Wisdom Quotes from Vashista's Yoga as told to Ram

[Still_Waters]

For those of you unfamiliar with Vashistha's Yoga, it is one of my personal favorite spiritual texts. My spiritual guide (a revered sage of India) loved this Hindu classic and wrote extensive commentaries that go far beyond the text.

The text is structured as a dialogue between guru Vashishta and Prince Ram describing the search for liberation through self-effort and meditation. It is presented in the form of stories and fables.

This is the version of the book that I am using.

https://www.amazon.com/Vasisthas-Yog...books &sr=1-1


Thus begins the quotes that commanded my attention most.

FIRST QUOTE (Page 319):

Vashista:

"If you can at one stroke cut off all mental conditioning and by great self-effort rest in the state of pure existence (if you rest in that state even for a second) in no time you will be established in it."

[Still_Waters]

Vashista (page 585):

"Nothing ever happens to us that we do not so wish."


NOTE: This was the subject of much meditation for me personally. Keep in mind that this was said from the perspective of a very advanced sage.

[Miss Hepburn]

Originally Posted by Still_Waters

Keep in mind that this was said from the perspective of a very advanced sage.

That was cute. Expecting some guff, eh? Lol!
More quotes, please!

[Unseeking Seeker]

Beautiful and wise quotes, do go on, Still_Waters

[Still_Waters]

Originally Posted by Miss Hepburn

That was cute. Expecting some guff, eh? Lol!
More quotes, please!

Actually, I was "expecting some guff" as that quote ("Nothing ever happens to us that we do not so wish.") startled me initially when I first read it.

[Still_Waters]

On Liberation Chapter (Page 358):

"This state of samadhi, or total equanimity, is not lost whether I am walking or standing, whether I am awake, asleep or dreaming."


NOTE 1: I never forgot how my spiritual teacher maintained total equanimity when our group was suddenly caught in the middle of riots at the 1998 Khumba Mela in Haridwar (India). Despite hundreds of naked babas covered in ashes going amok, gunshots being fired, people getting killed, and ashrams going up in flames, she calmly guided our group to safety. That night, there were 35,000 Indian troops in the city as martial law and curfews were enforced.

NOTE 2: In conscious sleep meditations, as taught by my teacher, one can indeed remain fully aware in the three states (deep sleep, dream formation, and the "waking" state) as well as the transitions between the three states and the arising of the little egotistic "I" with which most people identify.

[Still_Waters]

From my teacher's commentary on Vashistha's Yoga:

"There is not the slightest difference between the consciousness of the dream world, heaven, and the material world."


NOTE: When meditated upon, the implications of that statement are literally mind-boggling. The Tibetan Yogi Milarepa elaborated on that principle and explicitly stated (in his biography by his disciple Rechung) that whatever he could do in a lucid dream also became possible for him in the so-called "waking state" (material world).

[Miss Hepburn]

Wow, best Thread ever! And that story, my God!
Btw, I am tattooing that last quote of your teacher's
somewhere where I can see it.

[Still_Waters]

Originally Posted by Miss Hepburn

Wow, best Thread ever! And that story, my God!
Btw, I am tattooing that last quote of your teacher's
somewhere where I can see it.

Thank you for the kind words.

I am re-reading parts of Vashista's Yoga and figured that I would share what comes up with others.

[Still_Waters]

Vashista's Yoga (Page 262):

"Men of highly evolved consciousness can, by appropriate self-effort, attain even what they mentally visualize."

NOTE : I recall a story about the Hindu sage Nisargadatta Maharaj where he was asked if he could describe the weather in New York in that moment. He replied that he could not do that since that required special training (self-effort) and that did not interest him. However, he then added that, if he really wanted to do so, he could.

NOTE 2: When I accompanied my teacher to the 1998 Khumba Mela in Haridwar (India) at the foothills of the Himalayas, I was blessed to have encounters with some of the extraordinary beings of the Himalayas. At that point, I became convinced that virtually anything (if not everything) is possible for "men of highly evolved consciousness".

NOTE 3: My teacher was once asked if she could tell the future. She responded twice with the standard "I don't know" response she often used when she chose not to answer certain questions in that moment. However, the pure disciple asked a third time and I never forgot her answer. She said that a yogi with a PURE heart could indeed see the future with a high degree of certainty. However, she immediately added that a PURE person can mobilize whatever resources are needed to accomplish whatever they want WITH NO EXCEPTIONS WHATSOEVER (her emphasis was on those words which I have capitalized). Therefore, she concluded, a yogi will never tell the future.

NOTE 4: This post has reminded me of one of my favorite passages from the Christian Bible: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and ALL other things (NO EXCEPTIONS WHATSOEVER as I interpret it) shall be added unto you."

NOTE 5: This post also brought to mind one of my favorite meditation buddies, a young Fulbright Fellow currently in Kazakhstan. He got intensely into meditation and we spent a lot of time together visiting sages of various wisdom traditions. At one point, he surprised me with his exceptional progress when he told me that whatever he thought of was starting to materialize. He then added with a BIG smile: "I have to be careful regarding what I think about" .