Ashtavakra Samhita - Session 1

[Bentinho Massaro]

I will post here in parts the entire Samhita of Ashtavakra. I consider these words, this gita, these sutras, as one of the most valuable. They teach and induce the immediate teaching, the Pathless Path and the Way not bound by Causality.

I would like to hear any comments, thoughts, explanations and questions you might have about these parts of the Ashtavakra Samhita.

It is a dialog between the 12 year old enlightened master Ashtavakra and his disciple King Janak. Allow these words to penetrate you as you read them while being open, centered and relaxed.

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Here is the first (1/5) part:

Janak Asked: "Oh Lord, how does one attain to wisdom? How does liberation happen? And how is non-attachment attained? Please tell me this."

Ashtavakra replied: "Oh beloved, if you want liberation then renounce the passions as poison, and take forgiveness, innocence, compassion, contentment and truth as nectar. To attain liberation, know yourself as the witnessing consciousness of all these.

If you can seperate yourself from your physical body and rest in consciousness, then this very moment you will be happy, at peace and free of bondage.

You are not a Brahmin or any other caste, you are not in any of the four stages of life, you are not perceived by the eyes or other senses. Unattached and without form, You are the witness of the whole universe. Know this and be happy.

Oh expansive one, religion and atheism, happiness and misery - all are of the mind, they are not for you. You are not the doer nor the enjoyer. You have always been liberated."

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>> Continue to Part 2

[Srivathsan]

Have got a bit doubt on being called the Brahman, just a witness, 'I am not the doer', etc.

My base query is if I am not the doer & everything happens only according to the divine will, why at all the cause for creation of this illusory world. What is the purpose behind all these mesiries. I accept that I am the all pervasive brahman. But I am not made to lead this life realising my true self. I am not responsible for not realising my real self. Because I am not the doer. I am just a witness to the divine will. Why I (the unrealised self) am made to suffer for no will of mine. If this is jus a puppet show, y at all this show making the unrealised souls suffer in the socalled illusion.

Please enlighten me.

Love, Srivathsan

[Bentinho Massaro]

Hey there Srivathsan, welcome to our forum .

My base query is if I am not the doer & everything happens only according to the divine will, why at all the cause for creation of this illusory world. What is the purpose behind all these mesiries.

It is always a bit dangerous for me to make statements about the cause for creation and why evolution happens and the beginning of the universe and these kind of queries. These are questions that cannot be dealt with on a logical level. There will always be sides to pick, counterstatements and arguments to make. We cannot reason our way out of this query. It is too philosophical in nature to find a definitive answer.

However, as you become more and more aware and free as your own essence, you'll start to understand these things more and more in your own experience. I cannot state a simple answer to why there is the creation of the illusory world but I can say that I belief there to be creation of this form-filled world for consciousness to get to know itself. Primordial Awareness 'wanted' a mirror so it could be reflected in all these forms and thus start discovering itself. More than this I cannot really state about it. If you are not satisfied with this, let me know.

Even though your questions are very good ones, they aren't really significant queries to discuss because it doesn't help you with your inner transformation even if you would knew the answers. This is why these questions about the nature of the universe are philosophical in nature. I prefer to talk about the practicalities of our very own awareness as we have to deal with it here and now.

I accept that I am the all pervasive brahman.

How deep exactly goes your acceptance? I can accept a lot of things mentally by saying: "Ok I like that concept, or I belief it is probably true, so I will accept that." This is only the beginning of acceptance. Acceptance has to truly run through your veins in order to benefit from it. It has to be a surrender so complete before it can transform you.

But I am not made to lead this life realising my true self. I am not responsible for not realising my real self. Because I am not the doer.

Why are you not made to realize your true Self? Because you are not the doer? That statement that you are not the doer and the fact that you should realize your self are 2 co-existing and cooperative truths. One does not mean you cannot do the other. The statement that you are not the doer does not mean that you are no longer responsible for your life. It does not mean you can no longer make choices by yourself.

I would like to ask you to drop the idea of a divine will for a moment. I have found that it limits the freedom of many people because it becomes a religious conditioning. I do not say there is or is not a Divine will. Again this is highly philosophical in nature and I don't like to go that way too much now because it would not help anyone. Divine will is just a concept to us humans when we think about it. It is not beneficial to try and form a complete and perfect mental concept of a truth or principle so vast and profound. It will dawn in our own experience in time. So for now, please try to let it go a bit.

What does it mean "I am not the doer"?

It simply means that whatever is happening, whatever you are actually seem to be doing, the true you isn't doing any of that. Life is just a happening. Things happen, they pass through your awareness.

Try to see it like this: If you can become aware of something, if you can witness something, that means you are free from that something in essence. Keep in mind that in reality all things are you, but you are not one of these things. It is all about identifying. It is important to decide with what to identify if anything at all. Don't create a separation like: "Oh I am here witnessing and everything else is not me." Because everything is within your field of awareness.

So when you are for example riding a bike, become aware of the process of riding the bike. Be a witness of the process. By seeing it like this, you will see that you are not riding the bike, it is happening in itself and you are just perceiving; being present. Awareness is not doing anything. Awareness is merely containing and maintaining the entirety of the universe for eternity. Everything that happens within this beingness of awareness is the expression and creation of awareness, but awareness is not in any way dependent, involved or limited by these forms. That's what is meant by "you are not the doer."

If you allow that sentence to seep in your system ("you are not the doer"), it will actually have a very liberating effect on you. There was a period in my life where I used it many times. Everytime I would feel the stress of trying to reach something, attain something, or do something, I would remind myself that "I am not the doer, this is just happening within my field of awareness" and there was immediate relief most of the times.

Why I (the unrealised self) am made to suffer for no will of mine. If this is jus a puppet show, why at all this show making the unrealised souls suffer in the socalled illusion.

We suffer because we belief to be the doer. Because of that we get entangled, we get involved in all these forms and shapes of creation. When we realize this and just kinda sit back and enjoy the movie, whether sad or happy images pop by, we just sit back in our divine cinema chair, we won't suffer. We will realize ourselves to be free all the time, also during painful thoughts or emotions. All appearances are free, empty expressions of awareness. 'Empty' meaning that they don;t have an identity or nature of their own. They are themselves Pure Awareness.

If you or anyone else have any questions, new insights to share, or some comments, they are all welcome.

With great Love,
Bentinho

[JoeRoger]

I would just like to say that this particular text made a great impression on me. I read it about a year ago when I was studying the yogasutra and other related writings that are related to yoga. It's a great piece of wisdom.

Best regards,
JoeRoger

[Om Ganesha]

If you can seperate yourself from your physical body and rest in consciousness, then this very moment you will be happy, at peace and free of bondage.
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The truth of this whole question is locked up in above quoted piece. This condition which Ashtavakra refers to is available to us once we have separate ourselves from the physical body. We all know that true separation of the physical body is only possible through death, at most what most of us can do is to realise that we are not our body and all its emotions and mental faculties. Once this awareness is part of your thinking and life, then you can enjoy greater peace and happiness. So while we are here in bondage the only thing we can do is to wait for that moment of true liberation, namely death.