A collection of teachings from Ashtavakra Gita.
One who considers oneself free is free indeed, and one who considers oneself bound remains bound. ‘As one thinks, so one becomes’ is a popular saying in this world, which is really true.
One who considers oneself free is free indeed, and one who considers oneself bound remains bound. ‘As one thinks, so one becomes’ is a popular saying in this world, which is really true.
Oh, duality is the root of misery. There is no other remedy for it except the realization that all objects of experience are false and that I am one and pure, intelligence and bliss.
What is it that does not close its eyes even while sleeping?
Ashtavakra – Fish (the ever-conscious soul) never closes its eyelids while sleeping.
What is it that does not move even when born?
Ashtavakra – an egg does not move when laid
What is it that has no heart?
Ashtavakra – stone (soul that has left the body) has no heart
What does increase even in its own speed?
Ashtavakra – A river (heart of a yogi) increases in its own speed.’
Give up the idea that you are separate, a person, that there is within and without.
If you think you are free You are free. If you think you are bound You are bound. For the saying is true You are what you think.
Having realized yourself as That in which the waves of the world rise and fall, why do you run around in turmoil?
A great soul witnesses his body’s actions as if they were another’s. How can praise or blame disturb him?
How much pleasure you take in acquiring possessions! But to find happiness You must give them all up.
The essential nature of bondage is nothing other than desire, and its elimination is known as liberation. It is simply by not being attached to changing things that the everlasting joy of attainment is reached.
Oh, how wonderful! I am awareness itself! No Less.
If one thinks of oneself as free, one is free, and if one thinks of oneself as bound, one is bound. Here this saying is true “Thinking makes it so.”
One who has finally learned that it is in the nature of objects to come and go without ceasing, rests in detachment and is no longer subject to suffering.
From ignorance of oneself, the world appears, and by knowledge of oneself it appears no longer. From ignorance of the rope a snake appears, and by knowledge of it it appears no longer.
From ignorance of oneself, the world appears, and by knowledge of oneself it appears no longer. From ignorance of the rope a snake appears, and by knowledge of it it appears no longer.
All this, which has originated out of me, is resolved back into me too, like a jug back into clay, a wave into water, and a bracelet into gold.
Knowledge, what is to be known, and the knower – these three do not exist in reality. I am the spotless reality in which they appear because of ignorance.
Truly dualism is the root of suffering. There is no other remedy for it than the realisation that all this that we see is unreal, and that I am the one stainless reality, consisting of consciousness.
You are the one observer of all and in reality always free.
You are the one observer of all and in reality always free.
Your bondage is this – you see the other, not yourself, as the observer and the doer; thus has the black snake of ego bitten you.
I am not the doer. Drink this divine nectar of fruit and be happy.
I am the one pure awareness, thus I have burnt the forest of your ignorance with this fire of certainty.
Being beyond sorrow, be happy. You are that bliss, that ultimate bliss within which this imaginary world is project, like a snake and a rope. Knowing this, wander happily.
He who considers himself free is free, and he who considers himself bound is bound, because in this world the proverb is true, “As you think, so you are.”
The soul is the witness, all pervading one, free consciousness; free from doing, absolutely alone, non-attached, desireless, peaceful.
Because of illusion it looks like the world. I am an individually protected life. Drop this illusion and also this feeling of inner and outer, and awaken in the thought that you are the unchanging, conscious, and non-dual soul.
Sage Ashtavakra tells Janaka that if he desires to obtain liberation, he should renounce all material objects as poison, and cultivate the qualities of mercy, straightforwardness, compassion, contentment and truthfulness as if they were nectar.
The seeker must understand that the individual self is distinct from all material objects and is identical with the supreme self, the Brahman which is pure consciousness.
The common man gets trapped in the mire of baser feelings and emotions. It is therefore necessary that he should understand the distinctness of the Self from the baser passions.
For this one should realize that the world is nothing more than the wrong identification of the rope with snake due to darkness and that the appearances in the world are a juggler’s trick.
Beyond that all activity ceases, because in it all goals are reached and all purposes fulfilled."
Janaka Ashtavakra Dialogue on Ultimate Reality
King Janaka said [to his guru, Ashtavakra]
"Yes, I am neither king nor beggar, I am the dispassionate witness.
The Guru said: This is your last illusion, that you are a gnani, that you are different from, and superior to, the common man. Again you identify yourself with your mind, in this case a well-behaved and in every way an exemplary mind.
As long as you see the least difference, you are a stranger to reality. You are on the level of the mind.
When the 'I am myself' goes, the 'I am all' comes.
When the 'I am all' goes, 'I am' comes.
When even 'I am' goes, reality alone is and in it every 'I am' is preserved and glorified.
Diversity without separateness is the Ultimate that the mind can touch.