Conditioning is the state of reality for a person who has abandoned the distinction between the body and the Self. He who believes that his infinite self is limited and therefore seeks pleasure, thus gets bound. He who enquires, “All this is the self, but what do I desire and what should I renounce?” is established in the unconditioned state of liberation. He who knows that “I am not nor is there another” or “let these be or not be” and does not seek pleasure, is liberated.
He is neither addicted to inaction nor does he get lost in the results of action, he is not given to exultation or to depression. He renounces the fruits of actions with his mind not by action. It is by the rejection of the conditioning that bondage is got rid of and the highest good gained. Conditioning is the cause of all sorrow.
Conditioning can be better understood with reference to the following examples:
1) The donkey is led by the master’s rope and, afraid, it carries a heavy burden;
2) The tree rooted to the ground bears heat, cold, wind and rain
3) The worm lies in a hole in earth biding its time.
4) The hungry bird rests on the branch of a tree, fearful of predators
5) The tame deer peacefully goes about grazing and falls a prey to the hunter’s shot.
6) Numerous people are born again and again as worms and insects
7) The countless creatures that rise and fall in this creation like waves on the surface of the ocean
8) The weak human beings who, unable even to move about, die again and again
9) Those shrubs and creepers which derive their nourishment from the earth and grow on earth.
10) This very world-illusion which is like a river that carries in its stream the countless sorrows and sufferings.
All these are expansions of conditioning. Conditioning or inner contact, attachment or self-limitation is of two kinds the adorable and the sterile or barren. The sterile or barren conditioning is seen everywhere in fools, the adorable conditioning is seen among those who know the truth.
That conditioning which exists in the minds of those who are ignorant of self-knowledge, which arises from the body and which is conducive to repeated birth and death, is barren and sterile. The other form of conditioning which is found among adored beings who have self-knowing arises from the realization of true wisdom. This enables one to avoid birth and death.
Here limitations of organs such as the eyes and ears are limited in their perception. The fool is self-imposed conditionings he regards the infinite self to be identical with the physical body. Attachment implies division and duality which is limitation of the infinite and conditioning of the unconditioned.
It is Mahavishnu who holds the conch, the discus etc. in his hands is the one that protects the three worlds on account of the “adorable conditioning”. It is thanks to the same type of conditioning that the Sun shines and the Cosmic body of the Creator continues to direct this vast creation.
Lord Shiva too, shines as a divinity on account of this type of conditioning. The Gods that sustain this world and function in various ways are endowed with their faculties by this adorable conditioning or self-limitation. On the other hand, under the influence of the sterile or barren conditioning, the mind fails a prey to the desire for pleasure in the deluded belief that such experience is delightful.
Cosmic elements too function due to conditioning as a result of which the humans on Earth and the demons in the netherworld arise and fall, like waves on the ocean. Just as the big fish eat the smaller ones, all these countless beings feed upon one another and are helplessly blown around in space on account of their conditioning. The stars in space move in their own orbits because of conditioning.
The mysterious creation was brought about by mental concept of beings. This Universe has been conjured up in empty space merely by mental conditioning. It is not a reality. In this universe craving for pleasure gnaws at the very vitals of all beings who are attached to the world. No one can count the number any more than the number of sand particles along the ocean beaches. The Creator of this Universe has brought this universe into being in response to the mental conditioning of these countless beings. These beings are indeed excellent dry fuel for the flaming fire of hell here.
Whatever suffering is found in this world, know that it is meant only for those beings. Just as rivers flow rapidly to the ocean, so also suffering flows towards those who are mentally conditioned. This whole creation is thus pervaded by ignorance. However if one cuts asunder this craving for pleasure, the limitation of mental conditioning yields to a great expansion.
Mental conditioning or attachment to the finite and the perishable is burning pain to the limbs. But infinite expansion or devotion to the infinite is the magic cure for the burning pain. That mind which is unattached to anything, which is established in the peace of infinite expansion, is conducive to delight. He who stands rooted in self-knowledge is liberated here and now.
