Are you Really in this World?

This ever-agitated Mind, having come into existence out of the ineffable Soul, creates the world according to its own thoughts. This legerdemain of the universe springs out of the thoughts of your Mind. It is through the Thought of your Mind that the universe appears to be and it is this Thought that is asked to be given up by you if you wish to soar to the One Reality beyond the universe.

With the growth of a paltry Mind, there will arise the universe; with the extinction of the former, the latter also will disappear. With the annihilation of Thought, all conception of differences between the seer and the seen will vanish and then the Reality of Soul will begin to shine uninterrupted. Then the shadow of all the universe, movable and fixed will be found absorbed in. It in a non-dual state.

With the contemplation of “I”, all the train of ideas of the universe will set in; otherwise, all the universe will vanish as instantaneously as darkness before the sun. Mind and “I” are one. Destroy the “I”, then the mind is destroyed.

Creation of world is an imagination of the mind. This legerdemain of the world is enacted by the mind and the mind alone. What you call world is the mind only. Mind is the world. The mind manifests itself as the external world. This universe is no other than the mind itself. Like a dream generating another dream in it, the mind, having no visible form, will generate non-existent visible. This perishable universe exists only when the mind exists, but disappears with the absence of the latter. If the mind, which is the instrument of knowledge, perception and activity, vanishes, with it disappears this subjective world also. The whole world is a mere notion, mere idea. It exists in name only.

The happiness and misery experienced in this world are caused by the working of the mind. All the hosts of pains and pleasures arise from the mind only. They will perish if the mind perishes through stainless discrimination and spiritual practice. The three worlds are created for the pleasures and pains of the mind. Suspension of the mental activity will cause the three worlds to disappear with their misery. With the destruction of the mind, all the three periods of time vanish into nothing. By controlling the mind, all occult powers are acquired.

Reference

Mind – Its Mysteries and Control by Sri Swami Sivananda