I Am Revealed As Awareness Alone (Ashtavakra Gita 2.18 - 2.20) - 18th October 2016

So in verse 18 of chapter 2 in the Ashtavakra Gita—and the chapter is about the joy of self-realization—Janaka says, 'I am neither free nor bound. The illusion of such things has fallen into disbelief.' So this is what we discussed today: to see that the reality of what I am, we cannot say any attribute, free or bound. It is the illusion of this bondage and the freedom from it; the illusion of this has fallen into disbelief. It's very important, you see. Disbelief means that it could still try to be sold to us that 'you are free now' or 'you are bound now.' Some idea, some concept can come, but all of this is no longer believed in. Why? Because directly we have seen our Self to be that which cannot be bound. And for that which cannot be bound, the concept of freedom does not apply to that one.

So in this is the beautiful pointer that allow everything which presumes that you are this entity—which itself implies bondage, you see, because entity implies limited, and this limited limitation is our idea of bondage—so this presumption of the entity must be allowed to fall into disbelief. Exactly what we are saying in Satsang: don't believe your thoughts, because it is only our thoughts which are telling us that we are limited, we are an entity, we are separate, we are bound, we need freedom. All of these ideas come only if the presumed entity, the presumed 'me,' is given belief. So Janaka said the illusion of such things has fallen into disbelief, see?

And then he says, 'Though I contain creation, it has no substance.' What does this mean? 'Though I contain creation, it has no substance' means it has no fundamental reality, because the real must be that which is unchanging. I contain something, you see. Where does it go when it is not there? It goes back into this. So Consciousness appears and Consciousness disappears from what? From this awareness itself. Therefore, what must I be fundamentally? Appears and disappears... I must be this awareness. Whether Consciousness appears as an aspect of myself or not, I remain this unchanging awareness. So when the Sage Janaka now says, 'Though I contain creation, it has no substance,' it means it is not separate from the reality of what I am. It is fundamentally still awareness itself. There is no separation that ever happened.

Then in verse 19 he says, 'Having seen for certain that this universe and body is without form or substance, I am revealed as awareness alone. Imagination has no place here.' Same thing. Having seen that for certain, that this universe and body is without form or substance, implying that it is not separate from the reality of what I am. Although in its qualitative play it can seem like it is real, I see the dissolution and the creation of this realm. And that light from which this realm comes, which is Consciousness itself, is it? Then I am revealed as awareness alone because it is seen that this Consciousness is nothing but this awareness itself. That which comes from 'I' and dissolves back into 'I' must be 'I' alone. That which comes from awareness and dissolves back into awareness must be made up of and continuing to be awareness alone, see?

Therefore, I am revealed now as awareness alone. Imagination has no play here, see? You find that this of Consciousness, this world of appearances—this is what I say about the two A's: the big 'A' Awareness and the small 'a' appearance—and I see that I am this awareness alone. I find that this imagery of these appearances have no place in the reality of what I am. It is just another coming and going. So this Sage is sharing his revelations from that place of true seeing where the play of light and sound, time and space, starts to lose its value, its meaning, and has no place, has no relevance in the reality of awareness.