Ashtavakra Gita Ch. 3, Vs. 9-14 Commentary and Contemplation - 11th August 2017

Whether blamed or commended, the great soul who abides in the Self, he is neither gratified nor angry. I notice again that the words 'neither gratified nor angry' do not imply that the feeling cannot come. They imply that in the witnessing of this phenomenal manifestation, there is no resistance to this. He is not saying that 'I am angry' or 'I am pleased.' The great soul witnesses his body's actions as if they were another's. How can praise or blame disturb him?

So, we have spoken about this dual teaching: realizing the universe is illusion. Having lost all curiosity, how can one of steady mind fear death? Whatever candy this phenomenal realm has to offer, even that pales in comparison to your non-phenomenal discovery. How can that be so? Your mind cannot understand. Many times in Satsang, it is said, 'I found this Self, but it is so boring, nothing happens.' This is when the recognition is given too quickly to the mind to interpret it. In reality, what is our experience? We see that any form of sensory pleasures, any form of perception, we tire of very quickly. Consciousness doesn't want to deal with it for too long. We even want to have the best thing—whether it is the best music, the best taste, the best whatever it is—constantly, but then you get bored. So, it cannot be that the discovery of yourself will have a particular quality of taste, because even that, consciousness gets very tired of.

Consciousness is made up of all the opposites. So, if it is only playing as one aspect, it will also eventually want to include the other aspect also. That is the play of consciousness within the realm of duality; it plays with every aspect. The mind is on one side of the spectrum only. The mind says, 'No, normally this should be there, only this should be there.' So then, as you're coming to the discovery of yourself, then you might struggle to use words like 'it is so still.' In yourself, you are none of these also. You are beyond purity, beyond emotion. Something of this quality-less Self, and yet it is not empty like an empty glass. Not empty in the way of an empty room. It is beyond that. It is full of the non-phenomena. It is full of the non-phenomena, that fullness from which all other things arise. All phenomena, even consciousness, arises out of that.

So, don't fall into that confusion with the emptiness that we speak of, with that kind of emptiness which is also a word in its own way. But you are not devoid of anything; it is just not phenomenal. It would be a complete waste of time if the ancient sages made this discovery that 'I found the Self and it is just like walking into an empty room.' Why would they want everyone to join them in this emptiness? It's not that kind of emptiness. It is the source of all things, including intelligence. Supreme intelligence also arises from that.

With whom can we compare the great soul who is content, whose mind is desireless in disappointment? Why should a person of steady mind, who sees the nothingness of objects, prefer one thing to another? He who is unattached, untouched by opposites, free of desire, experiences neither pleasure nor pain as events pass through. This also has some capacity for misunderstanding. Pleasure and pain will be experienced, but he will not see 'I am the experiencer' as an individual entity. There is no sufferer, there is no enjoyer as a separate entity. It is all happening in the space of your existence.