Ashtavakra Gita Ch. 20, Vs. 1-9 Commentary and Contemplation - 19th September 2017

Where is knowledge and ignorance? Where is I? Where is this? Where is mine? Where is bondage and liberation? Self has no attribute. It's exactly what we were saying. Qualityless. Knowledge and ignorance—if they remove you from opposites, then what do I know? You know how far we are from the sun? Whether we have that mental concept or we don't have it doesn't matter. So, that knowledge is different from this knowingness. So, don't get confused with the term knowledge and the conceptual knowledge. How far away from the sun? Second, if you do like a perceptual knowledge, only people are in this one. Perceptual in this way. There can be an emotional sort of knowledge: "How am I feeling? Great joy." Whatever the qualitative thing might be, emotional. But beyond that, what is it which knows of your very existence? What type of knowledge is that? How do you know that you exist? Do something. This is you. Use a concept. And I ask you: can you stop being? Experience your own beingness. Are you using a concept? Are you using the senses? Are you using a feeling? And yet you say this: "I am here. Beingness is here. I cannot stop." What is aware of that? We go as far as to ask: I am aware of my presence. What is aware that I am aware of? And I know to the mind it might sound like a riddle, but it is possible to have an infinite regress. This lottery has to stop here. Actually, following through your recognition, following with your direct insight, and you will see there is nowhere for the... it is this. This is actually the last question that you can ask yourself. After this, the play of subject and object stops. It is no pity. There is only the presence beyond any qualities. Awareness itself aware. And it's much simpler than it might sound like to the mind. It will, because it is self-aware that you are able to say "I am aware." To see "I am aware of my presence," you have to know awareness and presence. Don't try to understand this; it would just become a big mishmash. Flow into you. You are aware that you exist, and it is not that you are unaware that you are aware. Not a riddle. You know most.

Where is I? Where is this? Where is mine? This "I am," "mine," and "this" and "that"—you lifted all of these things. Many times we come to this point of Advaita. Where is bondage and liberation? We will really discuss this today. The Self has no... where is the unfolding of karma? Where is liberation in life, or even liberation like that? There is only one. Now, some of you might be hearing this, and if you come from a traditional spiritual background, something you will not... you spent a lot of time trying to understand karma and to purify our karma, trying to do all of this. And then there's been a lot of time which has gone into either... these are two traditional paths: trying to get liberation while in this body, and the other part is to try and be as much in devotion as possible so that at the moment of death you voyage into the Lord itself. Every Asian actor is a traditional Indian spiritual path. Now Ashtavakra is saying: where are all of this? Karma? What is karma? Who does karma apply to? Even if it is the design of the world, even if it is the design of this plane that what happens here is that you will reap what you sow, what goes around comes around—even if it is the design of this world, who does it apply to? Is it the script of the movie, or is it about you? Then you see that like one that is the light of this movie, it's so beyond any idea of rules. Even if it seems to play in a certain way, this... when we pick up the idea that it must be this way, you will see where something opposite shows up. So many times I say, anytime the things will come, disregard saying hello. Like a point, so-called coincidence with a mathematical probability of one as am I. There's no explanation for it. How could it be there? This is just what you are talking about, and here it is. So that's like our thing. You do so many times you get these kind of play, this kind of play in the movie. Now you just see that supreme intelligence which is completely free, that seems to be done in this way of this. And if you look back at our life, most of us are able to open that anytime you see. I just happened to be here at the right place at the right time. I just happened to see on YouTube a video of Satsang and life is changed. Beautiful things. We can never, never hopefully with this to submit this kind of statement.

You see, so many times you get this kind of play in the movie. Now you just see that Supreme Intelligence, which is completely free, that seems to be done in this way. And if you look back at our life, most of us are able to open that anytime. You see, I just happened to be here at the right place at the right time; I just happened to see a YouTube video. Life is changed. Beautiful things. We can never, never hopefully submit this kind of statement about the past, but the mind very rarely is able to use that to surrender everything in the future.

So, whatever might be the rules of the functioning of this realm, whatever your paths to liberation might be, whatever your ideas about liberation might have been, whom do they apply to? To Ram, who is here? Is that free or bound? Was there ever the prisoner? Was there ever a prison, except the idea? Where is the doer or enjoyer? Where is the origin or end of thought? Where is direct or reflected knowledge? There is no person here. Where is the doer or enjoyer? Who is hearing right now? In Delhi, working, the same one is hearing and speaking. It is only one consciousness speaking with consciousness about itself. This is your perceived reality. This is what you are seeing.

But anytime this is not what you are seeing, and next time some words appear from your mouth, I don't know who spoke, but is there really somebody sitting over there? Where do these words come from? Where the hand is moving, is there a member sitting there? Is there a power there? There is only consciousness hearing these words. All of this is to see. You go home, you see who is born, what is born. The mind is designed to do the sailor of the button. The un-inquired 'I' is the ego. This is the notion that we pick up over ourselves without looking at who that really is, because it cannot withstand an inquiry. The ego cannot withstand true inquiry, open inquiry. You will see that there is nobody there.

I say, where are you, Mr. Person? 'I'm something inside my body.' Where? What are you? So, the doer and enjoyer do not exist. If you consider yourself to be a person, no person exists. So that's why I like these simple examples like the blue cow. Why? Because when you say the person doesn't exist, I'm pretty clear about that now, but how do I get rid of the world identities? It's like saying, 'I'm aware that there is no blue cow, but how do I get it from drinking all the milk in the house?' It is a contradiction. If you know that you do not exist personally, then who is it that has the attribute of the ocean? That which actually is. So, the person does not exist. Does that mean that you are not? But you can't say you are not. You must be. You have to exist exactly.

So, this existence is whose existence? This is the final misunderstanding. This existence is whose existence? Is this personal existence? It is existence itself, whether you call it consciousness, God, I Am, me, whatever. But when we say this existence is of the person that I consider myself to be, it is the root of the jivan. I am something. My claim is here at my beingness itself playing. If I am something, an emotion or picked-up notion about itself or something limited, then please, all of the jiva powers then take off all these rules through there. And it has been five partners until he manages all of them. Spiritual seeker. Then what is the troublesome rule that you could pick up? Enlightened one. Because that can be supposed to keep telling you is not to see. It is not enlightened or attached to whatever is a limiting notion.

I keep saying 'limited notion.' Why? Because it is the perpetuation of the mind. And if you really smell for what the mind is saying, you will find almost everything that it is selling to you is the idea of your limitedness and something. If your boundary is being defined, any concept you pick up about yourself draws a boundary about it. It's trying to create a line in space and say space starts here. Where is the doer or enjoyer? Where is the origin or end of thought? Where is the thought coming from? And you will start coming to satsang using like they are creating their columns and also they create interaction. Many times you see that you just appear and disappear. Is that doer of action which usually is most key? We will come to that also.

When you see that just like these thoughts are disappearing, going back into consciousness, similarly the actions are also appearing and disappearing. When the mind says 'I did,' the thinker of your thought, you see that all of these are disappearing and the mind comes either pre-event or post-facto trying to take credit or blame for what happened. Actually, what is happening? Where is the origin or end of thought? Where is direct or reflected knowledge? There is no person, no direct or reflected knowledge. Again, scripturally, there are some which are direct scriptures and some which are commentaries or reflections of those scriptures. So, see this now. Last chapter, poking that all of this, which might have been tools along the way, I find myself to do this. Who does it apply to? 'You must be a good person. We must find divine light.' And in this, the nature of the mind will become insane because it only understands opposites.

So, does this mean I can just go around shooting people? And he said, but you have to do one of these three objects. Does this mean I can be irresponsible and lie down in bed? And the second objection used to be: but does this mean that I'm not responsible and going around shooting people? So, this is actually the play of consciousness continuously. Mind comes and says, 'Do this, do that. Please don't do that.' Okay, what we will need statistically is to keep track of this. You will see that this doership will fall away because how many times have we decided, 'I have work to do this.' My favorite example, and we do because it happened here: we decided we're going to work, 'I'm going to tell my boss he's like this,' and you show up to work. So, this whole idea of decision-making running this life, in spite of the fact that if you were to even investigate it statistically, the opposite of control and over this existence to existence. Difficulty only comes because there is this fear of not having.

Where is the world? Where is the seeker of liberation? Where is the contemplative? Where is the man of knowledge? Where is the soul in bondage? Where is the liberated soul? My nature is unity. Where is the world? Where is the seeker of liberation? Where is the contemplative? Where is the man of knowledge? Where is the soul in bondage? Where is the liberated soul? My nature is unity. They look at all these aspects. Where are creation and destruction? Where is the end and the means? Where is the seeker? Where is attainment? I am one. Where are creation and destruction? Where is the end and the means? Where is the seeker? Where is attainment? I am one.

When you start to look at this life until the personal ends, so even that which we call our day-to-day life, which we take so much for granted, you realize what waits and where that comes. This consciousness, this being, with the waking up of this being, you feel that the world wakes, the universe wakes. This really will you say that I am that shoreless ocean in which the arcs of this universe, they go up and down, they occur in the disappearance. I am that in which all these states—waking, dream, sleep, and turiya—you come and go. What is your experience? You will come, you as consciousness appear to exist within this existence. In this entire play of light and electricity and gravity, you are not. Existence dissolves into its source. It is all of this, just like the content of a dream flows right back into you.

Simply peel the lens of personhood. You start to see the day-to-day life, which seems so mundane for the person, you see it is this. This is the real of you. Don't you? Although the guards were family line, you're just an object with your mission and destruction. Where does this happen? Where is the end and the means? Where is the seeker? Where is attainment? I am one. Where is the knower? Where is knowing? There is the known, knowledge itself. They see that when we come to know, knowing and knowledge, the more these distinctions we feel, so it is beyond the subject-object relationship. There is an object which you perceive, therefore in that thinking you are the subject of man. Now, who is the subject of this subject to perceive this? You can see an object. What perceives this perception? We shut ourselves. Who hears hearing? Who sees sight? Not to be getting little to know, then who is aware of perception? Who is aware of the so-called movement of attention? You will find that here there is no distinction between knowing and there's no distinction between subject and object.

Where is anything? There is nothing. I am pure awareness. Where is anything? There is nothing. Where is distraction, concentration, knowledge, or delusion? Where is joy or sorrow? I am stillness. Where is distraction, concentration, knowledge, delusion? Why is he saying all of this, which is trying to talk, all this trying to get focus, mind to have these certain practices? Can you guys see? Do I see what I have? Beyond this entire way of trying to change or trying to control my attention, trying to control my senses, and to control my mind. Distraction and attention, knowledge, delusion, we talked about. There is joy or sorrow. I am stillness.

So, I want to tell you with three types of this. One is the joy of the happiness that you get which is based on objects. You have a coconut, you like the water, sweet. Now, that can come based on some objective please. Second is divine joy as you come to your unassociated presence, I Am. Notice that this is a different fragrance to the joy of your presence. There's no need for that joy. There is no need for joy indeed; it is unavoidable, which is appearance. Love, peace, and joy are your fragrance as consciousness not attaching itself to personal identity. It is empty of any object. It won't need an object of any sort to come to this final joy, that Brahmanandam, that purity of the attributeless. Yes, it is not that pure and impure duality like this. You know only the joy of existence, this joy of the Self.

We will see that the Self, its very nature is this, this ananda, qualityless ananda. How can I make sense out of that for you? You have to taste it for yourself and your presence. This joy is so all that is seemingly lead, it is to drop off Englishness for an objective sort of joy. And in its simplicity, there is nowhere for this real divine joy to go but to be in service to you. Now, peace and joy in service to your presence. Just like karma, one of the apparent ways in which this universe works is that which we keep chasing, chasing, chasing seems to run. They are just empty notions. Tell me that is not its only way that I produce. You worry about sub-tension, and the other will take care of itself. So don't worry if it's complex. Forget about three types of joy. You don't need to know this, just some ideas we might have. Simpler pointing: stay with the truth, just remain now being as you are. Nobody you can do, only you again through a personal lens it consumes.