See through your role as a person | Ashtavakra Gita

The Ashtavakra Gita.

The True Knower.

Ashtavakra said:

"One has attained Knowledge and reaped the fruits of yoga who is content, purified of attachments, and at home in solitude.

The knower of Truth is never miserable in the world, for the whole universe is filled with Himself alone.

As the foliage of the neem tree does not please an elephant who delights in sallaki leaves, so do sense objects not please he who delights in Self.

Rare in the world is one who does not relish past enjoyments nor yearn for enjoyments to come.

Those who desire pleasure and those who desire liberation are both common in the world. Rare is the great soul who desires neither enjoyment nor liberation.

Rare is the right-minded person who neither covets nor shuns religion, wealth, pleasure, life or death.

The man of Knowledge neither cares for the universe nor desires its dissolution. He lives happily on whatever comes his way. He is blessed.

Knowing Self, the mind empty and at peace, the sage lives happily, seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating.

There is no attachment or non-attachment for one in whom the ocean of the world has dried up. His look is vacant, senses still. His actions have no purpose.

The sage is neither asleep nor awake. He neither closes nor opens his eyes.

Thus, for the liberated soul, everywhere there is only This.

The liberated soul abides in Self alone and is pure of heart. He lives always and everywhere, free of desire.

Seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, taking, speaking, walking.

The great soul exerts neither effort nor non-effort. He is truly free.

The liberated soul does not blame or praise, give or take, rejoice or become angry. He is everywhere unattached and free.

The great soul remains poised and undisturbed, whether in the presence of a passionate woman or observing the approach of his death. He is truly free.

The sage sees no difference between happiness and misery, man and woman, adversity and success. Everything is seen to be the same.

In the sage there is neither violence nor mercy, arrogance nor humility, anxiety nor wonder. His worldly life is exhausted. He has transcended his role as a person.

The liberated one neither avoids experience nor craves it. He enjoys what comes and what does not.

The sage is not conflicted by states of stillness and thought. His mind is empty. His home is the Absolute.

Though he may perform actions, the man of knowledge does not act. Desires extinguished, free of thoughts of 'I' and 'mine', he knows with absolute certainty that nothing exists.

The sage is free. His empty mind no longer projects delusion, dreaming, dullness. This state is indescribable."

Do not listen to this as the private state of a sage. Do not listen to this as a description of a special realized person. And don't listen to this as a prescription of how to live life.

Instead, consider if this is your own nature when the mind is not identifying you as a thing in the world.

When the charms and sorrows of the world are seen as the pure flow of consciousness.

While you stand simply aware.

"One has attained Knowledge and reaped the fruits of yoga who is content, purified of attachments and at home in solitude."

The fruit of Yoga and Jnana and Bhakti is the same.

It is this knowledge that the Self is only ever that which is aware.

Whatever comes to pass, whatever changes, whatever is observed, that is not the Self.

That is Self-luminosity. The outpouring of light from the source of light.

What is to be desired for and for whom?

Solitude and company do not affect the contentment of knowing this Truth. But since all these minds are so preoccupied in their attachments, you may find your ashram in solitude.

"The knower of Truth is never miserable in the world, for the whole universe is filled with Himself alone.

As the foliage of the neem tree does not please the elephant who delights in sallaki leaves, so do sense objects not please he who delights in Self."

Notice when misery appears in your world. It comes with the weight of relationships and identities. When you see yourself and others as people in the world.

And notice when your world is filled with delight. It comes when that identity is forgotten in the moment. When there's simply being aware... together, undivided.

In that moment, you are not seeing the world in terms of you and others.

The Knower of Truth is thus never miserable in the world.

Misery comes when Truth is being ignored. When thoughts consider the Whole as parts.

Just as the neem leaves are of no interest to the elephant that has tasted sallaki leaves, one who has tasted Unity, who has seen the whole universe as Awareness alone, who is aware that being aware is the very nature of Self, That One knows that joy can only be found in Self.

"Rare in the world is one who does not relish past enjoyments nor yearn for enjoyments to come.

Those who desire pleasure and those who desire liberation are both common in the world. Rare is the great soul who desires neither enjoyment nor liberation.

Rare is the right-minded person who neither covets nor shuns religion, wealth, pleasure, life or death.

The man of Knowledge neither cares for the universe nor desires its dissolution. He lives happily on whatever comes his way. He is blessed."

The untrained mind is blown around at the whims of what brings pain or pleasure.

The trained mind is acutely aware of being blown around as it tries to overcome desires and fears.

But the Knowledge of Self uncovers a new way.

The Great Way.

Enjoyment comes and passes. Sorrow comes and goes.

Liberation is not the end of enjoyment and sorrow, or some superhuman invulnerability, but only the end of yearning. The end of what led to the longing and aversion.

In the Knowledge of Truth, there is no coveting or shunning. Because the Knowledge of Truth is all encompassing.

The Self is no longer seen as an agent in the world. People are no longer seen as separate selves. The working of nature is no longer seen as driven by will and intention.

Whatever comes, it is The Great Way.

The outpouring of light from the source of light.

There's no blame to be placed upon light for being light, or for the source of light for being so bright.

It is simply The Way in which Reality unfolds.

"Knowing Self, mind empty and at peace, the sage lives happily, seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating.

There's no attachment or non-attachment for one in whom the ocean of the world has dried up. His look is vacant, senses still. His actions have no purpose."

Knowing Self, the mind is empty of all ideas of self. Empty of all ideas of self, the mind is at peace.

There is seeing, hearing, sensing, perceiving, knowing. Thoughts arise. Feelings are felt. But there's no assumption that someone thinks the thoughts or should feel a certain way.

Each perception is clearly seen as empty of any self-essence. And yet each perception proves the nature of Self as present, aware, real.

The world is entirely subjective phenomena. The Self is entirely unchanging and absolute.

Thus, Self-Knowledge swallows the ocean of the world.

What seemed immense was merely a dream. What seemed to be me was merely a belief. And what truly is I is beyond imagination, beyond description.

There is no allure to the world nor any actions to be taken. Yet the dream world and its activities proceed, sustained by the very nature of Self.

"The sage is neither asleep nor awake. He neither closes nor opens his eyes.

Thus for the liberated soul everywhere there is only This."

The states of consciousness; waking, dreaming, sleeping, and the riddle of death are completely resolved in the Knowledge of Self.

The Self does not sleep or wake. The Self does not have eyes to open or close.

The liberated soul is the soul that is no more. The soul that reached the conclusion that it never even existed and is merely a web of thought.

Then the web of thought collapsed. The Self recognized the Self as Awareness alone.

Awareness is aware.

Sleeping and waking are states of mind. The states of mind reflect the activity of the body.

But That which allows for the beginning of life, for a mind to emerge in the first place, That is the Self.

The Self which was present to witness the first moment of this life has no qualities with which to tie an identity to this life.

"I" does not mean me, a person.

"I" points to Awareness.

Thus for the liberated soul everywhere there is only This.

"The liberated soul abides in Self alone and is pure of heart. He lives always and everywhere free of desire.

Seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, taking, speaking, walking, the great soul exerts neither effort nor non-effort. He is truly free.

The liberated soul does not blame or praise, give or take, rejoice or become angry. He is everywhere, unattached and free.

The great soul remains poised and undisturbed, whether in the presence of a passionate woman or observing the approach of his death. He is truly free."

Such freedom cannot come from attaining a state or controlling the mind. Such freedom cannot come through effort or non-effort.

Such freedom can only come through this simple recognition of the Nature of Self.

The body's activities are known due to the Nature of Self. The mind's passions are known due to the Nature of Self. These cycles of life and death are known due to the Nature of Self.

The Self remains as Pure Awareness, ever free.

"The sage sees no difference between happiness and misery, man and woman, adversity and success.

Everything is seen to be the same.

In the sage there is neither violence nor mercy, arrogance nor humility, anxiety nor wonder. His worldly life is exhausted. He has transcended his role as a person.

The liberated one neither avoids experience nor craves it. He enjoys what comes and what does not.

The sage is not conflicted by states of stillness and thought. His mind is empty.

His home is the Absolute."

All these differences are between the appearances, the mental states and transient events.

While the sage sees the same variety and diversity, the scope of the Truth puts all differences in their place.

The conflict of all such dualities is seen as a spectrum of the nondual Reality.

The role of this person and life is seen as one star among the immensity of the void.

All any mind desires is experience. All any mind fears is experience or its absence.

By seeing the Self as the basis of experience, the sage has overcome all dependence on experience.

By seeing the Self as independent of the presence or absence of experience, the sage has recognized his Home as the Absolute.

"Though he may perform actions, the man of knowledge does not act.

Desires extinguished, free of thoughts of 'I' and 'mine', he knows with absolute certainty that nothing exists.

The sage is free.

His empty mind no longer projects delusion, dreaming, dullness. This state is indescribable."

And yet this State is already yours.

For this is the teaching of Advaita. Of the nondual nature of Self.

This indescribable State is simply this Awareness.

You know this State not through any description, but through your very nature of being aware.

To overcome all thoughts of "me" and "mine", to transcend the illusion and your role as a person, all that is left is to recognize the fact of your own True Nature.