You are the Solitary Witness (Ashtavakra Gita 1.7) - 8th October 2016

Verse number seven where the Sage says: 'You are the solitary witness of all that is, forever free. Your only bondage is not seeing this.' A very beautiful verse. Every word has been put in this scripture with a lot of care, you see. And if you just read it like this, itself is very beautiful. But when we unpack it now, you'll see how much beauty there is in this verse.

You are the solitary witness. You. It is not talking to anyone but you, because you are all there is. The solitary witness. It doesn't say you are just 'the witness'; it says you are the solitary witness. But for the mind, this is a very scary idea. It's a very lonely idea, that if I'm alone, then that is the worst thing. But actually, it is not speaking to the mind in that way. It is speaking to that from which all things arise, all beings arise. So it is not lonely; it is the opposite of lonely. It is full of this potential for experiencing this realm. So solitary is not bad news. Solitary shows you that all of this is one. This is one seeing which gives rise to one being, one witnessing in which this one being is born. And that, that is who it is: You.

Now, all of this is about you. You are projecting this dream to play the game of waking up right now. So he says, 'You are the solitary witness of all that is.' This is also a very important line. You are the witness of all that is. That means that which you witness now is all that is. You are the witness of the entire phenomenal universe. You are the solitary witness of all that is. So all that is, is just this, you see.

Just like in the dream, you might have a dream which is there, you are surrounded by people, and then you get a newspaper which says that in New York this is what happened, you see. So is there a dream New York? Only if you decide to then project it and witness that. Until that doesn't happen, it does not exist. I know it's a bit much for the mind. So all that you are the witness of is all that exists. So this phenomenal universe is playing within you, and this is all that is. So you are the solitary witness of this, forever free. It's not possible at all to be bound.