their views, holding fast to their chosen paths and convictions. Similarly, those who follow the doctrine of consciousness shape their understanding according to their own concepts, each expressing their perspective through the disciplines and beliefs they cherish. Others, such as the Ārhatas and various groups, also devise their own systems, each according to their preferences and desires, creating a diversity of doctrines and practices, each with its own unique character. Just as clusters of bubbles arise spontaneously from calm, causeless water, so too do these various doctrines emerge in many forms from the convictions of individuals. O mighty-armed one, know that the mind is the single source of all these doctrines, just as the ocean is the origin of all precious jewels. In truth, neither are neem fruits inherently bitter, nor are heat and cold, nor the moon and fire inherently what they seem; whatever is perceived is exactly as the mind conceives it. Therefore, one should strive for that uncontrived bliss, leading the mind to become absorbed in it—thus, bliss is attained. Let go of the mind’s attachment to the insubstantial world of appearances; for it is through pleasure and pain arising from these appearances that one is helplessly carried along. Do not regard the visible as impure, unreal, delusive, or a source of fear; do not imagine bondage in these mere appearances, O sinless one. This is māyā, this is ignorance, this is imagination, and it brings fear; what the wise call action is simply the mind’s identification with these appearances. Understand that the merging of seer and seen is the mind’s delusion—it is false, existing only to confuse, like a child’s play with earth. Absorption in the seen is experienced as the very nature of the self; this is the intoxicating liquor of worldly existence, which the wise call ignorance. The world, afflicted by this ignorance, does not attain auspiciousness, just as one with blinded eyes cannot perceive the radiant light of the sun. This world arises by itself from imagination, like a tree appearing in the sky; and with the mere absence of imagination, it ceases by itself. O wise one, when imagination is weakened simply through non-conceptualization—by one’s own clarity and discriminating awareness—it dissolves. When there is detachment from all objects and steadfastness is attained, when true perception is clear and the unreal has come to an end, then the pure consciousness, free from distinctions—that is the Self—is realized. In this state, there is neither non-existence nor existence, neither pleasure nor pain. In that state, only pure being is experienced within—not through imagination, nor by the perceptions of mind or senses. It remains untouched even by countless tendencies that are not other than oneself, just as space is untouched by masses of clouds. Just as the illusion of a snake arises in a rope when it is unclear, so too is bondage imagined in the space-like consciousness, though in truth it is unbound. The imagined object is imagined by yet another imagination; that very thing assumes otherness, just as space appears different in day and night. Whatever is not false, effortless, free from conditions, and devoid of confusion—by imagining it as such, it becomes a source of happiness. Just as, in an empty hut, one may fear a lion is inside, so too, in the empty body, there is fear that one is bound. But just as, upon looking inside an empty hut, no lion is found, so too, when examined, the bondage of worldly existence is not found. The notion “this world, and I am this” arises as delusion, like the illusory shadow seen by children at twilight. Because of imagination, for a living being, the existence and non-existence of things, auspicious and inauspicious, come and go in an instant, repeatedly becoming unreal and real. A mother, when regarded as a wife and embraced, performs the role of a wife and gives conjugal delight. A beloved, when regarded as a mother and embraced, completely erases passionate feelings of love. Observing that the multitude of objects yields results according to one’s attitude, the wise do not declare a single fixed nature for things in this world. Whatever the mind firmly contemplates, in whatever manner, that very thing, with that form, it perceives for as long as that contemplation endures. There is nothing that is truly real, nor anything that is truly unreal; whatever is determined in whatever way by anyone, that is how it appears to that person. The mind, having imagined an elephant in the sky, pursues an elephant in a sky-forest, as if it itself were established in the sky. Therefore, you yourself are merely imagination, composed of all forms; abandon this, O Raghava, and rest well, established in your own true self. A jewel, by its inert nature, cannot prevent reflections; but you, O Rama, are not like that. Whatever is reflected in the jewel of your mind, O Rama, recognize that as unreal, and do not let yourself be colored by it. Or, considering that alone as real, undivided from the supreme self, contemplate yourself by yourself as beginningless and endless. The thoughts that are reflected in your mind, O Raghava, may color those whose minds are attached elsewhere, but let them not color you, just as a flawless crystal remains unaffected. Just as various vivid colors enter a flawless crystal and become apparent, so here, let the desires for the worlds enter your mind openly and be seen for what they are. For one who abandons the seen and seeks what is to be attained, who perceives the seer and does not see the seen, the seen is to be discarded.