Nothing Worth Acquiring or Renouncing

Sage Vasishtha

SURAGHU said:

Holy Sir,please tell me this: why is only that state of mind which is free from thoughts and notions called samadhi? If one is a knower of truth, whether he be engaged in constant action or in contemplation, does his mind ever lose the state of samadhi? No. The enlightened ones are forever in samadhi, even though they engage themselves in the affairs of the world. On the other hand, one whose mind is not at peace does not enjoy samadhi by merely sitting in the lotus posture.

Knowledge of truth if the fire that burns up all hopes and desires as if they are dried blades of grass: and that is known by the word samadhi - not simply remaining silent! That is known as the state of samadhi in which there is eternal satisfaction, clear perception of what is, egolessness, not being subject to the pairs of opposites, freedom from anxiety and from the wish to acquire or to reject. From the very moment of the dawn of self-knowledge, the state of samadhi becomes permanent in the sage: he does not lose it, neither is it interrupted, even for a moment. Even as time does not forget to move on, the man of self-knowledge does not forget the self. Even as a material object is forever material, the sage of self-knowledge is forever a sage of self-knowledge.

Hence, I am always awakened, pure, at peace within myself and in a state of samadhi. How can it be otherwise? How can there be anything other than the self? When at all times and in all ways the self alone is all in all, how can there be a state other than samdhi? And what can be termed samadhi?

PARIGHA said: Surely, king, you have attained enlightenment. You shine, radiant with bliss, with peace, with sweetness and with purity. In you there is no ego-sense, desire or aversion.

SURAGU said: O sage, there is indeed nothing which is worth desiring or renouncing. For as long as these things are seen as objects, they are nothing but concepts, percepts and notions. When nothing is worth acquiring, it follows that nothing is worth renouncing. Good and evil, great and small, worthy or unworthy all are based on the notion of desirability. When desirability has no meaning, the others do not arise at all. There is truly no essence in all that is seen in this world- the mountains, the oceans, the forests, the men and women and all the objects. Hence there is no desire for them. When there is no desire, there is supreme peace at heart.