Change Is The Only Certainty!

Sage Vasishtha

You are a wise man, O Rama: be firmly established in egolessness and remain unpolluted like space. When the ego is non-existent, how can notions like 'these are my relatives' arise? The Self is not involved in such notions, nor in notions of pleasure and pain, good and evil. Be free from fear and delusion caused by world-appearance. To one who is unborn there are no relatives, or sorrow caused by such relatives!

If you realize that you have been someone before, you are someone now and you will be someone later on, and if you realize that this is true even of all these relatives, you will be free from delusion. If you feel that you were before, you are now, but that you will not be hereafter - even then you need not grieve, for that is the end of this world-appearance. Hence, it is foolish to grieve here in this world; it is better to be happy at all times and to be ever engaged in appropriate actions. However, O Rama, yield neither to exultation nor to sorrow, but remain in a balanced state of mind. You are the eternal infinite light, pure and extremely subtle.

This world-appearance exists; later it will vanish and reappear: but this is only for the ignorant, not for the enlightened. This world-appearance has sorrow for its nature: ignorance expands and aggravates it. But you are wise, O Rama, therefore be happy. Illusory appearance is none other than illusion; dream is none other than a dream! All this is the power of the omnipotent and the appearance is just the appearance.

Who is a relative here and to whom, and who is an enemy to whom: by the wish of the Lord of all beings, all are all to all at all times! This river of relationship is flowing on constantly. What is on top proceeds towards the bottom, and what is below rises up, like the cartwheel. They who are in heaven later go to hell; and they who are in hell go to heaven. They go from one species to another, from one part of the universe to another. The brave become cowards and cowards become brave. There is nothing is this universe which is unchanging, O Rama. They who were relatives go away after a while. Friend, foe, relative, stranger, I, you - are words without corresponding substance. 'He is a friend' and 'He is not a relative' - such thoughts arise in a mean person: in the magnanimous person such distinction does not arise. O Rama, all beings are your relatives, for in this universe there does not exist absolute unrelatedness. The wise know that 'There is nowhere where I am not' and 'That is not which is not mine': thus they overcome limitation or conditioning.