BOOKS BY ANANTA Welcome to Satsang with Ananta

Reading from and Commenting on the Ashtavakra Gita [5.1-5.4]

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A: So if you are ready for Chapter 5, we’ll jump into it.

It is really the most beautiful. It says:

Chapter 5: Four Ways to Dissolution

[5.1] Ashtavakra said, “You are immaculate, touched by nothing. What is there to renounce? The mind is complex. Let it go. Know the peace of dissolution.”

So what is it that is touched by nothing? When we ask the question “Are you aware now?” where does it point? It goes straight to this heart, to the goal of what is being shared: ‘Are you aware now?’

Stay with this question.

What is it that is aware now?

What does it look like?

What is its color, size or shape?

Who is witnessing everything, even your own existence?

You are immaculate. You are beyond attributes, beyond labels. You cannot come and go. You are the Self, this Awareness. Nothing can touch you because you are prior to time and space. For you there is nothing that has ever happened. For you there is nothing to renounce. This attribute-less, non-phenomenal Self, Awareness you are. There is no doing or not doing. This cannot change. You are the unborn one. That which was never born and yet is all there is, can never die. The purest beyond pure; You are That.

The sage says “You are immaculate, touched by nothing. What is there to renounce? The mind is complex. Let it go.”

Don’t believe your next thought. How to let the mind go? Don’t believe what it is saying. As true as it might sound, as well dressed as it might appear, its only function is to convince you that the separation happened, that you are an individual entity. But what you are seeing is that you are not that. You are this solitary Witnessing.

In this you know this peace of dissolution. Only the false is dissolving and the false is only conceptual; given power by our belief, kept alive by our interest. Know that You are this non-phenomenal, attribute-less, un-label-able one. Bondage and freedom do not apply to You.

It is done.

So, this is the first verse. To see that Awareness is self-aware, untouched by any appearance. Just in this direct recognition of the Self, the Self is realized.

Commenting on the Ashtavakra Gita [5.1-5.4]

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Chapter 5: Four Ways to Dissolution.

Ashtavakra said:

[5.1] You are immaculate, touched by nothing. What is there to renounce? The mind is complex. Let it go. Know the peace of dissolution.

[5.2] The universe arises from you like foam from the sea. Know yourself as One. Enter the peace of dissolution.

[5.3] Like an imagined snake in a rope the universe appears to exist in the immaculate Self
but does not. Seeing this you know: “There is nothing to dissolve.”

[5.4] You are perfect, changeless, through misery and happiness, hope and despair, life and death. This is the state of dissolution

A: To see this surrender, this openness, is to enter the state of dissolution. What is dissolving? What dissolution is the Sage speaking of?

Is he speaking of the dissolution of the realm as we talk about it, when the sleep state comes? No, he is talking about the dissolution of the false conditioning through the recognition of the Truth, through the hearing of these verses.

If there is openness in all of you, all that is false is being hammered out of you, is being squeezed out of you. This avidya, this ignorance, is dissolving. At the root of this ignorance is the idea that ‘I am a person, I am a separate entity’.

The Sage has shared four insights which can help us look into the reality of who we are. And all these insights are actually your insights. It is your true voice who speaks these words. It is my feeling (and it is also my blessing) that openly looking and contemplating at any of these verses will bring such a clear recognition to you about who you are that the dissolution of the false is inevitable.

Om Asatoma Sadgamaya

From the untruth to Truth.

Tamasoma Jyotirgamaya

From the darkness of ignorance to the light.

Mrityorma Amritamgamaya

From this illusory death to the recognition of our immortal Self.

Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti

This is the peace of dissolution.

This is the core of what has been pointed here and by all the jnani’s of the past.

So, let me read these verses again:

From Chapter 5: Four Ways to Dissolution

Ashtavakra said:

[5.1] You are immaculate, touched by nothing. What is there to renounce? The mind is complex. Let it go. Know the peace of dissolution.

[5.2] The universe arises from you like foam from the sea. Know yourself as One. Enter the peace of dissolution.

[5.3] Like an imagined snake in a rope the universe appears to exist in the immaculate Self
but does not. Seeing this you know: “There is nothing to dissolve.”

[5.4] You are perfect, changeless, through misery and happiness, hope and despair, life and death. This is the state of dissolution

A: Lets sit in silence for a few minutes. [Pause]

A simple state of openness and allowing, nothing to be done, nowhere to go, eyes open or closed, allowing everything to be just as it is.

[Long silence]

You are coming to the recognition of That which doesn’t wake up, doesn’t go to sleep, That which remains untouched through all the states and yet is the witness of waking, sleep and dream.

[Pause]

This recognition is the way to wake up in the waking state.

Wake up to the Truth of who you are.

[Pause]

All that you are aware of is made up of you.

[Silence]

A millon universes can come out of You and yet You reamin untouched and complete, infinite, beyond the concept of infinity.

[Pause]

That which comes from you is infinite and yet you remain infinite.

[Silence]

Om Shanti Shanti Shanti

Reading from and Commenting on the Ashtavakra Gita [5.4]

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Chapter 5: Four Ways to Dissolution

[5.4] Ashtavakra said, “You are perfect, changeless, through misery and happiness, hope and despair, life and death. This is the state of dissolution.”

A: To See that you are perfect and changeless through these vicissitudes of life (misery and happiness, hope and despair, life and death) is to see that there is no individual sufferer of any of these events that happened in this changeful realm.

To find that none of this is truly happening to you, that there is no individual experiencer, individual doer, individual sufferer, individual enjoyer; this is openness.

To see that you are untouched, you remain perfect and changeless is to be open to whatever might come in life. Misery might come, happiness might come. Nobody can predict in this realm what will happen in the next moment. But to see that there is no one here who is touched by this, who is affected by this, makes us open. This is surrender.

We are no longer concerned by what is going to happen. We are not going to ‘next’ all the time. And in this surrender rises great wonder. This movie can truly be enjoyed once we see that we are changeless, unaffected by anything that might happen in this realm.

As Consciousness we are just Being. And in this space of Being is infinite; all time and space takes birth here and dissolves here. That which is the light of time and space cannot be hurt by appearances within time and space.

See Yourself for what You Are. Don’t just believe what the mind is saying. Check for yourself. Is your existence finite or infinite? Is this body truly your boundary? Or this body is just a cloud within the sky that You are; Your Being is?

What can contain you? This body cannot be your container. You contain all there is. And You-in-reality cannot suffer from these appearances. Knowing that you cannot suffer, you allow them to play. That’s why the Sage said, “You are perfect, changeless, through misery and happiness, hope and despair, life and death.”

Even this appearance of this life, and the dissolution of this Being do not affect You. To see this…, this surrender, this openness…, is to enter the state of dissolution.

Reading from and Commenting on the Ashtavakra Gita [5.1-5.4]

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The verses that we are going to look at today from the Ashtavakra Gita are some of the most sublime things that I have ever heard. I feel that to hear the true essence of these words we must deepen our inquiry. We must really go deep into ‘What is it that we are discovering about ourselves?’ so that these words really be experienced in the potency of what they are conveying.

How many of you have actually tried to look at the contemplation? And did you get a feel for what the sage was trying to convey? (The Four Ways of Dissolution) Or did it just seem like a lot of words? Did there seem to be some truth in it? Or did it seem like it is clear what he is really pointing to?

We are on the fifth which says: Four Ways to Dissolution and this is Ashtavakra speaking.

Chapter 5: Four Ways to Dissolution

Ashtavakra said:

[5.1] You are immaculate, touched by nothing. What is there to renounce?
The mind is complex. Let it go. Know the peace of dissolution.

[5.2] The universe arises from you like foam from the sea. Know yourself as One. Enter the peace of dissolution.

[5.3] Like an imagined snake in a rope the universe appears to exist in the immaculate Self
but does not. Seeing this you know: “There is nothing to dissolve.”

[5.4] You are perfect, changeless, through misery and happiness, hope and despair, life and death. This is the state of dissolution

So these are the four verses. Sometimes what can happen is because we hear so much Advaita, it can seem like ‘Yes, nice set of words, nice things to say’. Many times it can be that the enormity, the magnificence of what is being pointed to can actually get missed. And I feel like if there is a set of verses which are so directly pointing to the Truth of who I am, who You are, that it will be difficult to find verses which are more potent, more direct than these.

How can we see these things for ourselves? Must this remain as some mental knowledge or conceptual idea of Awareness, Self? Or can it be a living recognition? But these words they don’t seem now to come from an external source, but rather ringing through your own Being from Its own Source.

Seeing of this reality of the Self…, this is the fruit of our self-inquiry. These are not mere words but they are hammer blows to the false idea of ego, the false sense of personhood.

I don’t even mind if we pause on these words for a day or two before I even give a commentary on them; before I tell you what they are speaking to me. I feel it will be good if we take the time, look at these for ourselves.

What are these four ways?

What is the sage really speaking of?

Can we experience the essence of these words?

“You are immaculate, touched by nothing. What is there to renounce?”

“The mind is complex. Let it go. Know the peace of dissolution.”

“The universe arises from you like foam from the sea.”

“Know yourself as One. Enter the peace of dissolution.”

“Like an imagined snake in a rope the universe appears to exist in the immaculate Self
but does not. Seeing this you know: “There is nothing to dissolve.”

“You are perfect, changeless, through misery and happiness, hope and despair, life and death. This is the state of dissolution.”

Reading from and Commenting on the Ashtavakra Gita [5.1-5.4]

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I just want to read these four verses again.

Chapter 5: Four Ways to Dissolution. Ashtavakra said:

[5.1] “You are immaculate, touched by nothing. What is there to renounce?
The mind is complex—let it go. Know the peace of dissolution.”

[5.2] “The universe arises from you like foam from the sea.
Know yourself as One. Enter the peace of dissolution.”

[5.3] “Like an imagined snake in a rope the universe appears to exist in the immaculate Self
but does not. Seeing this you know: “There is nothing to dissolve.”

[5.4] “You are perfect, changeless, through misery and happiness,
hope and despair, life and death. This is the state of dissolution.”

Q: The sense that the universe does not exist; how can I even relate to such a thing?

A: So, for now, just try to see what are the four things that the Sage is saying. There are four verses and he’s making four messages in each of these. I don’t feel like the feeling is there now to deconstruct everything. Instead of spoon feeding, I’m going to give it a day or two. All of you contemplate and tell me: What are the four things the Sage is really saying? In simple language, what is he pointing to?

And then you will find that as you contemplate in this way and then you validate against your own experience then you will find that at least one of the four (if your interest is in Self-inquiry and discovery on this seeming-path that we are walking on together) something will be relate-able in at least one of these four, if not all four of them.

Q: [Inaudible]

A: It says in verse 2, ‘The universe arises from You like foam from the sea. Know yourself as One. Enter the peace of dissolution’. So, like this, if we can figure out what all four of them are saying, it will be very helpful.

You see, these words of Ashtavakra, they were held in secrecy actually. So, now that we’re making them so available it doesn’t mean that they’re just light or cheap or just something like that. We must go deep into our Self-inquiry and look at what I really am. Who am I? …, the One to whom all of this is appearing? Find whether That One comes close to one of these descriptions, or to all of these descriptions. Use these verses to check on the reality of the Self.

So, as I’m reading those verses for contemplation every day; I keep repeating that when I say ‘contemplation’ I am not saying ‘Sit and think about it’. I mean, go deep within the verses. See from your own experience ‘Who am I?’ Allow the verses to do their work actually. Allow the mind to get out of the way. And wait for the revelations that they have for you to reveal themselves.

So, if it feels like there is some effort, then make the effort to keep the mind just light and easy; let it come and go.

All of you who have joined these Monday-Thursday sessions have been in satsang for a long time, so in my heart I know that you are ready for these words. [Silence] And I know that for all of you here, the highest urge in your heart is for this discovery of the Self. Nothing else in your life, really for you, compares to this. And that is why (at least on these days) I will be a lot more direct, straight-forward. Maybe it will seem like sometimes that the kid gloves have come off.

Because you are ripe for this; your ears are ripe, your heart is ripe for this discovery now.

Reading from and Commenting on the Ashtavakra Gita [4.1]

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Chapter 4. [Glorification of Self-Realization] Now what has happened is that Ashtavakra has prodded Janaka with all the questions. In response to Janaka’s sharing that ‘I am wonderful indeed!’ the Guru has to do an ego check; to see whether there is still some ego mixed in that ‘I am wonderful indeed! Beyond adoration!’ So, now he [Ashtavakra] is peppering with all these questions: How can you still be attached to your kingdom? How can you still have doership? How can you still have lust? How can you still fear death? How can you be concerned about praise and blame?’ So, let’s see how Janaka responds.

[4.1] Janaka said: ‘Surely one who knows Self, though he plays the game of life, differs greatly from the world’s bewildered burdened beasts.’

Very, very important verse. ‘Surely one who knows Self, though he plays the game of life, differs greatly from the world’s bewildered burdened beasts.’

So, what is he sharing here? It’s very important to hear this because many times we can come into this Advaita lull. It can like a numb sort of Advaita, like a sort of mental Advaita where we’re saying [with frowning face] ‘Yes, yes, everything is just happening. I’m suffering so much, but it’s just happening. My life is terrible but I know it’s all just happening’. [Chuckles] This type of mental Advaita it becomes.

And actually, this mental burden, this conceptual framework of Advaita, if it remains just in the mind then it can be the biggest burden to carry. So, when he’s saying ‘Surely one who Knows Self…’ he’s not talking about the conceptual knowing of Self. He’s talking about the true, living experience that ‘I am the One Solitary Witnessing of all that is’. This recognition is not in the words. The words are just pointers. They’re provoking you to look at ‘Who is witnessing all of this?’ Inviting you, prodding you, provoking you into this inquiry. Opening you up to check:

Who witnesses this world?

Who is aware even of Being, of existence?

So, ‘The one who Knows Self in this way’…, then…, ‘though he plays the game of life’… What is he saying? He’s talking about the world of appearance of This One, in this realm,  who has come to the recognition of the Self. How does life seem to happen for him? Inevitably he says that life just seems like a game now, just seems like a leela. And it seems to be playing itself actually. There is nobody here that is doing anything. And it is wonderful. Moment to moment this game of life is being played. Which is a very different approach from the past pretense that ‘I am an individual, a tiny bucket of flesh and blood whose end will be in the cremation grounds. It’s time to make something meaningful out of this 50, 60, 70, 80 years that this body seems to live’…, knowing that in the end that death is coming and it is completely meaningless.

So, there’s a big difference, even in the play, between those who have come to the recognition of who they are and those who are still going with the mind as if it is telling them the truth about who they are. The ones who are pretending to be people, pretending to be individuals, pretending to be the ego seem to lead their lives as if they are ‘bewildered, burdened beasts’.

What is the burden that they’re carrying? Just these false ideas.

Once we come to this Seeing of the Truth Itself, which is untouched by any phenomena, then this play becomes wonderful. It becomes a game of life. As long as this phenomenal realm of life continues to appear, the game of life will continue to appear; and it has always been this way. It was this way for Ram and it was this way for Krishna, for Jesus and Buddha. All the entire play of human emotions, human events has been experienced. So, the game does not stop. Because ultimately the game also is a Divine game, moving with the will of God.

When Consciousness is tired of this playing as a burdened beast, then it starts to question that ‘There must be something more to life…, than money, than relationships, than the body. There must be a deeper truth that I can discover’. Because intuitively we all have a sense that there is something beyond this body, something beyond this material existence.

It’s an important verse, because the mind itself will come and say (and I’ve also faced this question so many times over the past 3 years) ‘How is it that you still work? How is it that you’re still living with your family?’ That’s why I have to say that Janaka now clarifies: ‘Surely one who knows Self, though he plays the game of life, differs greatly from the world’s bewildered burdened beasts.’

There comes a calling through these ones to say ‘Look, look! There is no actual burden. It’s just an idea. Drop it. This world is not confusing; it is Your own play. Stop pretending as if you’re this tiny, measly appearance’.

The sage is introducing you to the discovery that was found, that even the supreme Lord of the universe appears, in service to You. What must you be?

Reading from and Commenting on the Ashtavakra Gita [3.11-3.14]

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Ashtavakra said:

[3.11] Realizing the universe is illusion, having lost all curiosity, how can one of steady mind fear death?

We’ve discussed all this.

[3.12] With whom can we compare the great soul who, content knowing Self, remains desireless in disappointment?

We’ve talked about most of this also, that whatever comes and goes, whatever might be the appearance in this world (whether it is joyful or disappointing) the sage, abiding in the Self, not going in the pretense of the false, allows everything to just flow, to come and go.

[3.13] Why should a person of steady mind, who sees the nothingness of objects, prefer one thing to another?

[3.14] He who is unattached, untouched by opposites, free of desire, experiences neither pleasure nor pain as events pass through.

So, I’d like to modify a bit of what the sage is saying. It’s not that that the experiences, these energetic experiences of pleasure or pain, go away; because only the sense that ‘I am experiencing pleasure or I am experiencing pain’ goes away. And this is really, really important. Because if we look (and many, many psychotherapists have said) that most of life is all about pleasure seeking and pain avoidance in the normal human existence. But as soon as this sense goes away, that ‘I am the experiencer of pleasure and I am experiencing this pain’ (the sense of individual ‘I’ goes away) then our life doesn’t seem to be constricted within this pleasure seeking and pain avoidance.

And unless we see this to be true, we cannot truly be open. If we are still avoiding pain, if we’re still avoiding situations, if we’re still planning for how to get more and more pleasure, strategizing for how to make life pleasurable, then that is not openness.

Openness is the willingness to allow everything to come and go. And it comes when we recognize who we Are. We see that That which is moving this realm is Consciousness, and everything moves only with the will of God. And it is Seeing that there is nobody here that can move a blade of grass unless it is the will of this Being Itself.

Then, openness just happens. Then there is actually just a happening. It is not a ‘doing’. Surrender is a recognition that all is moving on its own anyway, in the light of Consciousness on the screen of Consciousness.

Reading from and Commenting on the Ashtavakra Gita [3.8]

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Ashtavakra said:

[3.8] ‘Strange that one who is unattached to the things of this world and the next, who can discriminate between the transient and the timeless, who yearns for freedom, should yet fear the dissolution of the body.’

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‘Strange that one who is unattached to the things of this world and the next…’ So, who is the one who is unattached? It doesn’t distinquish between appearances within this one appearance, does it? The sage has said this before: ‘To see two where there is only one’. That is the root of attachment. So, as we See that there is one appearance; to break it up and make division where there is none, to make that division itself is attachment because that division itself is interpretation. It is a judgment, it is a resistance. So, he says ‘Strange that one who is unattached…’ means he who is experiencing this entire realm as one appearance.

‘…unattached to the things of this world and the next’. I don’t feel like you have to die and go into the next world. You don’t know. Maybe this moment, you’re going into the next world or there’s a new world right now. We don’t really know. We’re only reliant on our memory to confirm these things. But even if that doesn’t appeal to you, you know that when this state ends (the waking state) then another state comes called the dream state. So, that is a whole new world, and it can seem as real. All the objects in dreams can seem as real when we are experiencing the dreams.

‘…the things of this world and the next’. Also, we’ve had this experience of no-thing-ness, where no attachment is possible at all. So, what is happening is this waking state is appearing, dream state is appearing, nothing state is appearing. Now if there is something that is real, if there is something that is eternal and timeless, it cannot go with the coming and going of states. It cannot go, when states are coming and going. So, that which remains.

Actually, waking up in this waking state is to recognize ourselves as that which existed even in sleep.

I can repeat that. Waking up in this waking state must start with the recognition that I am that one that continues to remain even when there is nothing in the state of dreamless sleep. To See that brings us to the recognition of our unchanging, timeless nature.

The rest of the states are just coming and going. So, ‘The one who is unattached to the things of this world and the next’. As we recognize we are This, and we See that This constant, unchanging One does not need anything from any state which is coming or going, then it is natural to see this entire play as one play and to be unattached from it.

‘…, who can discriminate between the transient and the timeless’. Yesterday we looked at this. We actually broke down everything and said ‘What is transient?’ We went from this room being transient, the world being transient, this body being transient, our thoughts being transient, emotions being transient; everything coming and going, and ultimately even our sense of existence being transient. So, what is that which is not transient? Is there anything?

So, if we were to call everything that is transient an appearance, is there something which is prior to these appearances? Who are all these appearances appearing to?

‘Strange that one who is unattached to the things of this world and the next, who can discriminate between the transient and the timeless, who yearns for freedom, should yet fear the dissolution of the body.’

Once you See that this body is also transient and this realm in which it appears is also transient, then at least this fear of what will happen when I leave this body (‘will that be the end of me?’) dissolves. And every night, we have this experience. We leave this body aside. And yet we seem to enjoy this leaving the body aside, leaving the world aside, leaving all that is changing aside. So, there is nothing to fear in this. As we remain so fully satisfied in this unchanging truth of who we Are, then you will find that attachment becomes more and more difficult; next to impossible.

So, still even now ‘til this verse, the answer is being given to Janaka because his question was ‘How is Knowledge to be achieved, detachment acquired, liberation attained?’ How is the detachment being shown to him? By showing the Reality of who he Is. And this One is so unconcerned with this play that detachment is like an alien concept.

So, the sage Ashtavakra continues to prod Janaka now because Janaka had the experience of the direct recognition of the Self and he spoke some words by direct Seeing. Now the Master is prodding, is pushing the buttons to test the disciple. Is it just lip service? See, that is the message. Is it just lip service? So, in all of these questions, that is what is at the root of it. Are you truly Seeing this Reality as the sage is sharing? Or are you just speaking some fancy words?

‘Strange that one who is unattached to the things of this world and the next, who can discriminate between the transient and the timeless, who yearns for freedom, should yet fear the dissolution of the body.’

So, this death is a very, very primal fear. Right now, in your emptiness, in your simple openness, if you’re experiencing some fear, that is the fear of death. That is the fear of dissolution; right now. And it is this fear which makes us run to the thoughts, run to the next concept which the mind is throwing up; run to the question, run to some mental understanding. ‘Go away from the openness’ is what the mind tells you; because it is too open, too naked of an experience right now, to be without a concept.

And yet, as you start getting more and more used to this, it will become so natural for you that going to concepts will start to feel like death. [Chuckles] Like going to the mind; you sit and you want to purchase some thoughts, it will seem like a terrible experience. This is the fear of dissolution which can be experienced right now, unless you’re already used to this openness. So, don’t run from this. Don’t run to ‘next’. Don’t worry about ‘next’.

So, don’t worry about this world or the next, don’t worry about this moment or the next; whether this body drops or not is immaterial to the Reality of who you Are.

Reading from and Commenting on the Ashtavakra Gita [3.9]

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[3.9] Ashtavakra said, “Whether acclaimed or tormented the serene Sage abides in the Self. He is neither gratified nor angered.”

Now he’s talking about the appearance of a Sage. Now, the appearance of a Sage is a pointer to our own Self. The appearance of the outer Guru is a reflection of our own inner Presence, I Am-ness, this Beingness.

Now, Being is just Being. All things can come and go within It, but It remains untouched. Now does this mean that to a Sage anger will never arise? Or fear will never arise? It is not like this. Momentarily the play of these energies called emotions can still come, but we won’t use these emotions along with the interpretations to make something more poisonous out of it. So, anger does not become resentment, does not become a grievance. It just comes and sometimes it’s expressed; and it goes.

Other emotions like compassion or empathy do not convert into guilt without doership. So, the Sage remains unconcerned by the arising of any of these emotions. That’s why we created a definition once where we said ‘There are grade A emotions and grade B emotions’. Grade A emotions are that which arise spontaneously in any situation. Grade B seems to be that which then gets mixed up with identity; and that becomes a seemingly-longer lasting part of our identity in some way.

So, anger can arise, fear can arise, lust can arise (momentarily) but once we take it on and say ‘I should not be angry. I’m still an angry person. I’m not getting my freedom’ then we mix it up and make a lot of guilt out of it, make a lot of unworthiness out of it. It is not so for a Sage. In Indian spirituality there are so many examples where Sage’s have had anger fits. [Laughs] In the fits of anger they have cursed people with all kinds of curses. What happens then? After five minutes the anger cools down and they also tell them the way to get out of the curse. These are the normal stories in India. [Laughs] Then how does it turn out? It turns out that what happens through the curse is just pure Grace. So, even the Sage’s anger was an expression of their love, their Grace and their power. Sometimes tough love is needed, so Sages can play that role also.

Reading from and Commenting on the Ashtavakra Gita [3.10]

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[3.10] Ashtavakra said ‘A great soul witnesses his body’s actions as if they were another’s. How can praise or blame disturb him?’

So, this is the essence of non-doership. We have all come to see this, isn’t it? We are seeing that the hand is moving, the mouth is speaking some words, the hearing is happening, all these energetic sensations; the senses are reporting this world to us…, and I am just the witness of these. There is no individual doer here. I am Seeing my Being play with this light on Itself, within Itself…, and I remain this Witnessing.

So, all of this play of light and sound doesn’t touch our existence at all, and it is not even in the same realm as That which witnesses this existence. So, the idea that there is somebody here individually, who is speaking these words, who is hearing these words, the idea that we all chose to be here today, we are exerting some control over our life; all these ideas are not accurate. Because when we check, really, we find that there is nobody here to do anything at all.

So, he says ‘A great soul witnesses his body’s actions as if they were another’s.’

Body’s actions and sometimes the body also. Many of us are finding this now, where we look at the hands and say ‘Whose hand is this?’ We look at the mirror and say ‘Who is this one who’s standing in front?’ It’s very natural for all these things to start to happen. So, if the body itself seems like just an instrument now, then how can the actions of the body seem like they have been done by an individual, a separate ‘me’? If it becomes clear that the body’s actions are just movements appearing in this One Consciousness, then what is there to take praise or blame?

So, as long as this sense is there that ‘I am the doer’ (the sage earlier said that it is poison, this idea of doership) this keeps us in bondage. It is just an idea, it is just a pretense. So, when you find that all of this movement is happening on its own then ‘How can praise or blame disturb him?’

Now sometimes with this idea, when it is taken on board with identity itself, in the play of Consciousness it can start to manifest itself as that one who is using Advaita excuses to behave badly. [Chuckles] I have to make this point also. So, it continues to be the play of Consciousness, but sometimes Consciousness wants to play as if it is the individual entity who has understood that it is not the doer. And then Advaita can become just an excuse for bad behavior, for being a spiritual jerk.

Ultimately, still there is nobody there doing it; but in the play of Consciousness Itself even that pretense is picked up. And in the play, upon hearing this, then Consciousness maybe sometimes doesn’t want to play that way.

Reading from and Commenting on the Ashtavakra Gita [4.2-4.6]

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[4.2] Janaka said: “Truly the yogi feels no elation, though he abides in the exalted state yearned for by Indra and all the discontented gods.”

This is very important also to see. In India in our mythology it is very common to see that when a sage comes to the recognition of the Self, achieves this illumination or enlightenment, then it is depicted that all the gods gather around and shower the sage with flowers and blessings.

Because no matter what the realm of the experience is, no matter what the quality of the experience is, if we are still attached to experiences, if we are still attached to life being a certain way (even if the experiences are the most sublime) then that attachment itself makes us burdened; the attachment makes us identified.

So it doesn’t matter in which realm this illumination happens, it is what all Beings in this play are yearning for. The yogi is not feeling special. The yogi, the sage, is not feeling special about himself or herself. They just think that it is such a regular simple discovery that ‘I was never a person; all this was just a presumption’. And it sees no distinction between itself and any other Being that seems to appear. The sage remains in equanimity.

[4.3] “Surely one who knows That is not touched by virtue or vice, just as space is not touched by smoke, though it seems to be.”

When doership itself is dropped, when the Truth is seen to be That. When it is seen that all these actions are moving on their own, how can That be concerned about choices and all of these presumptions and ideas? ‘…just as space is not touched by smoke, though it seems to be.’

What we are talking about is the grandparent of space. This space that we are experiencing now is the product of our own Being.

That Awareness, within which this Being takes birth; with the birth of this sense of existence, of this time, space and all other phenomenal forces. So, if this space itself (this worldly phenomenal sense of space itself) is untouched by an appearance within it, how can That which is so much prior to this space…, how can That one be hurt? Which smoke can affect that space? You are that One; that space which is beyond this space.

[4.4] “Who can prevent the great soul, who knows the universe as Self, from living life as it comes?”

So, it is not that this One who knows that the Universe is arising within me is leading life with this intent ‘I’m going to live my life; nobody can stop Me’. It is not like that. The sage is saying that if there is a primal urge within Awareness itself to experience Its own Being in this way; who can stop that? Who can stop the waking state from coming? Waking state has to come, and when dream state has to come, it just comes; fulfilling this primal urge, that which you truly Are, to experience Yourself as This. It cannot be stopped.

There are many who are forcing themselves to move away from trying to control their attention in such a way that it does not move, it stays only in Awareness. This is also a fallacy; because that happens every night in sleep where attention itself seems to dissolve. With the waking state, the phenomenal world will be experienced. And that which gets our attention, that comes to life. So, it is not about forcing attention.

Some practices, some guidance from a sage (if something is being suggested) that is okay. But don’t try to control your attention too much. Allow it to go free. It cannot leave home. It can only return back to your Self. Allow your attention to relax then you will find that this world seems to lose a lot of its bite, it seems to relax.

[4.5] “Of the four kinds of Beings, from Brahma to a blade of grass, only the sage can renounce aversion and desire.”

That’s what I was saying; whatever the realm might be that you are experiencing, even if you are the God like Indra (who was the God of the heavens, the Lord of thunder and the Lord of rain) even if you have these super natural abilities, if you are still identified with separation you are still a ‘burdened beast’.

Only a sage who has renounced concepts about everything can be said to be the true renunciate. It is not really about the material renouncing, it is about the mental renouncing, about the simple openness.

[4.6] “Rare is he who knows himself as One with no other; the Lord of the Universe. He acts as he knows and is never afraid.”

Advaita. ‘One with no other’ is Advaita. There are no two.

‘…the Lord of the Universe. He acts as he knows and is never afraid.’ This is dangerous knowledge for the mind. But for the true Seeing, it is very natural.

For the sage to speak these words (that even the Lord of the Universe appears within me, goes back to sleep within me) is very natural. But if these kind of powerful words are given to the mind, then they can seem like big, big potential for spiritual ego. So, as you hear these words, remember that there is nothing special in this. There is nothing special about you. This is just God playing with Itself.

With this, we end Chapter 4.

Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti.

Reading from and Commenting on the Ashtavakra Gita [3.1-3.8]

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Chapter 3. Test of Self-Realization. ‘I feel like I’m going to read the verses for Chapter 3 and 4, because to read the text independently might lead to some confusion. So, I’ll first read the verses of 3 and 4 and then we’ll go deeper into it’. [Anantaji reads the verses of Chapter 3 and 4]

[To read Chapters 3 and 4, go to http://www.holybooks.com/wp-content/uploads/Ashtavakra-Gita-ebook.pdf ]

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So, what happened is that Janaka was speaking very beautiful things. And the sage Ashtavakra had this urge to test what is really happening with his disciple. He decided to push the buttons. And what are the buttons he decided to push? The buttons about relationship, lust, sensual desire; the buttons about money, security, wealth. Buttons about attachment or renouncing the world. All these buttons got pushed. Let’s go at it verse by verse.

[3.1] Ashtavakra said ‘Having realized yourself as One, being serene and indestructible, why do you desire wealth?’

So, what is happening now is that the sage Ashtavakra was a renunciate, he was a sadhu, so he had given up the world. He gave up the world, so he’s now testing the king. See, he knows fully well that it doesn’t matter whether you’re a king or you’re a sadhu, but he’s testing, he’s pushing the buttons saying ‘You’re working, you’re still taking care of your treasury, you have all of this wealth…, so having realized yourself as One, being serene and indestructible, why do you desire wealth?’

That’s why I read the questions and the answers together, so you know that what Janaka is saying is what we share here in satsang. So, let me comment only on the questioning so far, and spend more time on the answers.

But we can see that this can push our buttons. Isn’t it? It can seem like many, many times, those that are spiritual can have this sense that ‘I’m just after God. I’m not interested in wealth, I’m not interested in anything else. I renounce my world, I renounce my family’. All these kind of renunciations can happen.

Then [3.2] ‘Just as imagining silver in mother-of-pearl causes greed to arise, so does ignorance of Self cause desire for illusion’.

So, the mother of pearl, the inside of it is (I don’t know, I’ve never seen it actually) seemingly quite lustrous and like silver. Then if you imagine that it’s real silver, it will cause some grief for you if you want to attain that. But it is actually just the mother of pearl. It is not silver, it is not worth the same as silver.

‘…so does ignorance of Self cause desire for illusion.’ So, as long as we are not clear who we are, then it can seem like our life is about attaining something in this phenomenal realm; wanting to attain more materialistic things, better relationship, better shape of the body. These kind of desires can play strongly as long as it doesn’t become clear who we really are.

[3.3] ‘Having realized yourself as That in which the waves of the world rise and fall, why do you run around in turmoil?’

It’s a beautiful question. If we see that everything is happening with us, everything that is being experienced, the entire manifest universe is just happening within the space of my Being, within my Consciousness, what is there that I have to attain? What do I have to run after? Is there a lack of something? What can cause This one, in which the world itself is just a wave…, what can cause That one suffering? What can make it come into this state of turmoil?

It has all been just one misunderstanding. Mis-identification has been the root of this turmoil. To See that ‘I am This Self’ in which this entire world, this universe, comes into; what can cause That one to suffer? So, it’s just been this mistaken identity, that I am just something which is just another object within this world; that I’m a drop within this wave. Actually, we are the ocean itself. This ocean of Awareness in which the waves of Consciousness, the worlds are coming and going; within which there are these objects called bodies. And for the ocean to identify itself as a droplet is the divine leela, is the divine joke.

The seeming life of this droplet is full of turmoil, because so many ups and downs. So, ‘Having realized yourself as That in which the waves of the world rise and fall, why do you run around in turmoil?’

[3.4] ‘Having realized yourself as pure Awareness, as beautiful beyond description, how can you remain a slave to lust?’

Now the sage is poking Janaka and saying ‘If you’re this Awareness, how can you still have lust? How can it be that you desire another object? You yourself are not an object anymore. How can you have this lust, this need for sensory pleasure, for sensual excitement? What is that all about?’

So, I’m not going to spoil the answer. We’ll come to the answer. Then he says:

[3.5] ‘It is strange that in a sage who has realized Self in All, and All in Self, this sense of ownership should continue.’

He’s really pushing his buttons now, isn’t it? [Chuckles] He’s saying ‘You’re saying all these beautiful words…, you say ‘All is one, the only delusion, the only bondage is to see separation where there is only one’…, you say all of this but you have your kingdom. You say ‘I am the king’. So, the sage continues to poke him by using all these.

We talk about this in satsang; these four buttons are the main ones. Relationships, security/money, body and bodily desires and finally the sense of being a seeker itself, the yearning for freedom itself. They are the main four causes of trouble in this identity. And the sage is working on all of these buttons, saying ‘But if you’re a sage now and you see all is one, why are you still holding on to your kingdom?’  Then he says:

[3.6] ‘Strange that one abiding in the Absolute, intent on freedom, should be vulnerable to lust and weakened by amorous pastimes.’

So, we spoke about lust and these desires and really pushing this to see what happens to his disciple. And he’s reminded ‘But you still experience lust. But you still experience this sense of ownership over your kingdom. How can you be a sage? What kind of sage must you be?’ He’s pushing all these buttons.

[3.7] ‘Strange that knowing lust as an enemy of knowledge, one so weak and nearing death should still crave sensual pleasure.’

[Laughs] ‘…so weak and nearing death’. Janaka was older, much older than Ashtavakra, so he was an older king of his kingdom. So, he is pushing the body attachment also, saying ‘You’re so weak, nearing death, and still craving sensual pleasure? How can it be? Is it true what you’re saying; all these words? Or are you just speaking from some knowledge?’

And he continues to say ‘strange’.

[3.8] ‘Strange that one who is unattached to the things of this world and the next, who can discriminate between the transient and the timeless, who yearns for freedom, should yet fear the dissolution of the body.’

So, he’s checking about whether the fear of death is still there in the disciple. ‘You say ‘unattached to this world or the next’…’

Something is coming up for me to say here that: Actually it’s so simple that That which is True and Real in sleep continues to be True and Real in even this waking state. From this perspective of Truth, which is the unchanging, the Absolute, the timeless; you see, that which is timeless is not changeful. So, that which we find to be the Truth or Reality of sleep must continue to be the Truth and Reality of the waking state as well. And once it is Seen that This one, Awareness, is unchanged through the awareness of these states, then nobody really can care which phenomenal experience is being experienced; what state. You truly cannot be concerned once we truly have seen this for Ourself; that if the Truth that I am looking for is not transient, is unchanging, then that Truth must be there even when it seems like nothing is there. And what is our experience when nothing is there? It is the experience of sleep.

So, what is real in sleep state? If there is no phenomena, that I cease to exist; if there is not even the sense of existence, did I cease to exist? You know what I mean. Even prior to the sense of existence, how would we know such a state? Whose report are we making when we said ‘There is nothing in sleep state’?

So, if every day we can experience the dissolution of this universe and we remain unaffected by it, and we experience the waking up of this universe (and other universes in dream states) what is that one constant? What is that one Witness?

That which comes and goes is not real. Even our best experience of this. Reminds me of the story of Papaji meeting Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi. I like it so much that I want to repeat it.
So, Papaji, when he went to his Master, Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi, what happened is that Papaji since childhood had these experiences of seeing Krishna in his physical form, being with Krishna as a friend. Since his childhood, this would go on; where Krishna would appear to him. So, then what happened is that (and I’m paraphrasing this) he came to Bhagavan and he must have had a nice Advaita session. And something there was moving like ‘What is this? Let me go play with Krishna. This is all just intellectual stuff. I’d rather experience this other beautiful thing’. So, what happened is he came to satsang once or twice and then he didn’t show up for some time. Then he showed up after some weeks or days and Bhagavan said ‘So, where were you?’ He was with some sense of pride, like ‘Oh, if I give an answer like this, everyone is going to think ‘Wow, there is something special about this one’. So, he said ‘I’ve been playing with Krishna. I’ve been playing with Krishna’. And Bhagavan said ‘Where is Krishna now?’ And Papaji said ‘Right now he’s not there’. So, Bhagavan said ‘What comes and goes is not real’.

What does it mean? It means that that Reality (the substratum on which all appearances come and go) this Reality that doesn’t come and go, that is not transient, is the True Self. And nothing is greater than this discovery. Even the most auspicious play in the phenomenal realm, even the most sublime experiences in the phenomenal realm are all coming and going.

Does this mean that we have to have an aversion to sublime experiences? No. As we experience ourSelf to be That which continues to be Real, (even in the state of dreamless sleep) as we find that our reality is unchanged, this I remains unchanged, then all experiences are welcome and these beautiful, sublime experiences can also be enjoyed. But to say that ‘That is the eternal’ is also ultimately false. Even the play of the gods is dependent on the existence of Being, on the existence of Consciousness. So, all of these experiences are dependent on ‘First, I Am’.

[Silence]

[3.8] ‘Strange that one who is unattached to the things of this world and the next, who can discriminate between the transient and the timeless…’

So, this; checking. What is this? Is this transient or is this the Reality? This is a beautiful inquiry. What is it that is not coming and going right now? What continues, regardless of even the presence or absence of this universe itself?

[Silence] Allow all appearances to come and go.
What is here that is beyond appearance?

What is not appearing?
What is it that does not come and go?

Really look. Deeply look.

Is this room where we are sitting; is it eternal?
Is it your constant experience?
Or is it only what is appearing for you now,
soon to be replaced by another image?

Are these bodies which are in front of you now your constant experience?
Or is the image of these bodies also soon be replaced by something else?

What about the image of that which you call your own body?
Is that a constant state?
Or does even this body disappear?
Do you disappear with the disappearance of this body?
With the appearance of another body, [dream state]
what appears constant?

These sensations that you’re experiencing, are they eternal?
Or do they come and go?

These thoughts that are coming to you, claiming to speak the truth,
Are they constant?
Are they eternal? Are they infinite?

Allow these also; the play of this imagery, the play of appearances,
soon to be replaced by other images.

What about our emotions?
Are they permanent? Are they real? Are they forever?
Or just like other appearances on this movie screen,
they also come and go?

What is it that doesn’t go with them?

That which can go, you let it go.
What remains?
See if that One can go.

Even the sense of existence, ‘I exist’…,
the Lord of this waking state, the deity of this temple called the body;
Is this also a constant?

Or have you not witnessed the dissolution of this one,
and the rising of this one, millions of times already?

What are you?

Who are you?

Can you move?

Or is all movement part of the appearance,
in front of the unmoving one?

All objects are coming and going.
Leave them aside for some time.
All bodies are coming and going.
Leave them aside; including your own.
Let it just be.

Emotions, energy, sensation…
Just let them be.

Thoughts, concepts, ideas…
Leave them alone.

This Being that is radiating with this sublime light,
Being just being,
Let it be.

Nothing needs your intervention.
Leave it alone.

Who are you now?

Are you an appearance?

What is here besides these appearances?

What remains when you keep everything aside?

Don’t try to ‘get it’.
Keep that also aside.
Just let it all be.

Can anything in this world contain you?
Or is it You that contains this world?

Are You transient?
Or is the world transient?

What is your experience?

Are You timeless?
Or is the world timeless?

What do you See before you go to a concept?

Is there any time, without you?
Is there any space, without you?
Is there a world, without you?
Can there be this universe, without you,
except in your imagination?

Can you even have an imagination, without you?

What are You?

No answer is needed here.
Don’t jump to any answers.

Remain in your open looking.

Herein lies the peace of God.

Om Shanti, Shanti, Shanti

Reading and Commenting on the Ashtavakra Gita [2.23-2.25]

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[2.23] [Janaka says] ‘In the limitless ocean of Myself the winds of the mind roil the myriad waves of the world.’

Now, in Indian spirituality when the word ‘mind’ is used, it is used in two ways. The mind is often used as Consciousness Itself, as ‘the mind of Awareness’. So, everything is the mind. Like, this appearance is a thought. Many sages have said ‘This is just a thought. All that is appearing is just thought’. So, that is one way to look at is, as Consciousness Itself. All that is appearing within Consciousness, we can call that the mind, and the elements of that as thought.

And then they have a definition for ‘small mind’. So, Consciousness they call the ‘Big Mind of God’ and then there’s the small mind of God basically. So, the sage here has also said ‘Don’t be small minded’. Many scriptures will say ‘Don’t be small minded’. Don’t pretend to be a person. Don’t believe this voice which is pretending to be the mind of the individual identity. So, they have this distinction of Consciousness (Big Mind) and mind.

So, all this ‘in the limitless ocean of Myself’ (beyond time and space) ‘the winds of the mind roil the myriad waves of the world.’ So, Consciousness then is playing as if this world appears and disappears, and all these waves of all the events that have happened, all the sensations that happened, all the thoughts that come, everything is said to be the mind, from that perspective.

Then, to make it easier, to make the definitions clearer, Bhagavan [Ramana Maharshi] clarified and said ‘The mind is a bundle of thoughts’. That is very clear; although we continue to use the word ‘mind’ also to signify the Big Mind. But mostly, it is said ‘The mind is a bundle of thoughts’. So, when we looked at it, the energy construct of these thoughts that is the mind. And then we started looking at similar energies like imagination, memory, daydreams; all of this as the mind. Sometimes when I speak, I also bundle up these emotional sensations of fear and other emotional sensations as also in the same bundle of our mind. So, the sage is talking about mind, too; is talking about that Consciousness Itself, upon which this worldly appearance is like myriad waves.

[2.24] [Janaka says] ‘But when the wind subsides in the limitless ocean, the ark of personhood is swallowed up, along with the universe it carries.’

So, what happens is, it comes to this resting place of the ‘non-resistance’ space of simple allowing so that things don’t have a personal quality about them anymore; don’t seem like something is happening to an individual ‘me’. We allow this play of life as though a wave comes…, without trying to navigate it, without trying to control it. It’s like the wave trying to direct. ‘I’m going left now. I’m going to go this high now’. Can it do it? Because the ocean itself which is providing the momentum is one movement in the ocean in which the play of the wave comes up and down, left and right. The dissolution and creation is happening. The ocean starts to pretend to believe itself just to be a wave; and then lets go of this belief in individuality. That is the flow there; and the ark of personhood is swallowed up. And we just remain open. Allow this ocean to be settled, if it likes to. You will not find a person here. Just this simple allowing of all thoughts to come and go, all events to happen, all sensations to be experienced…, but don’t give rise to the idea of personhood, the belief in personhood.

Just in this simple openness, this personhood is swallowed up, along with the idea of the universe it carries. So, what happens is that as you remain open, you find that there is no person here. Then our experience can seem like there is just this Awareness, and this entire world is just an appearance. And then it can seem like attention doesn’t even want to play so much with the appearance of this world; and sometimes you can say that there is no universe at all. Like Papaji has said ‘Nothing has ever really happened’. Only from this perspective can you say that.

Okay let’s take this last verse. [Last verse of Chapter 2]

[2.25] [Janaka says] ‘And how wonderful it is! In the limitless ocean of Myself, waves of beings arise, collide, play for a time, then disappear – as is their nature.’

To see this play as a play of wonder, to see every moment fresh, not knowing what the next moment will bring; it’s a wonderful way to look at this world. What waves are going to come into play? The ups and downs of this play of life then is seen to be a great wonder. So, the world experienced as if I’m a person seems to be the world of dukkha; suffering. Buddha said ‘The world is suffering. The world is the dukkha’. Only when we approach the world with the idea of separation will we participate in the world as if we are a separate entity. And the world is wonderful indeed when it is seen from the perspective of the solitary Witnessing. There’s nothing to fear, nothing can be attacked. All of this is a beautiful source of entertainment.

Reading and Commenting on the Ashtavakra Gita [2.22]

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[2.22] Janaka says ‘I am not the body. I do not have a body. I am Awareness, not a person. My thirst for life bound me to a seeming of life.’

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Let me say some nice things also about the body. [Laugher in the room] That was a bit harsh. So, let’s say some nice things about the body also. Because I’ve said this often, it’s a very beautiful instrument. It’s a very beautiful instrument. I’ve said that if it was just some technology…, suppose we were all body-less, wandering about as just body-less spirits and we could go to this body shop, the shop where you get bodies? And then someone says ‘Okay, this is the last body which is available. Now, how much are you willing to pay for this?’ I would say that for technology like this I would pay whatever we had to get a hold of this beautiful instrument. More than any other gadget or car or any other materialistic thing; house, couch or tv. [Chuckles] We’d be willing to pay a lot for this kind of experience which is so intimate, so beautiful also in a way; these sensations, this perspective, these hands, these feet. So, it’s a beautiful instrument.

The idea was not to put down the instrument itself, the idea was to tell you that it is beautiful as an instrument but the idea that ‘I am just this instrument’ is the opposite idea. It’s not that there’s something wrong with this body. Because the instrument will have a lot of light. It is a play of light. It’s a beautiful tool for all this experiencing in this realm. But it is not the eternal and the unborn.

So, the idea is not to create some aversion towards the body; not for you to neglect the body also. It’s just to rid ourself of this idea that ‘I am this body’. Just like we can value a very, very expensive virtual reality system and take good care of it; just in the same way with this beautiful instrument with so many intricacies and so many millions of processes. It is very beautiful how it functions, but it is not I.

So, to care for the functioning of the body, to be compassionate toward the body is completely good. The only mistake is to say ‘I am the body’. That’s why he said ‘I am not the body’.

This is something for you to contemplate. If all that we experience is finite and phenomenal, then why it is that intuitively these ideas of eternal and unbound seem attractive to us? Is it purely like fantasy? Or does it have an intuitive ring to it? Something feels like when it is heard ‘You are the eternal One’…, something just feels intuitively attracted to it. So, in spite of anyone, most of humanity (if you were to say it like that) have some concept of soul, some concept of what happens after death. Most of humanity has it. Why? Because they feel like this body is not going to be the end of all of me; there must be something more. There must be something beyond that.

This intuitive sense, of eternity, of being unborn…, [Nisargadatta] Maharaj used to ask everyone ‘What were you before this body?’ He would even (sometimes when he was in the mood, he would get a little strong) he would say ‘What were you before your parents got together that night?’ He would say things like that. ‘Before the sperm and the egg got together, what were you?’ He would ask these kinds of questions.

If you’re new to satsang, it can feel like ‘I have to defend this body’ but something intuitively has the sense that it was not prior to my time; it was not prior to I. I could not have been non-existent’. Even this idea that there will be a time when you won’t exist is very hard to swallow, even for those who are not in satsang. It’s very hard to swallow. That’s why they want some sculptures and statues and photos, buildings to be named after them because it can feel like something continues; something continues to infinity. Because something recognizes that ‘What I truly Am is not limited in this tiny body’. But the ego wants to replicate that (in this funny, childish way). ‘If I just have a building in my name [Chuckles] then my legacy will continue’. No. It’s just a concept; just a name that carries on.

So, this sense of infinite-ness, this sense of infinity is intuitively appealing to us because we have always known that we are this eternal, unborn Being; but in our worldly pretense, we’re pretending as if we’re limited in this way.

Janaka said ‘I am Awareness, not a person. My thirst for life bound me to a seeming of life.’

‘I am Awareness, not a person’ is something you hear every day [Chuckles] so we don’t have to speak on that.

‘My thirst for life bound me to a seeming of life.’ What does this mean? There are many versions of this. So, some say that there was a primal urge to experience Itself as some phenomena; that life was the creation of the primal vibration ‘Om’. It is the same as this ‘I Am’ this sense of Beingness, this light. In the light of all this, this urge for light is getting extinguished; this urge to experience Itself as if it is something; to witness itself as if it has a phenomenal reality. It is said that Awareness Itself, the One without attributes Itself, for some Divine reason, had this urge. And in an instant, in the blink of an eye, all of this play of time and space happened and got born. And now it is just visiting it with Its attention.

Anyway, we don’t need to get much into the physics of this. Other systems have said different things. One has even said…, A Course in Miracles has even said ‘A tiny, mad idea came in the mind of God’ (a tiny, mad idea, for some divine play) and it lead to this idea of separation’. Many people, all spiritual paths, all religious systems have tried to explain this creation, to explain this thirst for life.

So, the sage is simply saying there must have been an urge that ‘I wanted to experience life in this way, and this bound me to this ‘seeming’ of life’. And he should also say that it’s ‘seemingly-bound’ to the seeming of life because he has said that ‘I am Awareness’ and this Awareness has never been bound. So, because of this urge to experience life, I played this game of pretense. Life seemingly-bound me; it was under the power of my thoughts, the power of my belief in my thoughts. That is the only bondage. So, over and over he talks about bondage, and he says ‘The only bondage is in not Seeing this’.

Then he says ‘My thirst for life bound me to a seeming of life’.

Imagine there was a thirst for life, a thirst for experience. But then to See that all of this is just an appearance, with no sense of tangibility of something happening to Me, with no sense of this play seeming real; then would it really quench this thirst to play in this life? I don’t feel it would. I feel it needed this drama, that ‘This is me. This is happening to me’. Just like we need that drama when we go to a movie, or play a game, or read a book. We need that drama, the feeling that ‘This one is like me’. No? So, like that; can we experience life in this way, with all its ups and downs?

Then it can seem like there comes a point where this thirst is quenched. We’ve had enough of this game. ‘What is it that I really am? I don’t want anything but this One that I cannot find. What is it that I really must be, in Reality?’ So, basically, what are we saying is ‘I’ve quenched this thirst for experiencing life as if I’m a separate individual’. Then for some time, it can seem like the play is pure Presence Itself. God playing with His creation. Then, when it’s time for dissolution, then dissolution can happen. Actually, even the sense of time itself is part of the play. God is not bound by time.

Reading and Commenting on the Ashtavakra Gita [2.22]

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[2.22] Janaka says ‘I am not the body. I do not have a body. I am Awareness, not a person. My thirst for life bound me to a seeming of life.’

The sages have said that the root of all trouble is the idea that ‘I am the body’. So, let’s presume that that is true for a minute and look at how that would be. Let’s presume for a minute that ‘I am the body’. How is that? How does that feel? This presumption that ‘I am the body’. How is that? What is going to happen to you?

Q: Separateness comes.

A: Separateness comes; because of this idea that there is this ‘me’ [touches his chest] which is here, in all of this BIG world which seems to appear. I seem to be just a tiny grain of sand. This is a fearful sense, isn’t it? ‘I’m just contained in this small bucket of flesh and blood. I’m just this body’. So, it can feel like that. It becomes a sort of a very limited experience when we go with this belief that ‘I am just this body’.

What’s going to happen to this body? Lots of pleasure, moments of pain, then ultimately it’s going to have some disease or something and it’s going to wind up on the funeral pyre or the cremation ground. That’s the end of this body. So, when we believe this about ourselves, then what happens? We are this tiny object in this infinitely large realm of the universe. Even phenomenally; even scientists have not been able to discover how big the universe is. It seems to be constantly expanding. So, to look at ourselves as this tiny, tiny grain of sand on this tiny, tiny ball which is rotating around a bigger ball in this huge multitude…, the insignificance of this body is what we try to hide. Now, ‘will to power’…, we’re trying to become something. In a sense, we’re trying to get security. In the sense of even trying to get freedom, it can many times come from this fear of not looking at the insignificance of our seeming-worldly existence.

What is this body? We know inevitably that, for this body, there is a fertile ground for all sorts of diseases, all sorts of desires, all sorts of energies to play; and ultimately it is that which is going to die.

So, we give up the struggle. Once we See that ‘I am not this body’ then we give up this whole thought system, belief system…, which can seem so oppressive that I don’t even talk about it regularly in satsang. [Chuckles] I just keep it aside because I see for most of you, you don’t feel so strongly about it most of the time. Because once you start looking at the body, what is your future? [Chuckles] Who is freedom for? This body just seems to be just the playground for all these sensations; all this disease. And ultimately gone.

Eternal, unborn, all of this cannot apply to This One.

Reading and Commenting on the Ashtavakra Gita [2.20]

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[2.20] Janaka says ‘The body exists only in imagination, as do heaven and hell, bondage, freedom, fear. Are these my concern? I, who am pure Awareness?’

Are these my concern? [Silence] So, either that they cannot be my concern or if they are my concern, there must be a feeling that they are not imagination…, because a daydream is not our concern. If a daydream is seen to be a daydream, it’s gone.

He says ‘The body exists only in imagination, as do heaven and hell, bondage, freedom, fear. Are these my concern? I, who am pure Awareness?’

What does it mean first; imagination? Imagination is just this which Consciousness is projecting. Many times we use in vocabulary also that ‘Oh, he is just projecting his own ideas. What is this?’ So, basically what we’re saying is that it is a projection. And very often this is used; this world of appearance being on the screen of Consciousness, by the light of Consciousness. So, that which is the changing realm (in Advaita, that which is the changing realm) is said to be an appearance. That which is changing is just imagination of the Self.

So, he says ‘The body exists in imagination’. I’ve often said that actually it is this manifest universe which is the body of God, because once this sense of separation starts to dissolve then it does not seem like this body. Sure, the sensations are still felt of this body, but it does not feel like I am restricted within the boundaries of this body. So then, if there is a physical aspect of Myself, if there is a physical manifestation of Myself, then what must that be? It is this manifest universe itself. So, this entire realm is my body; within which there is this body which seems to have very intimate sensations which are experienced here, which exist only as a projection of my Being, only as imagination of this Beingness. In the light of this, it comes. And this Itself dissolves. There is nothing. There is no manifestation, there is no projection, there is no imagination.

Now, it is as simple as saying ‘If something is real…’ So, what is the definition of ‘real’ verses ‘imagination’ here? The definition of ‘real’ verses ‘imagination’ is that if something is real, it cannot go. It must be the eternal One. It must be unborn and it must be eternal. But we find that all that appears and disappears is an appearance. Therefore, from the Advaitic perspective, from the ultimate perspective, the sages have called that ‘unreal’. And therefore, we are using terms like ‘imagination’ for this realm which is appearing and disappearing.

But if this insight is not clear yet; if it does not feel like it’s true and we’re forcing ourself, convincing ourself that ‘This world is unreal, this world is unreal, this world is unreal’ then we must not do that. We must not worry about it in that way. Let this be your insight which comes on its own, as we stay with the inquiry on who we are, on who I am. Then if this insight comes that ‘This world is just imagination, is just an appearance’ then we can stay with that insight. Before that there’s no need to forcefully bring yourself to a conclusion like that.

So, what have we covered? We’ve looked at the universal body and all that is manifest.

So, he says ‘Heaven and hell’. Our ideas of heaven and hell. Many times we’ve seen that, right now, this can be heaven or this could be hell. (Isn’t there a song like that? There’s a song like that. Oh, yes, yes, he says ‘Hotel California’) [Chuckles]  ♪♫This could be heaven or this could be hell♪♫ And every satsang is like that. Every satsang is like that. For some, it is just heaven. And for some it is just hell; words, words, words. So, is it that it is experienced in this way? The same event, the same words, the same one sitting in front of you can seem to some as heaven and some as hell; and it can vary from day to day. [Chuckles] Some days ago, it would be the same voice, the same words, everything which is seeming like heaven; but today the words, the same voice is seeming like hell. So, what makes the difference?  Being, as an expression, can play in all different ways. Sometimes it can seem like our thoughts are very mild, tired, allowed to let go; sometimes they can seem very noisy. Sometimes the energies being experienced can be so nice and sweet and blissful and peaceful; and sometimes it can be this sense of grief or anger or fear. All of this.

First let’s start with that which seemingly-tastes all this spectrum of opposites. This realm of duality is tasted by Consciousness. But is Consciousness truly affected by the taste in any way? Is it suffering? Is Consciousness suffering the experience? And do we just have an idea that I am suffering my experience? [Nisargadatta] Maharaj said ‘You are not experiencing suffering. You are suffering your experiencing’. So, experiencing is going on but the sense of suffering is what we are interpreting it to be. Because Consciousness, the Supreme Lord, cannot actually suffer from Its own Creations. That which is appearing, just in Its own light, as imagination, as projection, how can that hurt the Source Itself? Can the movie hurt the light of the projector? All of this is a play of light and sound using that light of Consciousness. This light is un-hurt. It cannot be hurt. There is no concept of suffering to Consciousness Itself. Pure Consciousness or unassociated Being is not suffering; It is just being. Being is just being.

Then, what happens? The experiencing of some sensations, the experiencing of some thoughts is there and this idea is sold to us from the mind is that ‘I am suffering’. This ‘I’ (which is separate from this Consciousness) is in a state of suffering. This is what the mind is selling you. Then, Consciousness Itself, using the power of Its belief, starts to believe this idea that ‘I am in heaven’ or ‘I am in hell’. But truly actually, this could be heaven or this could be hell.

So, to give you a tip or a simple piece of advice: Hell is usually a closed fist; like resistance. Heaven is just this sense of openness. And in the sense of openness, initially it can feel like ‘Oh, but these sensations are still strong’. Maybe they are even getting stronger. But if we allow ourself to remain open, we will find that without resistance, that (which is in the seemingly negative spectrum) naturally that cannot survive for too long. It is replaced at least with our neutrality; or with the pleasant sensations of peace, joy, love. And don’t be in a rush to define how long that openness can take because that will become an expectation, which itself becomes the resistance itself. So, just open up your fist. Drop all resistances, all ideas of what our experience should be; all sense of ‘I should experience this’ or ‘I should not experience this’. Find that This experiencer, this True Consciousness, non-pretending Consciousness, is not suffering from either heaven or hell.

‘The body exists only in imagination’ (for the idea ‘I am just the body’ is just imagined or pretense)…, ’as do heaven and hell’…, (the suffering and even the pleasant sensations are just part of the coming and going) …, ‘bondage, freedom, fear’. We’ve discussed most of this, that this idea that ‘I am separate’ or ‘I am an individual’ or ‘I am a person’ or ‘I-as-an-entity am experiencing something; that these are my feelings, these are my thoughts’…, these ideas are our bondage. And coming to satsang we come to a simple refusal to believe that something is individually ‘mine’ because we cannot locate this individual. And it is a folly to presume that ‘I am a person’ without having any tangible of the existence of this. Non-circumstantial evidence. The existence of this person is not seen. Therefore, the only bondage (as the sage was saying earlier) is in not seeing this. As we don’t See what is True, then we continue to remain in the presumption.

So, if there is no bondage, what is freedom really? If there is no bondage, then freedom is really another concept.

Fear also comes from the sense that ‘I am an individual entity’ which is the experience. If it becomes clearer and clearer to you that whatever is being experienced is being experienced by the Supreme Lord, by that power which is the Lord of the universe, and You Are That (but not limited to that)…, You Are That Supreme Lord (but not limited to that)…, once this becomes your living experience, then what fear can you really have; except momentarily?

‘The body exists only in imagination, as do heaven and hell, bondage, freedom, fear. Are these my concern?’

Now, what is he speaking from? He’s speaking from this perspective of the Truth. Once you See that ‘I am this Awareness’…, in Awareness you find that there is not even the dynamic manifestation; not even playing as the Lord of the universe. It is just this simple Witness; the simple Witnessing actually. What can concern the Witnessing? That which witnesses all of this; does it have any concern? Therefore, all concern belongs in the realm of appearances, in the pretense of personhood.

‘Are these my concern? I, who am pure Awareness?’ Once you See that ‘I am this Awareness, it is Seen that none of these are My concern.

So, remember that Janaka is sharing from his realization that he’s having Right Now: Fresh! Fresh off the fire. [Chuckles] Fresh out of the oven. All the fragrance is coming from that.

Reading and Commenting on the Ashtavakra Gita [2.21]

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[2.21] I see no differences or separation. Even the multitudes appear as a single formless desert. To what should I cling?

A: So, just like we have been saying in the last few days, without the labeling…, (and we have been checking this ourselves, isn’t it, in Satsang) where we are saying, ‘When we look and don’t label, we don’t say ‘this, this, this’…, when we don’t make labels, we don’t interpret anything, we don’t judge anything; when we just See as the impersonal witness, when we See that all of this is One appearance, then I see no differences or separation in this One appearance’. Then without the interpretive mind, without the sub-titles of the movie, it just seems as One appearance. Separation means for us to make a concept, to use our mind.

‘Even the multitudes appear’. Whatever might be appearing; you could have an experience where you see the entire multi-verses, infinite number, and you transcend time and space, you transcend the body and everything is possible. But even the appearance of these multitudes, they appear just as if it is one ‘single formless desert’.

So when we don’t make the distinction between the grains of sand then everything is seen to be one screen in which this movie is playing; One appearance.

‘To what should I cling?’ This is very important because remember what the question was, Janaka’s question? Who remembers what the original question was? The first verse.

[1.1] Janaka asks: Master, how is Knowledge to be achieved, detachment acquired, liberation attained? 

Detachment. ‘To what should I cling?’ Once we see that all of this is just One, there is no separation (unless I start this mental process of labeling, our mental ideas) then what can we be attached to? There can be no ‘mine’. There can be no sense that this is ‘mine’. There can be no sense that ‘I want this, as a desire’ and there can be no sense that ‘I don’t want this, as an aversion’. So it is attachment that plays in this way. And the minute we fall into this trap, that ‘This is mine’ then it is the root for most suffering. Why? Because once we attach to something and say ‘it is mine’ we feel that it should be with me forever.

All these love stories that we read, ‘Will you be mine forever and ever’ (not even this this lifetime but all lifetimes; forever). So, we are searching for something eternal but we are looking in the wrong direction. And it is in the looking in the wrong direction that we attach to an appearance and we say ‘You should be mine forever’. And then you say ‘No…’ After a while maybe we don’t even want it forever. [Laughter] It becomes like ‘Oh, it felt alright, but right now I just want some space’.  [Laughter]

So, this fallacy of saying that something is ‘mine’ is false because this is the constantly changing realm. The minute we say something is ‘mine’ then we want it forever then we find that it is moving, it is changing and that is bound to create some suffering if we are attached.

Even when we say ‘I just don’t want this, this should not happen’…, and life inevitably makes something like that happen. So even when we have an idea we are attached to something not happening even that is dissolved, even that is seen through.

So, when we see that ‘Even the multitudes appear as a single formless desert. To what should I cling?’ then to see this Oneness of this appearance is also very beautiful. You will come to the Oneness of non-separation between Awareness and Consciousness Itself. But at least in this appearance when we can start too see that all of this is just One, all of this is just One play then ‘To what should I cling’? To make an attachment then will seem very hard work.

‘To what should I cling?’ It’s a beautiful question.

Reading and Commenting on the Ashtavakra Gita [1.6]

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[1.6] Ashtavakra says ‘Right and wrong, pleasure and pain, exist in mind only. They are not your concern. You neither do nor enjoy. You are free.’

So, this needs some deconstruction. Right and clearly are conceptual. They are an idea of something being right and an idea of something being wrong. But without the idea of right and wrong, there is so much more peace in life, isn’t there? All our righteousness (that which we call ‘self-righteousness’ actually) is mostly ego righteousness. All our ideas of ‘This is right; this is wrong’…, presuming that something could be out of the will of the Divine, knowing not that even this presumption is the will of the Divine. So, the recognition of this, that there is no right and wrong; all is the movement of Consciousness Itself, the recognition of this is beautiful surrender. This is ‘Let Thy will be done’. And that will get clarified as we go more into the verse.

The sage says ‘You neither do nor enjoy.’ So, why ‘Let Thy will be done?’ Because that which I have presumed myself to be neither is the doer nor is the experiencer. The doer nor is the experiencer is this One Being, One Self. I’ve said this very often now ‘Twam Karta, Twam Bhokta’ meaning ‘You are the doer and You are the experiencer’ (not the ‘you’ that we are presuming ourself to be). This Consciousness, this Being Itself, is the One doer and the One experiencer.

So, all of this right and wrong, pleasure and pain, are just interpretations of the mind, are just labels given by the mind. The One doer and the One experiencer is enjoying this play. Everything that appears is for the enjoyment of Consciousness Itself, in Its own light, in Its own screen. And if our minds are struggling with this, just leave it. Let it be an insight on its own. That’s what the sage said ‘They are not your concern’. Right and wrong, pleasure and pain, are just interpretations and labels of the mind. The One doer and the One experiencer is experiencing this entire realm. None of this is your concern, as the idea of the individual, of the ego.

So, this verse is a pointer to beautiful surrender. Let go right now of all concepts of right and wrong. As it says in The Course in Miracles ‘Love holds no grievances’. So, all the wrong which we perceive to have been done to us; can we let go of that? A single grievance can act as if it is the fingernail that blocks the light of the sun. A single idea that something was done to me keeps this sense of ‘me’ alive. And I’ve seen very often (it happens in satsang) that in spite of the recognitions we’re having, some of our grievances can be so strong. Some say ‘All this is fine for satsang, what I’m finding about myself, but I have to find justice for this ‘me’…, based on the idea that there is an individual me that can be wronged.

Similarly, there can also be ideas about being right. We can have a lot of pride around being right. I heard something very beautiful once which is very simple. It is: ‘Do you want to be right? Or do you want to be happy?’ And many times, in our life’s conflicts, we stick to wanting to be right rather than wanting to be just happy. So, can we drop these ideas of right and wrong?

So, that’s one way to look at right and wrong. The second is this conceptually evaluative way of saying ‘Right, right. Wrong, wrong’ to everything that comes to us (even in satang). Sometimes I can sense these rights and wrong. So, again, we’re trying to amplify; trying to construct this spiritual framework, adding on to those things which we feel are right and rejecting those things which we feel are wrong. Which is okay, in some level in the world, but in satsang we must allow everything that is being shared to be looked at; beyond the point of reason with our direct checking whether this is true or not. This will be really helpful.

Without these ideas of right and wrong, then this leaves us with so much openness and surrender.