ABANDON

To surrender ~ Webster’s

The mind abandons everything when the vision of the supreme is gained. Hence, one should resolutely renounce everything till the supreme vision is gained. Not till one renounces everything is self-knowledge gained: when all points of view are abandoned, what remains is the self. Page 282

It is the cessation of the awareness of action and of experience, the giving up of conditioning and thus the attainment of peace and the state of equilibrium that is known by the expression ‘abandonment of action’. Page 489

ACTION

‘Action’ is the result of a volitional agenda . . . with some result intended. That which is done spontaneously and appropriately is not action as defined in the teachings of Vasistha.

What is done by the mind is action; what is done by the body is not action. Page 110

. . . all actions are based on consciousness which objectifies itself and thus generates actions. If this does not happen that itself is the supreme state. Page 488

AHAMKARA

     The ego-principal. Page 189

ANXIETY (worry)

Remain well established in peace and tranquility, free from mental conditioning. . .when the reality of Brahman is realized, there is no room for worry or anxiety.  Page 454

APPEARANCE

L. Apparére -- to show oneself

The infinite consciousness which alone appears as all this is undying, unchanging and eternal. The unmoving consciousness remains, appearing to be whatever notion arises in it here and there. What is truth and what is false? So let one experience bodies, actions, sorrow or pleasure as and when they arise -- or let them all go. There is no meaning in all this. Let is be 'this' way or 'that' way, let it be or not -- give up this delusion and remain enlightened. Page 637

An actor dons a costume and plays a role but he remains himself. This is an appearance.

All this is the power of the omnipotent and the appearance is just the appearance. Page 222

O Rama, you have reached that state of satva and your mind has been burnt in the fire of wisdom. What is that wisdom? It is that the infinite Brahman is indeed the infinite Brahman; the world-appearance is but an appearance whose reality is Brahman. Page 328

APPROPRIATE

Ap ~ad     L. Ad = near

Proper L. proprius = one's self

One can glean from the Yoga Vasistha that appropriate behavior is based not on any authority but rather on one's own insight. However one must be sensitive to the customs and climate of one's community. One's behavior should be spontaneous, non-volitional, and non-reactive. Some guidance may be found on page 511 and page 669.

. . . when one inquires into it, the egosense ceases and there is pure, infinite consciousness. The mind is freed from objectification. Daily life is transmuted into divine life. Whatever you do, whatever you enjoy ~ all that becomes divine. Desireless and free from delusion, remain established in self-knowledge. Since there are no other motivations, let the scriptures guide your conduct. Page 524

One should work in this world as much as is needed to earn an honest living. One should live (eat) in order to sustain the life-force. One should sustain one’s life-force only for the sake of acquiring knowledge. One should inquire into and know that which frees him from sorrow. Page 504 

(Engage) in the simple acts of eating and dressing and in such spontaneous and appropriate actions which are free from desire and mental activity. Page 504

ATIVAHIKA (Puryastaka)

At the end of the period following the cosmic dissolution the supreme being thinks of the subtle (ativahika) body which arises in the infinite consciousness. This subtle body thinks of itself as Brahma, Virat, Visnu, etc. Whatever the subtle body identifies itself with, that it appears to be. Though all these diverse entities seem to have been created, it is only an optical illusion. For nothing is ever created. Everything is but the pure void which pervades all. The beginningless Brahman alone exists. However, on account of the fact that this cosmic subtle body entertains the notion that it experiences this diversity, such diversity seems to be uncontradicted truth. Page 695

ATTACHMENT

 Oe Staca  -- stake

Attachment is that, O Rama, which makes the conditioning of the mind more and more dense, by repeatedly causing the experiences of pleasure and pain in relation to the existence and non-existence of the objects of pleasure, thus confirming such association as inevitable and thus bringing about an intense attachment to the objects of pleasure. Page 321

Even while carrying on your activities here, if you do not abandon your awareness of the homogeneity of the truth, you are unattached. Page 322

Observation ~ The image of yourself which you seek to project to the people around you may well be your most profound attachment.

AVIDYA (see Ignorance)

AWARENESS  -- See Consciousness

The awareness of the infinite consciousness of itself is the mind. This itself is samsara and bondage which lead to psychic distress. When the infinite consciousness remains itself as if unaware of itself, that is moksa or liberation. Page 513

BIRTH/DEATH

To one whose body is of pure consciousness there is neither birth nor death. Page 697

O Rama, you are not born when the body is born, nor do you die when it dies. To think that the space within the jar came into being when it was made and the space perishes with the jar is sheer foolishness. Page 294

BODY

When the ethereal nature becomes awakened, and when in its consciousness the ego-sense manifests itself, it gives rise to the five elements (earth, water, fire, air and ether), space-time continuum and all the rest of the material needed for physical birth and existence.  Page 69

When the idea ‘I am the body’ becomes deeply ingrained, this same ethereal body develops the physical characteristics of a body. . .though all this happens only like vibrations or movements in air.  Page 69 

The underlying reality of all matter is vibratory – the energy of the infinite self – the ‘strings’.

He sees the truth who is not deluded into thinking that he is the body which is subject to illness, fear, agitation, old age and death. Page 163

The physical body is only physical matter; yet the mind deems it as its own. Yet, if the mind turns towards the truth, it abandons its identification with the body and attains the supreme. Page 150

 (The Sage) views the body as a spectator looks at a distant crowd . . . Even as a piece of wood and the water in which it is reflected have no real relationship, the body and the Self have no real relationship . . . The Self is ever untouched by pain and pleasure, but thinking itself to be the body, it undergoes the experiences of the body. The abandonment of this ignorant belief is liberation. Page 288

Think about a baby who ‘discovers’ its body parts and thinks – “Hey, this is me!” – the mind links with the senses. Individuality arises as a concept.

BOONS AND CURSES

Boons and curses are notions in consciousness, but they are non-different from it. Page 691

Just as you have made me think by your boon, so I am. Page 77

BONDAGE/LIBERATION

The ‘teacher’ and the ‘student’ are all Brahman existing in Brahman. To the enlightened there is neither bondage nor liberation. Page 699

BRAHMA  (See Creator)

BRAHMAN (See infinite consciousness)

BUDDHI

The discriminating faculty. Page 293

CAUSATION

In the beginning, creation had no cause whatsoever. Page 639

However, from there on, effects do not arise without a cause. Page 639

Creation takes place as a coincidence. Then niyati determines ‘this is this’ and ‘that is that’. Page 639

CONDITIONING (Vasana, see also Freedom)

Conditioning is sorrow. But conditioning is based on thoughts and notions (or sensual and psychological experiences). However, the truth is beyond such experience and the world is an appearance like a mirage! In that case, what is psychological conditioning, who conditions what and who is conditioned by such conditioning? Who drinks the water of the mirage? Thus, when all these are rejected, the reality alone remains in which there is no conditioning. Page 385-386

When the conditioning of consciousness drops away there is no sorrow, even as in sleep there is no sorrow. Page 516

Vasana (memory, subtle impressions of the past, conditioning) is the nature of this . . . mind. Page 448

If you remain unattached to them, unconcerned about them and without identifying yourself with them, through the strength of your intelligence (consciousness), these vasanas are greatly weakened. Page 449

CONSCIOUSNESS – Its evolution and dissolution

Infinite Consciousness  (See Infinite Consciousness)

The sole reality is the infinite consciousness which is omnipresent, pure, tranquil, omnipotent, and whose very body and being is absolutely consciousness (therefore not an object, not knowable): wherever this consciousness manifests in whatever manner, it is that.  Page 71

The infinite consciousness becomes aware of a part of its own being and thus awareness arises in it. This is followed by the notion of relationship, the word and its corresponding object. Since this awareness is endowed with the faculty to observe and examine what it observes, it is recognized as consciousness. Page 693  

Consciousness free from the limitations of the mind is known as inner intelligence:  it is the essential nature of no-mind and therefore it is not tainted by the impurities of concepts and percepts. That is the reality, that is supreme auspiciousness, that is the state known as the supreme self, that is omniscience ~and that vision is not had when the wicked mind functions. Page 265

Then. . .Mind

(See Mind, also called Brahma, cosmic person)

The individual is nothing more than the personalized mind. Page 338

The mind alone is all this: man, god, demon, trees and mountains, goblins, birds and worms. It alone becomes the infinite diversity that is seen here ~ from Brahma the creator to the pillar. Page 690-691

The infinite self cannot possibly be squeezed into the mind, any more than an elephant can be squeezed into a wood-apple fruit. The consciousness that, through the process of self-limitation, is confined to finitude (and therefore to concepts and percepts) is known as the mind . . .  Page 270-271

Then. . .Turiya

It is when the mind becomes absolutely pure that it becomes pure consciousness, and therefore one with the infinite consciousness. Page 159

Evolution or involution has the one infinite consciousness as its source and its goal. Page 157

COSMIC

Greek – Kosmikos = universe

COSMIC FORM (Virat, cosmic being)

Brahman alone is the cosmic being (Virat). Page 53

The cosmic form (Virat) is of the nature of pure consciousness. Page 53

COSMIC PERSON

The infinite consciousness which is devoid of time, space and causation playfully assumes these. Thus the cosmic person comes into being; this cosmic person is also the cosmic mind and cosmic life. Page 183

This cosmic person is the Brahma (mind). Page 183

The movement of energy that occurs in the infinite consciousness is known as the cosmic person who is endowed with a magnetic field and gravitational force. This creation arises in him like a dream. Creation is a dream. The waking state is a dream. Even though this creation or world-appearance is apparently seen and experienced, it is in reality the realization of the notions that arise in us, and they alone exist as the cosmic personality.  Page 673

CREATOR (Brahma)

The experience that arises in consciousness, as in a dream, is known as mind, Brahma the creator, the grandfather of all creation. This being is nameless, formless and immutable. In that, the notions of ‘I’ and ‘you’, etc. arise. Even they are non-different from the Creator. The pure consciousness in which all these notions arise is the great-grandfather of all creatures. Page 673

The creator Brahma is but an idea or notion. Page 455

CREATION

First:  A state of perfect equilibrium. Page 45

Then: When the infinite vibrates, the worlds appear to emerge. Page 48

Then:

This universe is in fact the eternal effulgent infinite consciousness which generates within itself the knowable (which would be known as that which is to be) with an idea concerning its form (which is space), and with an enquiry concerning itself. Thus space is brought into being. When, after a considerable time the consciousness of creation becomes strong in the infinite being, the future jiva. . .arises within it: and the infinite abandons, as it were, its supreme state, to limit itself as the jiva. However, even then the Brahman remains the infinite and there is no real transformation into any of these. Page 50

Jiva and the mind, etc. are all vibrations in consciousness. Page 54

Just as both sleep and dream are aspects of one sleep, even so this creation and dissolution of the universe are two aspects of the one indivisible, infinite consciousness. Page 679