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81 Ashtavakra Gita Quotes and Words
If you are seeking liberation, my son, avoid the objects of the senses like poison and cultivate tolerance, sincerity, compassion, contentment, and truthfulness as the antidote.
You do not consist of any of the elements — earth, water, fire, air, or even ether. To be liberated, know yourself as consisting of consciousness, the witness of these.
If only you will remain resting in consciousness, seeing yourself as distinct from the body, then even now you will become happy, peaceful and free from bonds.
You do not belong to the brahmin or any other caste, you are not at any stage, nor are you anything that the eye can see. You are unattached and formless, the witness of everything — so be happy.
Righteousness and unrighteousness, pleasure and pain are purely of the mind and are no concern of yours. You are neither the doer nor the reaper of the consequences, so you are always free.
You are the one witness of everything and are always completely free. The cause of your bondage is that you see the witness as something other than this.
Since you have been bitten by the black snake, the opinion about yourself that “I am the doer,” drink the antidote of faith in the fact that “I am not the doer,” and be happy.
Burn down the forest of ignorance with the fire of the understanding that “I am the one pure awareness,” and be happy and free from distress.
That in which all this appears is imagined like the snake in a rope; that joy, supreme joy, and awareness is what you are, so be happy.
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.”
Ashtavakra Gita Quotes and Words
Your real nature is as the one perfect, free, and actionless consciousness, the all-pervading witness — unattached to anything, desireless and at peace. It is from illusion that you seem to be involved in samsara.
Meditate on yourself as motionless awareness, free from any dualism, giving up the mistaken idea that you are just a derivative consciousness or anything external or internal.
You have long been trapped in the snare of identification with the body. Sever it with the knife of knowledge that “I am awareness,” and be happy, my son.
You are really unbound and actionless, self-illuminating and spotless already. The cause of your bondage is that you are still resorting to stilling the mind.
All of this is really filled by you and strung out in you, for what you consist of is pure awareness — so don’t be small-minded.
You are unconditioned and changeless, formless and immovable, unfathomable awareness, unperturbable: so hold to nothing but consciousness.
Recognise that the apparent is unreal, while the unmanifest is abiding. Through this initiation into truth you will escape falling into unreality again.
Just as a mirror exists everywhere both within and apart from its reflected images, so the Supreme Lord exists everywhere within and apart from this body.
Just as one and the same all-pervading space exists within and without a jar, so the eternal, everlasting God exists in the totality of things.
Knowing yourself as truly one and indestructible, how could a wise man possessing self-knowledge like you feel any pleasure in acquiring wealth?
Ashtavakra Gita Quotes and Words
Truly, when one does not know oneself, one takes pleasure in the objects of mistaken perception, just as greed arises for the mistaken silver in one who does not know mother of pearl for what it is.
All this wells up like waves in the sea. Recognising, “I am That,” why run around like someone in need?
After hearing of oneself as pure consciousness and the supremely beautiful, is one to go on lusting after sordid sexual objects?
When the sage has realised that he himself is in all beings, and all beings are in him, it is astonishing that the sense of individuality should be able to continue.
It is astonishing that a man who has reached the supreme nondual state and is intent on the benefits of liberation should still be subject to lust and in bondage to sexual activity.
It is astonishing that one already very debilitated, and knowing very well that its arousal is the enemy of knowledge, should still hanker after sensuality, even when approaching his last days.
It is astonishing that one who is unattached to the things of this world or the next, who discriminates between the permanent and the impermanent, and who longs for liberation, should still be afraid of liberation.
Whether feted or tormented, the wise man is always aware of his supreme self-nature and is neither pleased nor disappointed.
The great-souled person sees even his own body in action as if it were someone else’s, so how should he be disturbed by praise or blame?
Seeing this world as pure illusion, and devoid of any interest in it, how should the strong-minded person feel fear, even at the approach of death?
Ashtavakra Gita Quotes and Words
Who can be compared to the great-souled person whose mind is free from desire even in disappointment, and who has found satisfaction in self-knowledge?
How should a strong-minded person who knows that what he sees is by its very nature nothing, consider one thing to be grasped and another to be rejected?
An object of enjoyment that comes of itself is neither painful nor pleasurable for someone who has eliminated attachment, and who is free from dualism and from desire.
The wise person of self-knowledge, playing the game of worldly enjoyment, bears no resemblance whatever to samsara’s bewildered beasts of burden.
Truly the yogi feels no excitement even at being established in that state which all the Devas from Indra down yearn for disconsolately.
He who has known That is untouched within by good deeds or bad, just as space is not touched by smoke, however much it may appear to be.
Who can prevent the great-souled person who has known this whole world as himself from living as he pleases?
Of all four categories of beings, from Brahma down to the last clump of grass, only the man of knowledge is capable of eliminating desire and aversion.
Rare is the man who knows himself as the nondual Lord of the world, and he who knows this is not afraid of anything.
You are not bound by anything. What does a pure person like you need to renounce? Putting the complex organism to rest, you can find peace.
Ashtavakra Gita Quotes and Words
All this arises out of you, like a bubble out of the sea. Knowing yourself like this to be but one, you can find peace.
In spite of being in front of your eyes, all this, being insubstantial, does not exist in you, spotless as you are. It is an appearance like the snake in a rope, so you can find peace.
Equal in pain and in pleasure, equal in hope and in disappointment, equal in life and in death, and complete as you are, you can find peace.
I am infinite like space, and the natural world is like a jar. To know this is knowledge, and then there is neither renunciation, acceptance, or cessation of it.
I am like the ocean, and the multiplicity of objects is comparable to a wave. To know this is knowledge, and then there is neither renunciation, acceptance or cessation of it.
I am like the mother of pearl, and the imagined world is like silver. To know this is knowledge, and then there is neither renunciation, acceptance, or cessation of it.
Alternatively, I am in all beings, and all beings are in me. To know this is knowledge, and then there is neither renunciation, acceptance, or cessation of it.
Bondage is when the mind longs for something, grieves about something, rejects something, holds on to something, is pleased about something or displeased about something.
Liberation is when the mind does not long for anything, grieve about anything, reject anything, or holds on to anything, and is not pleased about anything or displeased about anything.
Bondage is when the mind is tangled in one of the senses, and liberation is when the mind is not tangled in any of the senses.
Ashtavakra Gita Quotes and Words
When there is no “me,” that is liberation, and when there is “me” there is bondage. Consider this carefully, and neither hold on to anything nor reject anything.
See yourself in all, for in truth, there is no ‘other’.
Let go of the past and future; be present in this very moment.
True wisdom is knowing the self, not just the world outside.
Desire binds, but detachment liberates the soul.
In the ocean of existence, realize you are the boundless sea.
Seek the joy within; it is not in the external, fleeting pleasures.
Realize your true self; it’s beyond the body and mind.
The wise remain calm in success and failure alike.
Freedom lies in accepting things as they are, without resistance.
Do not let the mind rule; you are beyond its fleeting thoughts.
Ashtavakra’s Words
To know yourself, look within; the answers are not in the external world.
Live spontaneously, not bound by the expectations of society.
Be still like the sky, and let thoughts pass like clouds.
Attachments bring suffering; let go, and find true peace.
Awareness is the key; observe without judgment or attachment.
Recognize the impermanence of all things; find the eternal within.
In the silence of your being, the profound truth reveals itself.
The true guru is within; seek guidance from your own inner wisdom.
See the unity in diversity; all forms arise from the same source.
Transcend duality; realize the oneness of existence.
Ashtavakra’s Words
See the truth clearly, like a bright light in the dark. The real self is beyond the body and mind.
In the ocean of life, ride the waves with calmness. True peace lies in accepting what is.
Let go of desires like leaves falling from a tree. Detach and find the eternal joy within.
Your essence is pure awareness, untouched by joy or sorrow. Realize this and be free.
The wise see unity in all, like the one sky embracing countless clouds. Embrace the diversity of life with love.
Be still like a mountain, unaffected by the storms of life. Stability comes from realizing your unchanging nature.
Do not be a slave to your thoughts. You are the silent witness, beyond the chatter of the mind.
Seek not happiness in the world, for it is fleeting. Find the everlasting joy within your own being.
Let go of the ego, the false identity. Recognize the oneness of all and dissolve into the boundless.
Live in the present moment, for that is where true freedom resides. The past is gone, and the future is yet to come.
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