rise and fall, but it is hard to control Prana (vital force). This body is not permanent. It is like winter cold and summer heat----it comes and goes. If we try to find its fruits, we only find bitter disappointments and sorrows . The life most worthwhile is that of those who have attained the highest Atmic wisdom, blessed with liberation, and freed from sorrows (pains). Life is worthwhile only to those who have freed themselves from rebirth. Others are only lives of folly--lives of the foolish. People without the power of discrimination, find that learning is only a burden to them. The person without peace of mind, finds that his mind is only a burden to him. The person who is full of passion, finds that the Atmic wisdom is only a burden to him. The person who has not found the blissful joy within himself finds that the body, the mind, the egoism and the actions are only burdens to him. Prana stays awhile in the body but often departs when the person is young, like the wise who do not stay in the company of the wicked.

The Egoism:

"I am terrified by this harmful enemy of

mine, egoism, which was born by illusion. It is the mother of many dangers. There is no worse danger than that of egoism. I fear this egoism will not leave me, as I have had to contend with it for a long time. I do not eat food with water. What is the use to speak of the other enjoyments? Doing anything through egoism is unreal. The sooner this egoism is given up, the better. As long as we tolerate egoism, just so long are desires created within us. I have given up all active thoughts that I may be free from egoism, but unhappiness (pain) is still clinging to me. I have not realized my own self. May thou, O Rishi, be kind enough to bless me, that I may liberate myself of this enemy, egoism, which is the mother of all dangers in the universe. Its home is in the mind. It is false in its nature and is without intelligence or discrimination.

The Mind:

"My mind is flying to sensual objects, resistless as though drawn by a magnet. This baneful mind does not like the real joy that comes from within, but travels outward (to

worldly pleasures). It is like a torrent, seething, writhing, uncontrolled, destroying in its onward rush, all the finer sensibilities. As a straw is tossed into the air, and a tree is shaken by the wind, so is the action of the mind. It lifts me up to the highest realm, then drops me unmercifully to the lowest depths of the earth. This terrible state of mind is more dangerous than a consuming flame. It is possible to dry up the ocean, to root out the Himalaya Mountains, or to eat fire, but it is harder, by far, to control the mind. It is the creator of all objects. This universe appeared when the mind came into existence, then disappeared with the absence of mind. Hence the mind should be controlled. With the control of mind, all pains and all sorrows will perish.

The Desires: