Ráma said:—Tell me again, O Venerable sir, how is intellectual vacuity which you say to be the entity of Brahma; because I am never satiate to hear the holy words, distilling as ambrosia from your lips.
2. Vasishtha replied:—I have fully explained to you that the two states of sleeping and waking imply the same thing; as the twin virtues of composure and self-controul are both the same, though they are differentiated by two names.
3. There is in reality none difference of them, as there is none between two drops of water; they are both the one and same thing, as the vacuous essence of Brahma and the Intellect.
4. As a man travelling from country to country, finds his self consciousness to be every where the same; so and the very same is the Intellect, which dwells within himself in its vacuous form, and is styled the intellectual sphere.
5. This intellectual sphere is as clear, as the etherial sky; wherein the earthly arbours display their verdure, by drawing the moisture of the earth by their roots. (This passage rests on a text of the Sruti; and means that the intellectual sphere of men as the sky of trees is always clear, though they live upon the sap of earth).
6. Again the intellectual sphere is as calm and quiet, as the mind of a man, who is free from desires and is at rest in himself; and whose composure is never disturbed by anything.
7. Again the intellectual sphere is like the quiet state of am; who had got rid of his busy cares and thoughts, reposes himself at ease; before he is lulled to the insensibility of his sleep.
8. Again as trees and plants growing in their season, rise in and fill the sky, without being attached to it; such also is intellectual sphere, which is filled by rising worlds after worlds, without being touched by or related to any.
9. Again the intellectual sphere, is as clear as the cloudless sky; and as vacant as the mind of the saintly man, which is wholly purified from the impressions of visibles, and its thoughts and desires are about any thing in the world.
10. The intellectual state is as steady as those of the stable rocks and trees; and when such is the state of the human mind, it is then said to have attained its intellectuality (or else its restless state is called the active mind and not the intellect).