BOOKS BY ANANTA Welcome to Satsang with Ananta

[18.48] Ashtavakra said, “One whose mind is emptied and unconflicted by the mere hearing of Truth sees nothing to do, nothing to avoid, nothing to warrant his indifference.”

It’s so beautiful that we’re attracted to this pointing to the Truth. We find by the mere hearing of it, the recognition of the Self emerges. You don’t have to do any spiritual heavy lifting. Just by the mere hearing of this, you recognize what You Are and you are blessed in that way.

“One whose mind is emptied and unconflicted by the mere hearing of Truth sees nothing to do, nothing to avoid, nothing to warrant his indifference.” So, neither desire nor aversion. We’ve looked at this, many times.

[18.49] Ashtavakra said, “The Sage does whatever appears to be done without thinking of good or bad. His actions are those of a child.”

This is a classic. [Chuckles] “The Sage does whatever appears to be done…” Actually, for all of us, this is just a movement within Consciousness. This is just a seeming-doing. But when it says ‘Sage does’ it means that Consciousness Itself is doing all of this, although outwardly it might appear that the Sage is saying this, the Sage is doing this. All of this is just moving.

“The Sage does whatever appears to be done without thinking of good or bad. His actions are those of a child.” A child leads a very natural life. All that is needed for the child’s life is there; taken care of. He’s not strategizing the ideal path, saying ‘I’m 1-1/2 years old now. By the time I’m 6-1/2, I want to achieve these goals’. No child is saying that, because its identity is not yet fully developed. The sense of false, egoic control over life is not yet developed. “His actions are those of a child.”

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Reading from the Ashtavakra Gita, Translation by Bart Marshall

http://www.holybooks.com/wp-content/uploads/Ashtavakra-Gita-ebook.pdf

[18.51] Ashtavakra said, “When one realizes he is neither the actor nor the one who watches, the mind-storm is stilled.”

Neither the actor nor the perceiver of these actions; this is pointing to the Absolute. Perceiving, acting, all of this is a play of Consciousness. What is before I Am, before Consciousness; once we come to this recognition then the mind storm has no power over you. He says that the mind could create a tsunami, but what power does it have over the Self? We just saw that no phenomenal appearance touches the Self. All phenomenon is just an aspect of the Self. That’s why the Sages go so far as to say ‘If the world would burn, if the universe were to catch fire, I remain untouched’. It is not because they have some phenomenal super-powers. They are not referring to I-which-remains-untouched as the body. The body is part of this world. The I-that-remains-untouched is the is the same ‘I’ which is the Source of Consciousness, that is aware of Consciousness Itself.

When you come to this discovery, you find That Witnessing that is aware of your perceptions; That which is aware of sight, of sound. You don’t see sight. You see the objects but how are you aware of sight? We don’t hear hearing; you hear phenomena. How are you aware of hearing? These are all very beautiful pointers.

“When one realizes he is neither the actor nor the one who watches, the mind-storm is stilled.” Now, don’t confuse this “nor the one who watches” with what the Sage has been saying from the beginning; don’t confuse it with the One-Solitary-Witness-of-All-There-Is. That is why it is very important that we have sessions like this, otherwise it might sound like it is just a bunch of contradiction. But it is spoken of from a different place. What witnesses your perception? The-One-who-watches is the perceiver. Can the perceiver be perceived? (Guruji’s [Sri Mooji] piranha question.) Can the perceiver itself be perceived? What is your truest position?

[18.52] Ashtavakra said, “The actions of the sage, free of pretense and motive, shine like clear light. Not so those of the deluded seeker who affects a peaceful demeanor while remaining firmly attached.”

In the aspect of Consciousness, which is appearing to you as a Sage, there has been a recognition that there is no doer, no individual doer of action. So, in the play of this world, the actions which seem to emanate from these aspects, that Being which is not considering itself to be something separate, something limited, in the outward play, in the phenomenal play, such a Being (because it is not coming from the ego, a sense of limitation) the action seems pristine. Even many times when we don’t seem to understand why a Sage is doing what he’s doing or she is doing. When we look at it later, we realize ‘What beautiful Grace’.

So, although everything is the will of Consciousness, the entire play of creation is Grace, and yet it is undeniable that in the Presence of a Sage, their actions, their Presence itself, is much more beautiful Grace.

“Not so those of the deluded seeker who affects a peaceful demeanor while remaining firmly attached.” Many times we come across many in this spiritual journey that outwardly project a different impression, a different demeanor; and yet, as we scratch the surface, all this seems to fall apart. They’re still coming from that aspect of Consciousness considering itself to be a limited entity, therefore playing as a seeker. All that comes from a sense of limitation seems to be not as pristine as that which is coming from this outward play of the Sage …, because they’re still attached to their identity; the seeker identity.

[18.53] Ashtavakra said, “Unbounded, unfettered, untethered from the projections of mind, the wise are free to play and enjoy, or retire to mountain caves.”

So, the first part we have spoken of often enough. Simply, the Sage is repeating, “The mind is complex. Let it go.” Then, “the wise are free to play and enjoy, or retire to mountain.” That’s why I say that it said ‘Before enlightenment, chopping wood, fetching water; after enlightenment, chopping wood, fetching water’. But we can add to that ‘Or not’. Because even that can seem like it has become a condition. There is no ‘must’ for anything. Anything can play after you come to the recognition of the Truth; whether it is going to Himalayas and living in caves there or continuing to live the life of a house-holder. Both can happen completely naturally for the Sage. Nothing needs to be escaped; nothing needs to be renounced…, except your belief in your next thought.

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Reading from the Ashtavakra Gita, Translation by Bart Marshall

http://www.holybooks.com/wp-content/uploads/Ashtavakra-Gita-ebook.pdf

A: Like I said, there is only one medicine which is available here. Find out who You Are. And all concerns about life, what is going to happen (including about freedom, all states) leave that up to Guru Power. [Smiles] Guru Power is the best power. [Silence] No waiting, no expecting, no judging, no interpreting, no resentment, no pride, no guilt; no suffering basically. [Chuckling]
Guru Power can run your life? Or no? [Laughter in the room] Ultimately it all boil downs to this. All the ‘but…’ depends on this question now.
Q: Throw the small guy out. [Laughing]
A: Guru Power can do that? Or no? Throw the small guy out? [Laughing] Does the Guru Power need your controlling, driving, saying ‘Do it now; do it tomorrow; don’t do it yet; do it the day after?’ Surrender means it is up to Guruji, when he does, what he does.
Q1: Do it now.
A: Many times, the disciple can have the garb of the disciple but is wanting to master the Master. If it is disciple who is driving the Master ‘Do it today; do it tomorrow; do it when I’m ready’ then who is the master actually in this situation? [Looking at the sangha] Then the Master is the servant. [Bowing down with folded hands] ‘Yes, sir, when do you want me to do it? Now?’ [Laughing]
I know what you mean, but I’m joking just to make this point just to make this point, that even that is an expectation. [Silence] Whatever state Ram wants to keep me in, that is Ram’s problem.
Q2: Why does He manifest theses states? [Laughter]
A: That is His problem, why He wants what he wants. Who will get into the mind of Ram and tell us? [Laughter]. That kind of argument is okay actually, sometimes, isn’t it? ‘Ramji what? What is with you! Why can’t you just fix this life.’ It’s okay from time to time; tantrums are alright. Then the Guru has to do what he has to do, whether everything is done or not done; all this is whose problem? His problem.

[Silence]
This ‘but’ and ‘Guru Power’ cannot both survive. Either in the Guru Power you will see that the ‘but’ does not survive or we keep giving value to the ‘but’ and then you will find more and more it is ego, spiritual ego, and the Guru Power seems to wane. That is the play of this world.

Ultimately, the ultimate victor is always Guru Power. [Chuckling] Currently, in our current play, that is how it seems to play out. [Silence] That is Satguru’s way. Grace is never fighting for the throne. You have to overthrow the incumbent mind and say ‘This is my space’. The mind is always fighting for the throne. When your done with it, flick it away. Automatically what do you find? [Silence] Guruji.
So, capsules have these two sides, no? At least in India, capsules are like that; two different colors.

One side of my medicine is: Find out who You Are.

The second side is: Your life is the Satguru’s problem.
This can be the final satsang. [Laughter]
Actually, both are not independent; it’s one capsule. The recognition is the discovery of Your own intuitive Presence, and the more you remain with your intuitive Presence, you will see that the recognition is so clear.

Q: Can I ask something about doership?

A: Yes, my dear.

A:  I don´t know if it is really a question but I felt to come up and say something to it, because doership is still something which troubles me sometimes. Normally, during the day, I would also not say that the experience here is ‘Everything is just happening’. I don´t feel that this is the experience here. Sometimes, yeah, but it is not really like that. I would say I don´t think about it. In a practical way, yes, thinking is happening but I don´t think about the things I am doing. There is a subtle doubt in it where the mind creeps in and says ‘See? You are still the doer’. I don´t know if that makes sense but it is just really subtle; because most of the day it´s just going without thinking on doership or what I am doing. Yet, I would say it is not the experience here that everything is just happening. It´s something in the middle of it, you know? I just felt to say that.

A: I like this, so let´s look at it. It´s a very beautiful report and question. Actually, when you hear or when you see that ‘Everything is just happening’ why doesn´t it seem to change? You say very beautifully that ‘I am not thinking about it and yet it seems very natural’. It´s not like ‘Oh now, everything is just happening’. Why? Because everything has always just been happening. So, we don´t experience a shift in our perception in some way. You see? And yet, when we notice…, for example, if you were to just notice how the next words that you say come out, you will notice that it was just happening. You see? These words are just appearing. And the perception of these words is also just happening (just like your eyes are blinking, your heart is beating). All of this is just happening. Your head could be nodding. All of this is just happening.

Why it doesn´t feel like ‘Oh, nothing really shifted’ is because actually everything has been always just happening in this way. The key is what you said: ‘I usually don´t think about it’.

Now, what happens when we DO think about it? That is when we invent the doer. Because when the thinking comes, what is it saying? ‘You should not have done that’ or ‘What should I do now? I don´t know what to do.’ And yet, what is to happen or not happen will continue to happen or not happen.

Let me use a metaphor so maybe it gets more easily understood. Now, suppose the tree had thoughts. There is a tree in the garden and the tree had thoughts; and the thought was saying ‘You have to move your branches up and down’. The thought was saying ‘You have to move your branches up and down’ and every day it was giving the tree a report on how well it did in moving its branches.

Now, a Sage comes next to the tree and is able to tell the tree (in tree-language) ‘You are not doing it. It is the wind that comes and moves your branches.’ So, then some sense of relief can come. ‘I am not moving these branches. It is the wind. This mind has been lying to me. The movement of the branches (the movement of everything) has been a movement of Consciousness.’

But this is still incomplete. Because what the Sage will say next is: ‘See that you are not the tree itself.’

You see the difference in position? So, first ‘I am the tree and I am moving my branches’ …, to then ‘I am the tree but God or the wind (or some higher force) is moving my branches’ …, and then to See: ‘I am not the tree itself’.

Because if you get stuck in ‘I am the tree and a higher force is moving my branches’ then we can always have the sense of victimization. ‘Why does God have to move it this way or that way for me?’ And we can have a desire for something about the future. ‘I hope tomorrow God moves the branches only in this way; in a particular direction.’

So, that´s why it is important for the Sage to remind us that ‘You are not the tree’. Not only are you just not moving the branches but you are also not the tree. So, then you see that ‘Yes, I am that in which this entire play of tree, wind, ground, Sage, everything [is appearing]. I am the third bird; witnessing both the doer and the perceiver. I am That primal witnessing.’ So, then we come to this.

Now, the thought is playing completely the opposite game. The thought is saying ‘Yes, yes, of course, you are moving your branches. See now, when you decide to blink, only then you blink’ …, or something like that it will tell you. So, in that idea that you are moving your branches, it is selling you the story basically that you are the tree. That´s why, when you say ‘I don´t see everything is just a happening but I am not thinking about it’ actually then (without thinking about it) all you see is that all of this is just a happening. It is only thought which makes an individual doer out of you.

The sensations of movement can still be the same. You see? When you pick up something heavy it is a sensation of some heavy object being felt in the body. So, don´t expect all of that to change. When you are typing (like you have been working so hard with the highlights and all of that) you might still find that the body gets fatigue. ‘Happening’ does not mean that the phenomenal principals of this world will no longer happen. So, it can still feel like the body gets strained; fatigue can come in the body. It is not a super-power that we are finding. We are finding the naturalness of this; just all of this is happening with the power of Consciousness (or as my favorite new term now: Everything is happening with Guru Power. [Chuckles] Because God, Guru and Self are the same.) So, you can say that everything is moving with Guru Power. There is no individual doer or mover of any of this. And when you are not thinking about it, that is what your experience is. As the next words flow, as the next action happens, just notice that it is just moving on its own.

The one that is claiming to be the doer (the mind) does not know how to ‘do’. I have been saying this, isn´t it? This one that claims to be doing all of this, it doesn´t know how to move a finger.

If you ask the mind ‘How do you move a finger?’

It will say ‘I just decided to move it.’

[Then you say]: ‘Oh good. How do you do it? After the thought comes ‘Move the finger’, what do you do next?’

…

It doesn´t know.

How does it activate the nervous system of the body which makes this movement happen? (All these are phenomenal mechanics. I don´t usually get so much into that.) But You realize that it’s just like a small baby claiming that it is making the world go around. Why? ‘Because I say ‘around’ and it moves around.’ [Chuckles]

But it is moving on its own.

[18.64] Ashtavakra said, “The Sage sees nothing being done even when performed by his hands. Like a child he is pure and acts without reason.”

“The Sage sees nothing being done even when performed by his hands.” So beautiful, isn’t it? It’s answering the same question. “The Sage sees nothing being done even when performed by his hands. Like a child he is pure and acts without reason.”

This “without reason” should not be confused with acting in an unintelligent way or something like that. The Supreme intelligence is guiding this life, all our lives. It doesn’t pick up ideas like ‘I must do that; I have to do this’. Like I said, what’s most important is, no feverishness or suffering; no dependence on the outcome. In the play of the life of Sage, some planning can happen. Satsang next week could be [on this date] or Guruji [Sri Mooji] can plan when the next retreat will be (or pose as if he’s planning the next retreat). [Chuckles] So, in the life of the Sage, movement, activities, even apparent planning can seem like it is there, but it’s clear that I’m not the doer. You see? That’s most important. I’m not the individual doer. Even planning is witnessed.

[18.65] Ashtavakra said, “Blessed indeed is he who knows Self. Though seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating, he never desires nor changes.”

“Blessed indeed is he who knows Self. Though…” Why ‘though’? Because all of these are phenomenal. Sights are phenomenal; sounds are phenomenal; taste is phenomenal; smell is phenomenal. All of these are phenomenal. Why say ‘though’? This is the same reason. This explains why ‘neti, neti’ [‘not this, not this’] because although all of this is there, how does one (that aspect of Consciousness that has recognized its Source), how does one come to that? Just through this simplicity of Seeing, what is beyond phenomenon. So, ‘neti, neti’ means don’t settle. If it’s still phenomenal, don’t settle for that. For the moment, find that which is beyond the play of phenomenon.

[18.66] Ashtavakra said, “For one who is void and changeless, where is the world and its imaginings? Where is the end? Where is the possibility of it?”

This One that is beyond time and space, beyond all qualities…,

where is the world for You, for the Self?

Where is that appearance that we call the world?

Where is the set of sensations that we call the body?

What is Your true position?

Are You bound or enclosed in any of these?

Where is birth and death?

Where is beginning or end?

Where is time?

For the Unchanging One, what does time mean?

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Reading from the Ashtavakra Gita, Translation by Bart Marshall

http://www.holybooks.com/wp-content/uploads/Ashtavakra-Gita-ebook.pdf

Some words caught my attention in the middle of the *Aarti: [Referring to the bhajan/music and devotional chant played at start of satsang. An Aarti is traditionally a part of puja; prayer or devotion to the Satguru]

“Tum Ho Ek Aghochar”

You are the One unseen, ever-Present.

“Sab Ke Praan Pati”

That from which all of this Life emerges.

(Life force, life energy emerges from You).

So, “You are the One unseen, ever-Present.

The Life-force of all Beings, Oh Lord.”

Then, from what I remember (these words seem to be different from that and my understanding of this dialect of Hindi is not so good, but my feeling is that it means):

“Kis Vidhi Miloon”

If You are the unseen and yet ever-present One,

How must I meet you?

I can only surrender to You.’

How to meet the unseen One? That is the beauty of this recognition, isn’t it? How to meet the unseen One? That is what it means when we say ‘non-phenomenal recognition’.

And in the recognition, You will see that there is the Self; this Self which is beyond seeing and not-seeing, beyond any light and darkness, beyond something and nothing. This no-thing is Your truest nature, is where all phenomena sprouts from. So, with great devotion, the one who has composed this Aarti has asked: You Are the unseen One. And yet, You are the Source of all things. What beauty is this? How do I meet you, Oh Lord? How to meet this Self?

Everything that we meet in this world can, at best, point to this. That’s why the meeting with the Master is the most beautiful, because there is no greater pointer to this, there is no greater example of this. And yet, the Master is always saying ‘Go to the formless Reality of YourSelf’. You cannot meet the formless Reality in the world of forms. You will not be able to compute your formless Reality with the mind also. You will not be able to crack the formula ‘Who am I?’ as if it is an intellectual puzzle. The clues that are provided are not to solve it like an intellectual riddle but to aid your own insight: Who am I? You will not see it in the seemingly-outside world, you will not be able to use this mental contraption to find it, you will not be able to imagine Awareness, you will not experience it as an emotion or any physical sensation. How to find it then? All these tools are gone; left aside.

[Silence]

This goes right to the root of it, isn’t it?  “If You are the unseen One…, how do I meet you, oh Lord?”

[Silence]

That is why Self-recognition is beyond all experience, and yet, at one point we can say it is the most unique experience because it is undeniably True; and yet, it has no quality, there is no phenomena on which you are reporting.

[Silence]

This is the exploration, you see. And we don’t need to pick up a sense of aversion to anything phenomenal. All that we are saying is that yes, this phenomena, all these phenomenal things, have got so much attention from us. Can we spare some time to divest some attention from this phenomenal play and check if there is anything else there?

So, when we say ‘neti, neti, neti, neti’ (‘not-this, not-this, not-this, not-this’) it is not that we are trying to push it away or there is an aversion to phenomena, it is only that one aspect has gotten so much attention from us. How about we check beyond and see if there is something beyond my phenomenal existence. Where will I find this One; non-phenomenal existence?

Don’t get confused with the terminology. I know that usually when we talk about existence, we’re talking about the sense of ‘I Am’. Here now, I’m talking about the ‘I-the-Absolute’ which is beyond the sense of existence; and yet (even though it is beyond the sense of Existence, the sense of Presence, the sense of Being) it is undeniably true; the undeniable Truth of who You Are; the unchanging witness.

So, you see what we’re doing, isn’t it? We’re saying ‘How do I meet you, oh Lord, the unseen One?’ Then the Lord’s response comes: Find this unchanging witness.

What is it that is not perceived phenomenally, that is not changing therefore, it is Reality, therefore it is Truth; and that which is witnessing, the witnessing principle itself? (is one way to put it).

You cannot find it through any mental means. You cannot find it through any phenomenal process. Therefore, action, all that we could ‘do’ for it, plays no role here…, because in the doing, we are in the play of phenomena. So, the term “Vidhi” (“Kis Vidhi Miloon”): ‘which way…, what means do I use to find You?’ Then you find that there are no phenomenal means. All action is set aside. Not a step you have to take.

If not a step I have to take, then it must be here already.

If not a step I have to take, can the meeting be a meeting of two? If it was a meeting of two, then you would have to take a step. If it is not a step I have to take, then it must be meeting MySelf; That which is ever-present, unseen to sight, unheard to ears, no senses can get here, no imagination can get here, no thought can capture this. Even the sense of my existence, we have gone beyond…, to that which Is.

[Silence]

When the Sages said ‘Be still and know that you are That’ …, it is same as this. How to meet that unseen primary witnessing?

[Silence]

So, for some time, no phenomenal considerations. They had their time and they will get their time also in the future.

[Silence]

Are you aware now?

What is aware even of this Awareness?

You cannot solve this question. Don’t try to solve it. Let the question lead you on its own.

Who is aware of Awareness?

[Silence]

Who are You here?

[Silence]

What is true about You that has never changed?

[Silence]

Can this Awareness also come and go?

What would witness the coming and going of this?

[Silence]

Does this have a beginning or an end or any form of change?

[Silence]

Is there anything to desire?

Anything to push away?

What can come (in the world of appearances) that can touch This One?

Q: No true position Father. The mirror I look in, I Am That.  In the mirror of Awareness, I’m the Absolute. In mirror of Consciousness, I Am. In mirror of pretense, I am ego.

A: Yes. So, Satsang is for this mirror of pretense. Awareness is always Awareness, Consciousness is always Consciousness. Nothing happens in Reality to that which is Truth. If something really happened to Truth and whole premise of finding the Truth would be pointless.

So, what is Satsang for?

In life, there are two games which is being played. One is the game of Consciousness picking up more and more identity, more and more pretense. And one is the game of Consciousness dropping the identity and pretense. Satsang is the second game.

It is meant to drop identity and pretense. It is still a game, of course. Nothing in Reality is changing, because it is another appearance in the waking state. But rules of this game (if you come into this game, if you want to part of this game) then it will be a dropping of the pretense; knowing completely truly that nothing matters in Reality.

But if you come in this game and keep saying, ‘But can I keep my pretense? Because it is just a pretense after all.’ then why are you in this game? You come into the football field and want to play basketball, then obviously we will say ‘What is the game that you are playing?’ [Chuckles]

The game of Satsang is where we come and we empty ourself from all pretenses. Then you can truly say that the egoic play is just a pretense. I know it sounds ‘round and ‘round . You might have the idea and even some insight into the pretense of the egoic play, but until you drop the pretense of the egoic play, you cannot truly say it is just a pretense. Just like until you climb to the top of the mountain, you cannot truly say there is no mountain. There is no mountain, but you cannot say until you climb the mountain.

[18.71] Ashtavakra said, “Rules of conduct, detachment, renunciation, asceticism; what are these to one who sees the unreality of things, who is the Light of Awareness?”

So, this play of doership, of what to do, how to behave, what to renounce, whether to live as a house-holder or to live in a cave or to rush to live in a holy place or whether you can stay at home…, all of this falls away when you come to the recognition of what You Are. The seeker has many varieties. You can be a house-holder seeker, you can be a sadhu seeker; it doesn’t really matter. If what is to be found is already there, then the outer expression doesn’t really matter.

When you See the Self, it is the Self; irrespective of a cave or not. Irrespective of your karma, You are the Self. Irrespective of money or not, You are the Self. Irrespective of relationship or not, You are the Self.

Many times, wanting to renounce the world is also a postponing tactic. ‘I will be free only when this and this and this happens.’ Nothing needs to happen. Just this moment of insight: What is it that I am, truly?

[18.72] Ashtavakra said, “How can there be joy or sorrow, bondage or liberation, for one who perceives non-existence and lights the infinite?”

What a beautiful verse. That which perceives non-existence. When do you perceive non-existence? It’s You, by the way. [Chuckles] It’s You, by the way. When do you perceive non-existence? Every day. That is why you say there is something called sleep. ‘I went to sleep.’ You are there. And then, as Papaji [Sri Poonjaji] used to ask, ‘What wakes up?’ What wakes up? Existence wakes up. And with existence, the world wakes up.

What is That which witnesses existence and non-existence? This no-thing. This Absolute. This Awareness. This Supreme Intelligence which is the Light but without the quality of light, which provides the Light for the light of the universe but Itself is empty of any quality.

Again, don’t try to understand these words. Stay with your insight about them.

There was a beautiful passage from ‘Quotes with Bhagavan’ [Sri Ramana Maharshi] that somebody had posted on Facebook the other day.

Bhagavan said, ‘With which light do you see this object?’

Somebody said, ‘I see this object with the light of the sun.’

Bhagavan said, ‘With what Light do you see the light of the sun?’

Somebody said, ‘I see it through the light of my sight, the light of my eyes.’

Bhagavan said, ‘With which Light do you see the light of your sight?’

(All this we’ve covered today also; with which Light do you see the light of sight?)

Now, in this story, the definition of Mind was a broader one.

So, they said ‘With the light of the Mind’.

Bhagavan said, ‘With which Light do you see the light of your Mind?’

Somebody said, ‘With the Light of My Being, with the Light of my Presence.’

Bhagavan said, ‘With what light do you see the Light of Your Being?’

[Silence]

What is aware of Your Presence?

And do you See that all definitions of light fall away after that?

When we truly ask: ‘With what light do we see the light of that lights up our Presence?’

We cannot …

The mind will say ‘Oh, this is possible to have an infinite regress’ but if you’re following along with your insight, you will See that in this Absolute, in the Self, it stops; there is no regress. It is empty of phenomena. There is nothing further to go back into.

[Silence]

With what light do you witness the light of Your Presence?

Does this light have any quality?
Is it bright or dim? Is it dark?

[Silence]

“…for one who perceives non-existence and lights the infinite?” Such a pure verse. “How can there be joy or sorrow, bondage or liberation, for one who perceives non-existence and lights the infinite?”

That is why Sages through the centuries have said ‘All of this waking state, sleep state, dream state, transcendental turiya state…, all of these states are just comings and goings for You, the eternal Witnessing of them.’ If you are beyond the waking state, can you find yourself within an object within the waking state? [Silence]

All these are very important clues. The theme of Satsang today has been this. If You Are That which witnesses the coming and going of the entire waking universe…, then it dissolves, nothing to be left…, and then another universe appears, another dream universe, and millions of these universes can appear and disappear…., but You are the constant witnessing…, can you find YourSelf inside one of these realms?

[Silence]

If you were, then when that goes, you would go. But you don’t.

This waking state will go; it will be replaced by sleep. You are still there. Sleep state gets super-imposed with the next, which we call dream now but when it appears, it seems just like this waking state. Another family, another set of people, another life which seems AS real can appear. Then that also comes and goes. So many infinite experiences can be had in all of these states. But is Your Truth be found in any one of them? It cannot be. It must only be that these, at best, are an aspect of You…, but You are not an aspect of them because they are the coming and going. You are the unchanging witness.

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Reading from the Ashtavakra Gita, Translation by Bart Marshall

http://www.holybooks.com/wp-content/uploads/Ashtavakra-Gita-ebook.pdf

[18.67] Ashtavakra said, “Glorious indeed is he who, free of desire, embodies Bliss itself. He has become absorbed in Self.”

[18.68] “In short, the great soul who has realized Truth is free of desire, enjoyment and liberation. In all of space and time he is attached to nothing.”

We have covered all of this, many times. Anyone in the future who happens to come to this YouTube video or reads this transcript, please start from the beginning. The Ashtavakra Gita is something that I would give that advice on. It can create some confusion if you have not joined us from the beginning. So, if you are watching this first on YouTube (10 years later or whenever you are watching this) please start from the beginning. I am sure Nitya has made it easy for you to find it [Highlight videos]. Start from the beginning of this; it will make it much clearer. Especially terms like ‘enjoyer, don’t enjoy, free of desire’ …, all these have been explained many times as we have gone along.

[18.69] “What remains for One who is Consciousness itself, who sees the non-existence of a phenomenal world created by the mere thought of a name?”

So, when this ‘I Am’ appears…, when ‘I Am’ plays as ‘I Am something’ (‘I Am Ananta’) then comes the play of this phenomenal world; Ananta and the rest of his world comes into play. In the absolute non-phenomenal Awareness, it is the arising of Being. This Being, as it arises, is empty of all conditions, names and forms. When it picks up a name, picks up an identity, then the play of the world seems to become real, seems to become meaningful. Until then, it just remains a play.

[18.70] “Peace is natural for one who knows for certain nothing exists, who sees appearances are illusion, to whom the inexpressible is apparent.”

How is Reality defined by the Sage? Reality is defined as that which is direct experience and also that which is unchanging. So, in relation to that, everything that is changing is illusion. Only in relation to the Truth is the appearance of the world an illusion

If we consider our self to be an object within this appearance, then it is better that we don’t say ‘the world is an illusion.’ Only from the perspective of the Truth can we speak these words. Only from the perspective of this Truth can you say something like ‘Nothing really exists. Nothing has ever really happened’.

At which point can we go this far, that we come into even saying that ‘Even existence is ultimately not the Truth’? Maharaj [Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj] said very beautifully in these words so pristine that ‘The only Truth that we can speak (even in Satsang) is that ‘I Am’ and ultimately even that is not true.’ So, at some level, at some point when we consider our Self to be limited and separate, ‘I Am’ is a beautiful pointer, a beautiful pointing to the Truth. It becomes an opening which is even beyond this, where we see That which is aware of ‘I Am’. To That, even the ‘I Am’ is a coming and going; therefore, does not meet the criteria for Reality (which is that it must be unchanging). Even this ‘I Am’ (the deity of the waking state), this Consciousness itself, the Light of which runs this magnificent creation, ultimately is a coming and going.

That is when like Guruji [Sri Mooji] says ‘Before I Am’ or when Maharaj got closer to the end of his life, he started becoming very strong with these kind of pointings. He said that ‘All this trouble is because of ‘the I Am infection’. The ‘I Am infection’…, that which is (in this worldly play) the holiest, the divine Presence itself; all of this. Who can say ‘Forget about Consciousness’? These words will sound completely strange because even forgetting or remembering is a play of Consciousness. But there comes a point when you can even say ‘I am unconcerned even with Being’.

There is no rush. You don’t have to become an Advaita superstar or something; there is no rush for any of this. Even if you say any of this, you find many who try to become Advaita superstars; nobody listens to them. Don’t rush into any of that proclamation. Don’t rush to say ‘I have gone beyond Maharaj’ or something. Have some reverence towards these beautiful, pristine pointings. Then you will see that it will all unfold and your Presence will convey that you are beyond Presence. You don’t have to speak about it.

We have to notice these things about us. Many times, the mind can get a hold of these kind of words ‘I Am beyond and before I Am. I Am is just an infection for me’. The spiritual ego can take a hold of these words. And you notice that. If you smell within yourself, you will know very well how it has been taken; whether it has been taken as special-ness, whether it is wanting to be seen as something special, as wanting to get some applause in some way, some recognition, some affirmation.

So, if these things are arising in you, don’t go into a denial of them. Follow the smell. Find the ‘I’ that it leads to and see if there is anything real about that One. Or is it the make believe ‘I’ (the ‘blue cat’) which is pretending to be special while coming to the understanding of this? Are these words truly happening within your Presence? Don’t rush. Know that if there is a rush to proclaim something, it is from the mind. Unassociated Being is not in a rush. Time is nothing for it.

“Peace is natural for one who knows for certain nothing exists.” So, don’t be in a rush to say this. First see it for yourself. Be open to this insight for YourSelf. Then your Presence will convey this Seeing.

“…who sees appearances are illusion, to whom the inexpressible is apparent.” To whom the inexpressible is apparent. What is the inexpressible? The same; the unseen, non-phenomenal Self.

What can we say about the Self? Truly nothing about the Self itself. We can just play as if we are pointing towards it; but we can’t even point to it really. As Consciousness, we are divesting our attention from other phenomenal things and letting it go. As it is divested from phenomena, the insight into the non-phenomenal world (the intuitive insight) becomes clearer and clearer.

Why do I say we cannot even point to it? Because to point to it would mean that the Self is in a particular direction. It is not phenomenal in that way. ‘Before you can take a step’ means this, that not even a pointing is needed. But the false has to be divested from. Belief in the false must go. This openness is here.

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Reading from the Ashtavakra Gita, Translation by Bart Marshall

http://www.holybooks.com/wp-content/uploads/Ashtavakra-Gita-ebook.pdf

[18.58] Ashtavakra said, “Even doing nothing the dull one is anxious and distracted. Even amidst great action the wise one remains still.”

“Even doing nothing…” That aspect of Consciousness which is pretending it is the limited one. The Sage is calling him “the dull one.” [Chuckles] “Even doing nothing the dull one is anxious and distracted. Even amidst great action the wise one remains still.”

[18.59] Ashtavakra said, “Even in practical life the wise one remains happy. Happy to sit, happy to sleep, happy to move about, happy to speak, happy to eat.”

“Even in practical life the wise one remains happy.” He didn’t say that you have to drop practical life. Even in practical life, there is a gentle under-current of contentment, of happiness…, because it is this doership and attachment to the outcome of doership which causes all this struggle.  So, “Even in practical life the wise one remains happy. Happy to sit, happy to sleep, happy to move about, happy to speak, happy to eat.”

[18.60] Ashtavakra said, “Because he knows Self the wise one is not disrupted by practical life. He is deep and still, like a vast lake. He is not like ordinary people. His sorrows have vanished.”

You know where the Sage is coming from, so don’t feel that he is being derisive toward ordinary people or something.

[18.61] Ashtavakra said, “For the deluded one, even rest is an activity. For the wise, even action bears the fruit of stillness.”

That is exactly what we spoke about. For the deluded one, they are ‘doing’ even while at rest, or they have the sense of doership even when there is resting. For the wise, even when there is action, it bears the fruit of stillness.

[18.62] Ashtavakra said, “The deluded one is often averse to the things of his life. To one with no thought for body, attachment and aversion have no meaning.”

So, we can say “The deluded one is often averse to the things of his life. To one with no thought for body, attachment and aversion have no meaning.” We’ll go on, because we’ve looked at this many times.

[18.63] Ashtavakra said, “The deluded mind is caught up in thinking and not thinking. Though the mind of the wise one may think what thoughts come, he is not aware of it.”

This needs a little bit of clarification. It’s not that he’s not aware of it; basically, he is not concerned by it. “The deluded mind is caught up in thinking and not thinking.” We take the position (exactly what we were saying) that if we hear thinking was the problem, then we can take the position ‘I must not think’. We’re trying to obstruct thought. That’s why I say, just allow them to come and go. You cannot become ‘the thinker’ unless you identity with the thought; unless you give belief to a thought.

Then, “Though the mind of the wise one may think what thoughts come…” which only means thoughts are allowed to come and go. This appearance of thoughts is continuing to happen, “he is not aware of it.” You see? So, not that he is not aware of it; he cannot claim that anything exists unless there is awareness of it. But he’s not concerned by it. And also, these thoughts (which seem to be so big, so powerful, so noisy) …, how many of you, when you first came to Satsang said to me ‘Oh, Father (or Oh, Ananta) my mind is so loud, it’s so big, it’s so noisy’. So, it’s not the at the size of the mind has changed. The thought has remained a thought. It is our attention and our belief that seem to make them so formidable in the past.

Now you’re finding that it’s just (what did we say earlier? Some of these examples, I find a little naïve now [Chuckles] but they’re fun sometimes) like that which seemed to be this big wrestler able to throw you around (this mind) then becomes like a nagging partner. A nagging partner, nagging, nagging. ‘Do this, don’t do that, why are you like this, can you change?’ A nagging partner. But not the same power as this wrestler beating you about. Then, it becomes like this mosquito. Like there’s this one mosquito in the night and you’re trying to sleep and it comes and buzzes every few minutes. Then, even the mosquito-ness of the mind starts to fade away. And mostly, whatever it might be saying, whatever ideas of desire or doership or duality it might be trying to sell to you, mostly it is allowed to come and go.

So, this is how as we divest our identity, as we divest our belief from the mind, you see that the mind itself seems to become much more of a powerless pet (in a way) …, but don’t be too quick to proclaim these things. I’ve had many who have been in Satsang with me and they’ve been quick to come to this idea of ‘I’m over the mind now. The mind is now my friend. I want to love it. I want to be nice to it.’ And very quickly ‘whack, whack, whack’ …, that’s gone. [Chuckles] So, don’t be so quick (the trickster is also Consciousness, you know) but don’t be so quick to pick up a friendly attitude towards it. There will come a time also where you will look at it also as your beautiful child with no resentment toward it. That is all completely fine. But don’t be so quick to get into that position or to proclaim that kind of mastery over the mind.

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Reading from the Ashtavakra Gita, Translation by Bart Marshall

http://www.holybooks.com/wp-content/uploads/Ashtavakra-Gita-ebook.pdf

[18.54] Ashtavakra said, “Whether honoring a spiritual scholar, a god, or holy shrine; whether seeing a desirable woman, a king, or beloved friend, the heart of the sage is unmoved.”

So, we’ve discussed this often enough, that neither desire nor aversion truly get a hold. All the appearances can come and go. But the idea ‘me’ or ‘mine’ is not picked up.

[18.55] Ashtavakra said, “Though his servants, sons, wives, daughters, grandchildren and all his relatives ridicule and despise him, the yogi is undismayed.”

So, everyone around you…, all of us, at some point, have had these kinds of experiences where we’ve been told… [Chuckles] I’m suddenly reminded of one time I was at work. And there was someone I met, and we happened to be speaking of someone. And they didn’t realize that I went for this kind of search for Self-recognition, the quest for Self-realization at that time. And he says to me, very straight-faced ‘Those who get caught in this spiritual stuff, their life is finished’. We’ve all heard things like this. ‘Those who catch this spiritual bug, their life is finished.’ So, all of us have heard these kinds of things when we just want to be in this contemplation, we want to be in the inquiry. And many times we hear this; not just from the mind that is here but also from others (seeming-others) around us saying ‘What’s wrong with you? Why don’t you live your life? Leave all of this for old age when you can’t do any of this. Finish off the important things.’ This kind of thing we’ve all heard.

So, “Though his servants, sons, wives, daughters, grandchildren and all his relatives ridicule and despise him, the yogi is undismayed.”

[18.56] Ashtavakra said, “Though pleased, he is not pleasured; though pained, he does not suffer. This wonderful state is understood only by those like him.”

Like, even this simple idea of ‘there can be pain’ but suffering becomes an alien concept; many don’t understand this in the beginning. Many also don’t understand ‘I really like this dessert’. [Chuckles] The pleasure of that can be there, but the potential for that to become feverish so that if it is not there, that will lead to some suffering. That goes away. So, pain and pleasure can arise in their own natural way, but none of these become something that has the potential to cause feverish-ness or suffering. That is why the Sage is fully enjoying even the content of the present moment…, which is all an aspect of his own or her own fragrance, own Being.

Nothing needs to be renounced in this world except the limited idea of who you are.

“This wonderful state is understood only by those like him.”

[18.57] Ashtavakra said, “The belief in duty creates a relative world for its performance. The wise one knows Himself to be formless, timeless, all-pervasive, immaculate, and thus transcends duty and world.”

Unless there is duality, unless there is the sense of separation, we cannot pick up the idea of doership. While this duality is dissolving (and again, the Sage has provided all these clues: “formless, timeless, all-pervasive, immaculate”) once you find YourSelf to be This One, then You will find that there is no one who is an individual doer of anything. Subject/object relationship within this world starts to dissolve. Therefore, there is nobody now to do anything; nothing to be done. This is not the dropping of doership and the picking up of non-doership. This is not the idea that ‘I must not do anything because I am not the doer’. It is the dropping of the concept itself. Everything is just happening; including everything just moving from this body and this mouth and these hands. Neither doer nor non-doer.

What’s a simpler way to put this? If I say ‘You’re not a scientist’ do you pick up an identity around not being a scientist? If somebody mentions science, do you say ‘NO, NO, I’m not a scientist!’? But nobody said you were. Just like that. Many times when we hear ‘You are not the doer’ we pick up the non-doer identity. ‘Why don’t you put out the garbage?’ … ‘No, no, I’m not the doer. When the garbage has to be put out, it will be put out.’ [Laughs] ‘Why don’t you inquire? Why don’t you follow the Sage’s pointing? I’m not the doer. When it has to happen, it will happen.’ See, this non-doer identity also gets held onto. It’s very, very common in Advaita.

Empty of either of these ideas, when the instruction is heard, find out who You Are. And something might follow it; and something might not follow it. But you are not picking up the idea either of doing it or of not doing it. It’s a subtle point. That’s why I’ve been repeating it over and over.

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Reading from the Ashtavakra Gita, Translation by Bart Marshall

http://www.holybooks.com/wp-content/uploads/Ashtavakra-Gita-ebook.pdf

[18.47] Ashtavakra said, “A man with no doubts, who knows only Self, has no need of practice or liberation. Seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating; he lives as he is, happily.”

Very beautiful verse because these are the two aspects of Satsang. “A man with no doubts, who knows only Self”. So, this ‘knows only Self” that is what the inquiry is for, that is what the recognition is for. All these pointings: Can you stop Being? Are you Aware now? What is Aware of Being? What knows you Exist? …, all these pointings are just ways, aids to inquiry, for you to look and come to the recognition about who You Are. Then you will find that all is the Self. Only the Self is Reality. So, this Self recognition knows only Self.

Then, the One who has “no doubts” … So, what do I always say?  You come to this recognition but very quickly the ‘but’ might come, so this ‘but’ is the doubt. ‘I am the Self, I see there is only the Self, but…’ And this ‘but’, this doubt, is always from the wrong identity. All doubts are personal. ‘I am Awareness but how do I stay there?’ …, is this a doubt from Awareness? So, immediately it contradicts your own insight. These are what we call ‘conditions’. No doubt can arise unless you have a condition about yourself. So, as you come to Satsang, you are finding that the recognition is happening (only the Self is) and the dropping of the false conditionings, the belief in the wrong identity is happening.

So simple, isn’t it? The entire seeming-journey of Satsang is captured in this one line: “A man with no doubts, who knows only Self, has no need of practice or liberation.”

What does this mean? That there is nothing to do to get there. I have been saying: Don’t take a step, what are you before you take the step towards your thought, towards your perception, towards your relationships, towards anything that is happening; what are You already? No practice is needed for liberation because what You find is that there is nothing that can truly be bound.

All your doubts are about this bondage; all your conditions are about this bondage. But it is even more ludicrous to say that ‘You can be bound’ than someone coming and telling you that ‘I have bottled up all this space in this room and I want to sell it to you for $10’. Will you buy this deal?

What You recognize about YourSelf cannot be bound, isn’t it? What You are recognizing now about YourSelf is forever un-bound. Then whose problem are you trying to solve? Something that you don’t recognize about yourself…, about one mythical entity? You are trying to give Freedom to the Lochness monster.

If you remain with the recognition of the Self, not believing that which is false, show me how you can pose as someone who is bound looking for Freedom. [Silence]

But the point of this pointing is to bring you to neutrality, to emptiness. It is not to give you the idea that ‘I am Free’. The idea that ‘I am Free’ is not so important (at least here now that we are on Chapter 18, Verse 47). [Chuckles] Why? Because this ‘I’ which makes the proclamation of Freedom is itself the limited one.

Neither bound nor free.

If you are forever un-bound, can you be free?

There is no bondage. It doesn’t apply to You.

Bondage or Freedom is like…, if I ask you ‘What color are the diamonds on your crown?’ (I don’t know where that example came from) [Chuckles] ‘What color are the diamonds on your crown?’ Or ‘Are they real or are they fake?’ And if you are convinced that they are fake and you want to get real ones, then you will spend your entire life in misery; because there is no such thing.

That is why the Sage says “A man with no doubts, who knows only Self, has no need of practice or liberation. Seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating; he lives as he is, happily.”

Why did he put the last line in? Because most often what we hear in Satsang…, and even the other day someone new came to Satsang and he said, ‘I am willing to drop this, but the fear comes: how will my life go on? Is it going to disintegrate into bits?’

That is why the Sage has said “Seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, eating; he lives as he is, happily.” The outward expression can continue to move; all the roles that seem to be required can continue to be played. That which has designed this entire play can play the role of partner, of parent. Any situation is by the design of Consciousness anyway. Life needs no support from that which does not exist. Life Itself is the play of That Which Is.

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Reading from the Ashtavakra Gita, Translation by Bart Marshall

http://www.holybooks.com/wp-content/uploads/Ashtavakra-Gita-ebook.pdf

Q:  Does Awareness have to deepen or mature?

A: This is a very good point, and adds toward what the Sage [Ashtavakra] was also saying earlier. What is the maturity that is happening? We must see that. It is very good.

So, we see that Awareness is quality-less, so the sense of progress or maturity cannot apply, because that is also a quality. So, for the Self, for the truest absolute Self, nothing is changing. The Awareness that you recognize has always been That. It is not changing in quality because it has no quality and yet, it is empty of quality. This is the only discovery you will make which is.

Now what is it that is maturing? What is it that is dropping. (What is ‘maturing’? Maturing means that we are dropping all that we falsely believe about ourself). So, Consciousness has attached attributes to Itself: ‘I am this, I am that, this is the way I have to live, this is my plan, this is my future’ …, all our projections, past and future, all our qualities that we’ve given to ourself. That is what Guruji [Sri Mooji] will say is the associated Consciousness or associated Being. So, we are coming to unassociated Being.

So, Gopala that came, and Gopala that is here now, is (and don’t quote me on this) much more mature now. What changed? For Awareness, nothing changed. Consciousness, playing in this expression of Gopala (although he continues to be my teenage son [Laughter]) is maturing. Why? Because most of what was believed by that aspect of Consciousness earlier is not believed now. Only some sticky ones are there. They seem to come back over and over, but these don’t have that much power.

So, in a sense, what happened to the Self? Nothing. But for that aspect of Consciousness playing as Gopala, there was a lot more in your basket of beliefs. For all of you, I can say that. This is a process of maturing which is part of this outward play of Consciousness.

Are you getting it? What has come into recognition of Awareness? It is Consciousness Itself; Awareness’ own dynamic aspect, own dynamic play. All qualities come from the quality-less One. So, all these qualities put together in a bunch is called Consciousness. The sense ‘I Am’ the primal quality, the primal vibration, the primordial Being comes from the same Self. Therefore, is what? The same Self alone. But then it plays as if separation happened, that ‘I am something, there is another’ …, all these things can happen. So, the dropping of all these false ideas is spiritual maturity.

So, what happened to the Absolute? Nothing. That’s why at some level, if you’ve millions of lifetimes with full conditioning: nothing really happened (at some level). Now, at another level, from the point of view of Consciousness, to come from ‘associated Consciousness’ to pure Consciousness (is a way to say it) or ‘unassociated Consciousness’ (is a better way to say it) is a beautiful part of the play. That is the play that we are playing.

In this, is anything changing for Awareness? No satsang, or one satsang, or thousands of satsangs…, nothing is changing for Awareness because it is absolute, quality-less solitary witness Itself.

Due to a difference in tradition, the concept of ‘The Void’ [which is a Zen concept, or a Buddhist concept] is different than it is Vedanta, where you will know very well that this is not considered or called ‘The Void’. Why? Because ‘The Void’ can also create this reference of ‘nothing’. This ‘nothing’ is no dark void in that way. All there is is a pure witnessing; the Self itself.

So, this Absolute Witnessing is void of all qualities, including ‘voidiness’ …, whereas when you hear ‘void’ what can happen is you can have a sense of there being this bland limbo space of nothing. Something like that.

But You are witness even to that! You see?

So, like some Buddhists might say: The non-self witnesses even this void.

Then Shankara said: This which you call ‘the non-self’ is what we call ‘the Self’.

So, don’t get confused by the terminology. You don’t have to go looking for some ‘dark void’. Q: Sometimes, it feels like I’m afraid the world will disappear…

A: The world disappears every night in your sleep, you don’t have to worry about it.

Q: There is fear that maybe the world disappears.

A: The ‘I’ that disappears, can that be the Truth? What is the definition of Reality? That which is unchanging. So, if it was also disappearing and appearing, what value would it have? We are not looking for that; we are looking for that Unchanging Reality, the Self, which can never appear or disappear.

Did you appear? To disappear, you have to first appear. Did you appear?

Q: In that sense, no.

A: In what sense did you appear?

Q: As waking Consciousness…

A: As Consciousness you appeared, and as Consciousness you will disappear every night.

Q: Yes.

A: So, what has to happen? Something has to change for Consciousness. The only change that has to happen for Consciousness is that Consciousness (considering itself to be something limited, Consciousness considering itself to be ‘something’) comes to this disappearance of the individual ‘I’…, the idea of something which is limited to name and form; and comes into pure I Am-ness Itself; unassociated, is all. The seeming switch that needs to happen is only this.

How does it happen? Consciousness recognizing its own Source, which is this Awareness, empty of quality. And Consciousness now finding it more and more difficult to give belief to limited ideas about itself. So then, the idea that you have about yourself (that was related to name and form) …, that disappears.

Q: [Inaudible]

A: Yes, and that is why ultimately the Sages say that the coming and going of all these states) of waking, dream, sleep, turiya; all the states) for the Self doesn’t really matter. That remains the Unchanging Self. You Are That. Even the appearance and disappearance of Being ultimately for your reality does not matter; but only from that perspective can we say that. If we still consider ourself to be an object within this world, then this Being, this Consciousness, is the Supreme Lord.

Q: I am not an object. The ‘object’ is in space; that is my reality. But I am now giving attention to this karmic life and saying these things are happening for me.

A: So, your attention is going [here and there]. Give attention to everything, what happened? It is still not the birth of the ego. Even by giving attention to this dynamism, dynamic life, is there an ego? It is only when you consider yourself to be an object within this dynamic life and not the Source of this. You consider yourself to be subject to this dynamic life, not the witnessing of it, that is the false ‘I’.

Q: So, to be, be, be… I am trying to Be, to stay here and not move with a movement. [Inaudible]

A: All has already happened for you. What is your next move?

[Silence]

A: You see, it is just that. It is you who have to be honest in some way. It was you who heard it from Ashtavakra, but your next move was to pick it up again. It is you who heard from every Sage come since then. It is (the same guy) who heard from all of us. But if we are unable to drop the idea of ‘next’…, of ‘finding something more’ then you see that there is nowhere to go, nothing more to discover, nothing that I have to become. Otherwise, we continue to play this game.

Q: Here [in Satsang] it is really effortless, but when I am at home or something and I seem to be stuck with something and then I ask ‘Am I aware now?’ it seems full of effort… [Inaudible]

A: It’s crazy? [Chuckles] Who is the experience of all of this?

Q: [Inaudible]

A: You have to look. What can happen many times is that we come to the dropping of doership, but we still hold onto the experiencer-ship. Is there a person sitting there experiencing any of this? The peace that you experience, is it a personal experience?

Q: [Inaudible]

A: So, who is tasting all of this, experiencing all of this?

Q: [Inaudible] … just pure Seeing.

A: Pure Seeing. But the dynamics which has to come on, you have to ‘be’ before any experience can be. Pure Seeing doesn’t go away, even in deep sleep state; for once you ‘be’, once your waking state is there, only all this drama, no? Whether satsang or no satsang. All this can happen only in the waking state. So, we have to be to be all these experiences.

So, if all of this happens in the Light of Being, then whose problem is it? Is it anybody’s personal problem?

Q: [Inaudible] No, it is just happening…

A: All is just happening. And how do you know it is wrong? Even this, for example, if we know that satsang and outside should be just the same, but life is showing us differently (life wants to experience that taste of the contrast of the bliss and joy in satsang and the seeming constriction outside of satsang). Who is to stop life from doing what it is doing? Life experiencing life, is playing the way it is wanting to play.

Who wants to control that experience?

This is the voice of the separation, this is the voice of the limitation. Once I told all of you everything that arises is your child, so can you not accept that which is arising naturally in a different environment as another creation, as another aspect of your own play? Because the one who is sitting and checking that ‘It should be like this, it should not be like this’ this one is the trickster.

Q: [Inaudible]

A: Yes, it says everything has to be always ‘hunky-dory’. It is the same thing that Adya [Adyashanti] said: ‘Only chocolate flavored moments’.

Q: For Awareness, it is not a problem.

A: For Awareness, it is not a problem, for Consciousness it is not a problem. The one it is a problem for does not exist. What to do? Awareness, no problem. For Being, is it a problem?

Consciousness is doing all of this. Anything can really become a problem for that?

Q: No.

A: Being is just being, no problem. The one for whom anything is a problem, where is that one? The one that sits and says ‘Yes, experiencing at satsang A+. Experiencing at home C-.’ Who is making this report card? Who? It is just the voice of separation, the voice of our limitation; this mind.

Q: [Inaudible]

A: ‘But…’? [Laughter] This is just a habit.

[18.46] Ashtavakra said, “Sensory experiences are like elephants who, upon encountering a desireless man, see him as a lion. They immediately turn on their heels, or if unable to escape, stay on to flatter and serve him.”

You realize that this is metaphorical, yes? So, what happens is that when there is attachment, when there is desire, then these experiences of this phenomenal world might seem to have some power over us. [Silence]

What is the power? If I’m attached to something; then if that goes away. And ultimately, all that comes must go. So, if I’m attached to something and if goes away, then there is suffering. Or if I’m averse to something and it shows up; as it often happens that what we are averse to often shows up. When we are averse to something and it shows up and that causes suffering.

So, “sensory experiences are like elephants who, upon encountering a desireless man, see him as a lion.” Which means that if you are not holding an idea about what should be, if you are not putting up any defenses, if you are not sticking onto some experience with glue, then you will not feel the pain or you will not experience the suffering. Pain can come also as an experience.

But the good news is that you don’t have to work on desire, separately. You don’t have to work on becoming desireless. That is the beauty of this inquiry. That is the beauty of this path; that as you come to the recognition of who You Are then all of this duality, desire, doership, all gets taken care of. So, you don’t have to take this on as a side project.

Who are you? As that gets more and more clear then you will find that, in Reality, you have always been the desireless One. You don’t have to work on becoming desireless.

“They immediately turn on their heels, or if unable to escape, stay on to flatter and serve him.” Guruji [Sir Mooji] often says that if you chase the world, it runs from you; but if you just sit with no desire for the world, then world comes to kiss you.

This play, this movement, is to serve Consciousness. In Your Being, You will find all that is needed is in service to this Being; it emerges on its own. But this phenomenal appearance is not in service to your false ideas about yourself. So, if you approach in that way, then it might seem like that everything you pick up eventually seems to bite you. Why? Because false has to be dropped, you see. But when the false idea of who you are is dropped away, then you recognize that whatever the event might be, whatever might be coming up is for Your play, is in service to You.

That’s why the Sage said, “They immediately turn on their heels, or if unable to escape, stay on to flatter and serve him.”

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Reading from the Ashtavakra Gita, Translation by Bart Marshall

http://www.holybooks.com/wp-content/uploads/Ashtavakra-Gita-ebook.pdf

A: What I have experienced here actually is that the even-ing out has been more in terms of when this sporadically comes (it comes momentarily) then, like I say, the anger doesn’t become resentment; it doesn’t stay. Although something happened; anger can come. It is not always “Siddha shanti shanti”.

Q: No, it’s not like that. The problems can be as weird as that or even more. But there is something else that gets even-ed out. It’s not that any of the emotions that were there are no longer here. Nothing actually changes superficially. But within, there’s some kind of anger response. But it allows us to weather these.

 A: It’s is true. And also, that we must not make even this a report, in the sense that we must not make even this as a benchmark. It’s okay as a report actually but not as a benchmark. Because then you feel like ‘Okay, but those who have been coming to satsang, they said that it all evens out but look at my day, look at my life.’ That also can play.

Q: Even-ing out; even in the morning. [Everybody laughs]

A: This one is very good. ‘Even-ing out; even in the morning.’ [Laughs]

[18.50] Ashtavakra said, “Depending on nothing, one finds happiness. Depending on nothing, one attains the Supreme. Depending on nothing, one passes through tranquility to One Self.”

This is clear to us, that we’re empty of any dependence, as our mind is unconflicted, as the Sage said, that we’re not using the crutches of any appearance, we find that there is so much space to come to the simple recognition of who You Are. You find that naturally happiness is present.

But what is usually found is that very few, upon hearing this, depend on nothing; are able to just depend on nothing. You see, if it was that simple, if we just told everyone to go down to the streets and tell everyone ‘To be happy just depends on nothing’ they’re not able to relate to this formlessness. Because we are so used to depending on some-thing. We’ve always felt that our happiness will come in some form; through some form.

That’s why the Master is a great gift because we are not usually ready to depend on nothing. Then (if we are blessed) we actually get the company of one who is depending on nothing. And for a while, it can seem like that is something. You following? For a while, it can seem like the Master is some-thing, which himself or herself depends on nothing or no-thing. So, this is the great [inaudible]…, because we are not yet ready to depend on nothing.

Then, if we are blessed, we get the company of one who is actually depending on nothing. And for a while, it can seem like that is something. You following? For a while, it can seem like the Master is some-thing, which himself or herself depends on nothing or no-thing. So, this is the great life boat because we are not yet ready to depend on nothing. Then, if the longing is for the Truth, then in the form itself, something arises which we call the Master…, who is pointing you to your formlessness.

Now, the Master is the thorn you are using for first aid. All the other thorns are embedded, all the conditions are embedded; this is the thorn that you’re using as first aid to remove these thorns (painful thorns). So, that is why this thorn is thrown away at the end. It is to thrown away like the rest; as the rest are discarded. With great happiness, the discarding happens. [Silence] The Master is discarded by merging with the Master. Merge into that nothing itself (or, as I prefer to say, that no-thing itself).

So, be careful when the mind comes and tells you ‘I’ve gone beyond the Master’…, that ‘I’ is usually very smelly. Don’t be in a rush for that. This discarding is the most beautiful merging; the most beautiful Oneness.

Q: [Inaudible]

A: That’s what I’m saying, that as long as that is not clear, then Grace has also sent us the form of the Master; which might seem that it is something, but it is only pointing you to your ‘nothing’. So, depend on that, if depending on nothing is not apparent, not clear yet. This lifeboat has been sent to us in our lives and it is completely dependable. Then, we will find that the master is my own Holy Presence, my own Divine Presence, your own. And what is this Presence representing? It is the Presence of the Self Itself.

This Self is no-thing. So, if the Self is no-thing and the Master’s pointing has gotten you to the recognition that You are the Self, therefore You are no-thing. Then what can you depend on now, if You YourSelf are no-thing? If no thing actually touches You, if no thing actually brings anything to You, nor can hurt You or affect You, then what can You depend on now…, if you have gone beyond all things? If You have gone beyond time and space, in the recognition of what You always were? And what thing can You desire or run away from?

In India, in the small villages and towns, there’s usually these small medicine sellers. They have no certificate of any sort; they just have these small stalls. Some of you have been to India; you’ve seen them. And they have these small bottles with these small pills or liquid syrup; something. And you go to them and you say ‘I have a headache’ and they say ‘Take this bottle.10 Rupees.’ You say ‘I have a stomach ache’ and they say ‘Take this bottle.’ It’s the same bottle. ‘Take this bottle. 10 Rupees.’ [Chuckles] ‘I have cardiac malfunction.’ … ‘Take this bottle. 10 Rupees.’ … ‘I have a brain tumor.’ … ‘Take this bottle. 10 Rupees.’

So, in the same way, we have one ‘bottle’ which is: Find out who You Are. Recognize who You Are. All your ills, all your conditions, all that you believe about yourself gets resolved in this discovery. That’s why I said earlier ‘Don’t work on becoming desireless. Don’t work on depending on nothing. See that You Are no-thing.’ So, this is the same bottle we have, but we have it in multi-colors; different colors: ‘Are you aware now? Who are you? Can you stop being?’ Different, different colors, because you get bored. But if I just came here every day and said ‘Are you aware now? Who is aware of this awareness?’ you would say ‘I feel I am done with this satsang. Who’s next?’ [Chuckles] Different, different colored bottles just to keep you entertained as you come to the same recognition.

How do come to this ‘depending on nothing’? The same way; discover what You Are, recognize what You Are. Find what you are representing; does that have validity; does that have reality?

Why do I prefer to us the word ‘no-thing’? I was seeing on Facebook the other day (and I don’t know if it’s true; many things which are on Facebook are, as trump would say ‘Fake news’ so I don’t know if it’s true) but I heard that there have been instances of some of the recent Advaita teachers committing suicide. I don’t know if any of you heard this; I saw it on my Facebook. (Maybe my Facebook is more ghastly than all of yours.) [Laughs] I saw this. Somebody reported that they got into some sort of a nihilism. Some of you know this term ‘nihilism’…, which is ‘Oh, what’s the point of it all; it’s all nothing anyway. It’s all nothing.’ Like that.

So, the discovery you’re making about YourSelf, although is empty of qualities and attributes, is not nothing. It is no-thing. This is a very important distinction. Sometimes jokingly I say ‘You don’t come to the discovery of YourSelf and see ‘Oh, this is the same as an empty coconut.’ That would mean that there is nothing, there’s nothing inside this coconut; it’s empty. The discovery of the Self is not that. You come to the discovery of the Self, which is so pristine…, beyond limits, beyond time and space, beyond attributes and qualities. And yet, It IS. Prior to Beingness, It IS, You ARE.

[Silence]

So, please don’t rush to picking up ideas of nothingness. Come to the recognition of ‘no-thing-ness’. Then all these terms of emptiness…, otherwise, when you hear the term ‘empty’…, ‘open’…, they can seem like scary things to you. It is not the loneliness of emptiness; not that kind of empty. It is the Source of All things. Present, prior to Presence. Aware, before Your Being.

[Silence]

So, this pristine no-thing-ness from which All things seem to appear and disappear; all Presence, all peace, love, joy and all the opposites, all are part of Its play, the Self. All intelligence. It is not an inert object. All intelligence emerges from This. All of this wonderful, beautiful play of Consciousness emerges from the Source, the Absolute Truth, the Self; which is what You Are.

If you hold onto your personal identity, and you more and more deeply look at the functioning of this world, then it will be a depressing meaning-less-ness. [Silence] If you look at yourself as a person, and more and more you’re recognizing, realizing, the meaning-less-ness from a personal standpoint of this world, then it can seem like a depressing meaning-less-ness.

Once You See that You Are the Source, and You Are the Light and You Are the screen, then it is a joyful meaning-less-ness. It’s a beautiful meaning-less-ness. You’re not trying to look for meanings in events because You completely find YourSelf to be meaningful. You need no other meaning to define You.

What are we looking for? We’re looking for Self-definition. People are searching for who they are. ‘What is my focus in life?’ And then you might come to see that these questions have been looked at for thousands of years, but nobody has come to a conclusive meaning (except to say something which sounds good, to take the question away). But as You discover YourSelf to be This Consciousness, and the Source of even This Consciousness, then the meaning is found in YourSelf automatically. There is no further need for self-definition.

~ ~ ~

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Reading from the Ashtavakra Gita, Translation by Bart Marshall

http://www.holybooks.com/wp-content/uploads/Ashtavakra-Gita-ebook.pdf

[18.45] Ashtavakra said, “Timid men fear sensory experience much as they do tigers. They seek refuge in caves and try to un-think the world.”

So, this is exactly what we are looking at right now. There is no sensory experience, no phenomenal experience, which can hurt the reality of what You Are. Now, don’t pick up the idea that ‘Okay, whatever might be coming, and this fear should not arise now that I’m free’ or something like that. Fear can also come, but you will see that no matter what is arising, it does not hurt the reality of what You Are. Tiger comes; you might actually be running; the body would be running. You’d see that in this play of Consciousness, the entire movie keeps going on. But that which witnesses it, that which is the light of the movie (the light which plays all this play of light and sound) is unhurt by it, whatever the movie might be projecting.

And remember to include this body as part of the movie. Then you’ll drop these expectations of how this body should react, or whether it continues to feel pain, or whether it reacts in anger. Include it in this appearance in the movie. As Guruji [Sri Mooji] says, no? He says, ‘Just by you figuring out it’s a dream doesn’t necessarily give the dream character some advantage in this dream.’

“…fear sensory experience.” So, when our life seems to go beyond this bodily play of just running toward pleasure and running away from pain, our reality (you recognize) is beyond that.

“They seek refuge in caves and try to un-think the world.” This mean what? It’s like the ostrich. Ostrich will put its head in the sand and just hope that everything will be according to how it wants, but is not willing to look at whatever is appearing. Some many who are seeking refuge in caves can also be like that.

Escapism does not work in that way. Even if you have escaped whatever outer events, if you’re still believing yourself to be a limited entity, if you are still believing what your mind is saying about you, then suffering will find you wherever you are; whichever cave you might be living in.

Q: I don’t want to know or learn. Just need to throw all, by your grace, Father.”

A: If this is the feeling, then see that it’s all dropped. All is gone. But the offer will keep coming to pick it up. The salesmen will keep trying to sell you this garbage. What is the price you pay? You pay for the garbage of individual identity, with the price of suffering (I know the words can seem harsh) …, hoping that something worthwhile will come from this ego. It’s our denial of Consciousness, our denial of what we Are when consider ourselves to be something limited.

If there’s one sitting there trying to do it, forget about that one. These words will work on their own. By just coming to Satsang, allowing your attention to stay with these words a little bit, is enough of the job you have to do. Like Bhagavan [Sri Ramana Maharshi] used to say, ‘You are on the train now. The train is going to the destination. You don’t have to run inside the train.’ Many are tired in Satsang because of that. They will come to Satsang and they’re still running inside the train. Running inside the train, saying ‘What’s happening now? I’m finding it so difficult.’

What is difficult? The Presence of the Satguru is here. Whatever needs to be pointed to has been pointed to. You have really no job in this; that which you consider yourself to be. This effortless neutrality…

Just stop now.

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Reading from the Ashtavakra Gita, Translation by Bart Marshall

http://www.holybooks.com/wp-content/uploads/Ashtavakra-Gita-ebook.pdf

What is that ‘I’ that knows that you exist?

[silence]

Don’t answer the question from the mind…

[Silence]

Stay with your inner insight…

[Silence]

And keep quiet.

‘Keep quiet’ doesn’t mean you can’t talk.

You can speak, but keep quiet…

[Silence]

Notice if you are just imagining things.

All imagination also comes and goes.

So, don’t fall for any imagination.

Find out who witnesses even this.

What is aware of your existence?

[Silence]

Whatever might be moving, whatever might be changing,

find out what witness that.

Is that also changing?

[Silence]

What is your position?

Are you just in the moving?

Are you just phenomenal?

Are you just an appearance?

[Silence]

What are you here?

Are you the meditator?

Whether your eyes are closed or open,

does it make a difference to what you are?

If there are a million phenomenal things,

or there are no phenomenal things,

does it make a difference to That

which is aware of even your existence?

[Silence]

Does the mind bother you here?

The mind only deals with phenomenal qualities;

what can it truly say about no-thing?

Can it visualize the no-thing which is empty of all color; black or white?

You cannot imagine yourself,

you cannot think about these things.

You cannot forget yourself.

[Silence]

The mind might be rushing to conclusions,

just let them come and go.

That is what I mean by ‘keep quiet’.

Don’t buy any story of yourself.

Nobody is getting anything,

nobody is missing anything.

There is nobody.

[Silence]

Beyond phenomenal perception is your greater reality;

that No-thing;

not greater in phenomenal terms

but greater because it the only unchanging.

Even your existence ultimately is coming and going:

Your-Self remains.

[Silence]

Now the very subtle point here is that you are discovering that ego is nothing,

and the Self is no-thing.

[Silence]