Self Alone Is All This

Sage Vasishtha

He who sees the Self as the transcendental being or as the immanent being (as the Self of all) is established in equanimity. He in whom likes and dislikes have ceased, to whom all beings are the same and who perceives the world in the wakeful state as if he perceives objects in a dream, he is established in equanimity and lives in a forest even while living in a village. He who moves about with his consciousness turned in upon itself views a city or a village as a forest.

He who has attained inner tranquility and peace finds peace and tranquility everywhere in the world. He whose mind is agitated and restless finds the world full of restlessness. For, what one experiences within, that alone he experiences outside. In fact, the sky, the earth, the air and the space, the mountains and the rivers are all parts of the inner instrument (mind); they only appear to be outside. All these exist like the tree in the seed and they are externalized like the scent of a flower. Truly, there is nothing either inside or outside: whatever the consciousness conceives of, in whatever manner, appears so. Thus the Self alone is all this, within and without.

He who is filled with inner delight, who is not swayed by exultation or sorrow and who performs actions merely with his physical body, he is established in equanimity. He is pure as the sky, he is free from desires, his actions are appropriate and spontaneous; and in relation to exultation and sorrow he behaves as he is made of word or clay. He is at peace, he sees all as his own self, he considers others' possessions as dirt - naturally and not through fear: he alone sees the truth.

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Just as a big banyan tree sprouts from a tiny seed, so the wide universe with names and forms sprouts forth from the heart. - Sri Ramana Maharshi