Removal of Doubts

1. The listener said, "First there is the gross body, then because of it, there is the inner-mind (antahkarana) with its five aspects (antahkarana, manas, chitta, buddhi, ahankara). It is because of the gross body that understanding and discrimination are possible.
2. Similarly, without the created universe, there is no knowledge of the Primal Illusion. All functioning is carried out only through the medium of the gross.
3. If there were no creation of the gross body, where would there be any place for the inner-mind to reside?" The listener made a query like this. Please listen now to the answer.
4. There are silk worms and other worms with shells, and other creatures both large and small that make their houses on the exterior of their body according to their capacity.
5. There are conchs, and snails, and many other creatures with hard shells on their backs. One must investigate and think about whether the creatures or the houses were formed first.
6. The creatures came first, and then they created the houses. This is the direct experience that is not really required to be stated.
7. Similarly, understand that first comes the subtle, and then the gross is created. With this simple simile, the query of the listener has been answered.
8. Then the listener said, "May I ask a few more questions that I have remembered? Please explain to me about the discrimination between birth and death.
9. Who is put into birth, and who takes the birth once again after death? What is this experience and how does it happen?
10. It is said that Lord Brahma creates the birth, that Lord Vishnu is the sustainer and protector of life, and that Lord Shiva destroys everything.
11. This is what is traditionally said, but this statement falls short of understanding the actual experience. If one tries to get the experience of this, it does not happen.
12. Who created Lord Brahma? Who sustains Lord Vishnu? Who destroys Lord Shiva at the time of the final destruction?
13. This is all a part of the play of creation which is of the nature of Illusion. How can we say that the doer is the attributeless God, as He is still, without any modifications.
14. If we say that Illusion is what gives birth to things, that would be to say that it has expanded by itself. However, upon investigation, we come to know that whatever appears is not eternal.
15. So now, who is it that is born, and how is he recognized? What is meant by what is said about the signs of the accumulation of past deeds (karma)? That also must be explained.
16. What is the meaning of what is said about the nature merits and sins? Also, who is the one who raises these questions, using these words? Who is the doer here?
17. I cannot come to any conclusion about these things. It is said that desire takes the birth, but this is not a visible thing that can be seen, nor it is possible to hold.
18. The fivefold aspects of the inner-mind have an endless variety of attitudes and tendencies such as desire, lust, imagination, intentions, feelings, intellect, etc.
19. This is all the mechanical functioning of knowledge, and knowledge itself basically only means memory. So how has memory tied itself to a birth?
20. The body is created out of the five elements, of which, the wind is the mover of all, and "knowing" is the fundamental natural disposition of the mind.
21. It has happened naturally that the five elements are all intermingled. So who has given birth to whom, and in what way?
22. Even having looked into all of this, it is still not apparent that there is any birth or any being that has become born or that comes back to life again.
23. If there is no birth to anyone, then what does keeping the company of saints do?" This is the line of questioning being put forth by the listeners.
24. Originally, there is neither memory nor forgetting, and then at some point in-between, some remembrance arises. Understand that the inner-mind is the seat of consciousness (being conscious).
25. The sense of being conscious is that remembrance, while losing the sense of being conscious is the lack of memory, and when remembrance is lost is when beings die.
26. Having lost both memory and forgetfulness, death comes to the body, so who is there that can be later put into birth, and by whom?
27. Therefore, it follows that there is no birth, and no suffering after death can be seen either. All is only unnecessary imagination that becomes strengthened.
28. It also follows that there is no rebirth for anyone. Those who are dead do not come back and get born again.
29. Dried wood does not become green again, a fallen fruit does not become attached again. In the same way, a fallen body does not come back to birth again.
30. When an earthen pot is broken, it stays broken forever. Similarly, a human being is not born again.
31. Whether one is knowledgeable or ignorant does not matter. Both are the same and equal." Speaking like this, the doubts of the listeners became stronger.
32. The speaker says, "Oh listeners! Don't engage in all of these opinions. When there are doubts, use the power of discrimination to see clearly.
33. It does not happen that without effort work gets done, or that without meals hunger is satisfied, or that without Knowledge one becomes liberated.
34. When one has had his meal he may feel that other people have also satisfied their hunger, but this is not the case. They all must have their own meals.
35. One who knows how to swim will float and one who does not know how to swim will drown. Who can have any doubt about that?
36. Similarly, only those with Self-Knowledge cross beyond the ocean of this world, and only one whose bondage is broken is liberated.
37. One who becomes free says that there is no bondage, but actually many people are in bondage. Just how it is that those who are in bondage can become content is the point that should be seen by the listeners.
38. One who does not feel the suffering that others are experiencing feels indifferent to their sorrow. Understand that the experience of one who is liberated is similar to this.
39. The one who has Self-Knowledge, having reflected upon the various elements and the fundamental Reality, has gained complete contentment.
40. Only with Self-Knowledge does one escape the cycle of birth and death. It is not correct to say that this is the case for everyone, regardless of whether or not they have Self-Knowledge. What then would be the purpose of the Vedas, scriptures of spiritual science (Shastras), and mythological stories (Puranas)?
41. The thoughts and statements in the Vedas and other scriptures are said by people of "Great Experience," but all of the people on the earth do not accept what is said there.
42. If everything said there is considered to be false, then what authority is one to go by? Only one with actual Self-Knowledge is liberated.
43. The statement that everyone is liberated is a statement that can only be made by those with Self-Knowledge. Without Self-Knowledge, there is no liberation. This is certain.
44. When one gains Self-Knowledge, the visible world is known to be false. However, all others still feel affected by appearances.
45. Now this question has been answered. One who is Knowledgeable has become liberated with Self-Knowledge, while the ignorant one remains bound by his own imagination.
46. One should not equate ignorance (Ajnana) with Supreme Knowledge (Vijnana), bondage with liberation, or conjecture with conviction.
47. There is not really anything such thing as bondage, yet it has affected everybody. There is no remedy to this situation without Self-Realization.
48. First see this surprising thing of how something that does not exist affects someone. When that bondage, which is unreal, is not understood to be false one feels bound.
49. It is an incorrect view to think that one can accomplish liberation with only simple faith. Liberation is immediately at hand if one sees clearly and understands by using the power of discrimination.
50. In order for one to become free, first he must have Knowledge (Jnana). With Knowledge, one quite naturally is the knower of all, like the sky.
51. Not knowing anything is ignorance (Ajnana), knowing everything is Knowledge (Jnana), and when even Knowledge is left behind, there is the Supreme Knowledge (Vijnana) of one’s Self.
52. One who has consumed immortal nectar and becomes immortal inquires into how people could die. Similarly, one who uses proper discrimination asks how can there be birth for someone in bondage.
53. One who has some knowledge asks, "How can a ghost affect you?" But a foolish person who has not been affected by poison asks "How can poison possibly affect you?
54. First understand what it is like to be an ignorant person, and then it is not required to ask what it is like. Aside from the understanding that you have gained using the power of discrimination, understand what it is like to see through the eyes of an ignorant person.
55. The one who is awake sees someone who is babbling in his sleep and wants to know why is he acting like that. If he truly wants to understand that experience he must go to sleep himself.
56. The disposition of the knowledgeable person is not like the ignorant person who is entangled in the visible world. The experience of the one who is hungry is not the same as that of one whose hunger has been satisfied.
57. With this explanation, the doubts have been cleared. Liberation only happens for one who gains Knowledge, and by seeing clearly using the power of discrimination one arrives at Self-Realization within.