Prahlada's Final Contemplations on the Self

Day 169

Prahlada's Final Contemplations on the Self

Renunciation of Base Qualities

Abandoning Negative Traits:

• Prahlada advises to forsake vanity, anger, impurity, and violence, traits unbefitting of great souls.
• He encourages reflecting on past sorrows with a cheerful attitude to attain freedom from them.

Mastery over the Present:

• Prahlada declares sovereignty over the body, transcending sorrow like one cannot grasp the sky with a fist.
• He revels in being the master of senses and mind, experiencing supreme delight.

Understanding the Self's Dynamic Presence

Awakening to Experience:

• Prahlada perceives the self as ever-awake, manifesting experiences through its energy.
• He describes how advanced practitioners perceive past and future within the crown aperture.

Embodiment of Essential Qualities:

• Prahlada identifies the self as the essence within the body, analogous to fragrance in flowers or friendship in humans.
• He acknowledges the self's presence in every aspect of existence, from physical elements to cognitive functions.

Transcending Illusory Experiences

Nature of Pleasure and Pain:

• Prahlada attributes pleasure and pain to the self, which appear and vanish like optical illusions.
• He questions the credibility of deriving stable results from transient phenomena.

Equanimity in Experience:

• Prahlada praises the self's ability to enjoy experiences while maintaining equanimity, contrasting wise and Un-awakened perspectives.
• He hails the self as non-attached, beyond desires, and the basis of the universe.

Embracing Supreme Peace

Final Salutations:

• Prahlada offers salutations to the self, expressing delight, equilibrium, and supreme peace.
• He resolves to rest eternally in supreme peace, recognizing the absence of bondage, misfortune, birth, or death in the self's pure reality.