Ashtavakra Gita : contemplations on random verses

[Unseeking Seeker]

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9.1
“Opposing forces,
duties done and left undone—
when does it end
and for whom?
Considering this, be ever desireless,
let go of all things,
and to the world turn an indifferent eye”

9.3
“Seeing all things as threefold suffering,
the sage becomes still
Insubstantial, transient, contemptible--
the world is fit only for rejection”


Sacrilege but we beg to differ
Based upon what we do infer
Detachment not indifference
Why anaesthetise sentience

Celebration not rejection
Exuberance not dejection
Pain may be but suffering imaginal
If we feel it is real not conjectural

As for the rest and reading between the lines
We do divine
That being not the doer there is no doing
In dynamic stillness too the Divine alone is moving

If we are here it is of our own choosing
Let our stillness then be our consciousness so accepting
Surrendering the illusionary ephemeral to the flow
Erasing negativity within to reveal our presence aglow

In stillness slow

***

[Unseeking Seeker]

10.8
“For how many lifetimes
have you done hard and painful labor
with body, mind and speech?
It is time to stop”


Ah! This entreaty
It has this ring of compassionate divinity
Emanating from a true seer moved by our plight
Enmeshed in delusion oblivious to the light

We are already free but we choose to indulge in illusion
We know our conscience is real but are addicted to delusion
Fear of freedom keeping us bound
So we reincarnate again & again upon this ground

The reality is simple in that we co-create
A partner in crime with the ego that agitates
Misaligning our attention blocking the divine connection
Reclaimable instantly in stillness of meditation

***

[Unseeking Seeker]

***

11.6
““I am not the body, nor is the body my possession—
I am Awareness itself.”

One who realizes this for certain
has no memory of things done or left undone.
There is only the Absolute.”


We now enter still waters deep
Rejecting all knowledge we so far chose to keep

The reason we invariably tend to self destruct
Is owing to sole dependence upon the mind body construct

Whilst we are endowed with the power of discrimination
We choose to be blind to reality being caught up in stagnation

Though knowing that in this world of duality everything has polarity
Only the few detached rotate images viewing their sphericality

Simply stated to exit the evident confinement
We need to bring about inner alignment

In thought & word & deed
Employing the mind-body as our steed

First we must recognise the coordinates of reference
Before plotting path of preference

Let us then begin by taking the opposing view
That the mind body is the all with thought senses & sinews

We immediately see that it is a cage bound in narrowness and limitation
Our divine connection through conscience promising boundless bliss & elation

Seeing this polarity we have on one hand the external ephemeral
And on the other the unknown but seemingly limitless internal eternal

We know we are awareness independent of senses and thought
But we are now swamped by fears & desires all ego begot

Our dilemma then akin to a drug addict
In denial of truth even if succinct

Awareness survives death of bodily form
As does Divine Love felt within as magnetism warm

The truth then clear yet the realisation elusive
For as long as we dwell in symbols and illusions allusive

No sooner we choose to internalise our consciousness
We reclaim our freedom as formless awareness

All we need to do is to use our free will
To exit delusion by keeping our attention still

Allowing our cup of joy to overspill

***

[Unseeking Seeker]

***

13.2
“The body is strained by practices
The tongue tires of scripture
The mind numbs with meditation
Detached from all this,
I live as I am”


The matrix of in-form body consciousness
Employs limited bandwidths of vibration
Perceiving with defective awareness
Interpreting in patterned grooves of stagnation

Yoga, meditation, service or devotion
The rituals and forms but offer hypnotic solace
They offer temporary peace by reinforcing ego delusion
Falling way too short of connecting with Divine grace

The root of all limitation
Lies in association with the mind body combine
If we be as we are in childlike elation
With the pulsations of the Divine we automatically align

The flow thus being in the present moment continuum
Wherein we are as we are complete
In stillness observing movement of the maya pendulum
Always with the Divine nectar replete

***

[Unseeking Seeker]

***

14.3
“I have realized the Supreme Self,
the Witness, the One
I am indifferent
to bondage and freedom.
I have no need for liberation”

14.4
“The inner condition
of one who is devoid of doubt
yet moves among creatures of illusion
can only be known by those like him”


What is realisation
What is awakening
If there remains doubt or hesitation
In conclusions arising from our contemplation
Then we are still searching
There being a gap in our so connecting
Our consciousness with supreme awareness
Blockages impeding full flow of Divine fragrance

After the initial witnessing or experiencing
There is a long road in consolidating & assimilating
The knowing
Not quite the becoming
As long as the current is intermittent
We are short of full enlightenment
And whilst the glimpses are encouraging
We need to surrender fully to cognise the Supreme all pervading

The symptoms manifest may yet be as stated as unseeking
We may be content in the Divine stream within us flowing
Yet to be truthful can we affirm the validity
Of being connected to the Source in an unbroken continuity
Being detached and desireless is an orientation laudable
But to say that we are free of doubt is a concept laughable
So whilst we patiently & trustingly await our blossoming
We are humble in confessing that we are still unseekingly seeking

***

[Unseeking Seeker]

***

15.4
“You are not the body
You do not have a body
You neither do nor enjoy
You are Awareness only--the timeless Witness
You are free
Go in happiness”

15.5
“Attachment and aversion
are attributes of the mind
You are not the mind
You are Consciousness itself--
changeless, undivided, free
Go in happiness”


The verse is simple but its import deep
We read it again until its message does seep
Signalling that we surrender all we think we know
And begin experiencing life afresh in stillness slow

Not only this but who is the experiencer
If we be a witness then who is the doer
If we be not the body then we are also not the mind
We are not the identity going through the grind

Provisionally considering this hypothesis as a possibility
We try to find a way to determine its authenticity
The method is easy if we choose by simply rotating polarity
Of the mind body construct in easy geniality

Strange as though it may sound the truth is confirmed
In deep meditation the formlessness of our awareness is discerned
We ore as one with the Universe in the boundless ocean of oneness
Although when back to duality we do feel separateness

Yes we are the witness as observing simply looking
At images upon earth wherein we too are breathing
In but not of the world we are at nonchalant ease
Allowing the Divine to unfold life as It does please

We are as such unfettered & free flowing
Unclingingly embracing-imbibing-releasing
Along with this orientation comes a continuum of bliss
We feel aligned and centred within with nothing amiss

Momentum of our past may yet bring about some oscillation
We witness that too in undiminished elation
We are indeed both happy as well as free
With childlike exuberance going about in glee

In continuity

***

[Unseeking Seeker]

***

15.6
“Realize Self in All and All in Self
Be free of personal identity
and the sense of “mine.”
Be happy”


Our consciousness in all and all in us as interconnectedness
The one in all and the all in one as one Divine awareness
The identity as personality an entity ephemeral
As such classified as an earth life interface or a vehicle
Our pristine formless awareness then in occupation of this interface
The temporary aliveness of the body our ego energised by grace
There then being no difference between form & formlessness
Between the ego consciousness and our true eternal awareness
Likewise as all such manifest distinct awarenesses entwine
Since the energy within all is sourced by the Divine

***

[Unseeking Seeker]

***

15.7
“You are That in which the universe appears
like waves appearing in the ocean
You are Consciousness itself
No need to worry”


The concept being that the world is nothing but thought
Transient and therefore necessarily unreal like a dream
Yet in truth of being resident therein what may be our retort
If our state of being rejects this even while within the Divine stream

The illusionary movie and the real unchanging screen
Both images and non images (void) of the movie imaginal
How may we then in stillness glean
The said reality beyond the mind delusional

In so far as to us revealed
Everything is energy ... vibration
Even upon piercing the veil concealed
May we not entwine with the Creator in celebration

How may we blindly accept non duality
When we do feel a separateness
Although there may be a higher reality
All we recognise is interconnectedness

In most respectful humility
We accept our present ignorance
Yet be that as it may we do resonate in compatibility
With the Divine Love pulsation in innocence

We admit that there is a gap in our cognition
Yet in the field of definitive knowing
How may we blindly join the chorus upon this suggestion
At best we rest in silence flowing & allowing

We pause at this verse of the book most holy
Humbled by the revelation oft affirmed by many a sage
Stilling our stillness within the vibrant void yet more slowly
We surrender all residual thought freezing at this page

We are as we are enlivened by Divine grace in bliss unabating
Aligned both within & without to the pulse of Love gyrating
We look at such paradoxes as plausible learning lying in waiting
Analysing not their import for we are joyous in our blossoming

***

[Unseeking Seeker]

***

Verse 15.7 revisited

“You are That in which the universe appears
like waves appearing in the ocean
You are Consciousness itself
No need to worry”


Let us look at the early days
When our fickle attention was more prone to sway
Looking back at the journey taken thus far
In observational stillness we no longer spar
Waves of thought which used to come & go
In resonance with our orientation are already slow
We are at the centre presence of innocence
Bandwidths of our focus at a higher awareness
It is clear that even where we are now is not our doing
How may a caterpillar believe that one day it will be flying
As such based upon present coordinate of reference
We make peace in enablement as interconnectedness

In stillness restful until we truly know what is oneness

***

[Unseeking Seeker]

***

15.8
“Have faith, my son, have faith
You are Awareness alone
the Self, the One
You are the Lord of Nature”

15.9
“The body is made of worldly stuff
It comes, it lingers, it goes
The Self neither comes nor goes, yet remains
Why mourn the body?”

15.10
“If the body lasts until the end of time
or perishes today—
is there gain or loss for you?
You who are Awareness?”

15.11
“Let the waves of the universe rise and fall as they will
You have nothing to gain or lose
You are the ocean”

15.12
“You are the substance of Consciousness
The world is You
Who is it that thinks
he can accept or reject it?
And where does he stand?”

15.15
“Leave behind such distinctions
as “I am He, the Self,”
and “I am not this.”
Consider everything Self
Be desireless
Be happy”

15.16
“Your ignorance alone creates the universe
In reality One alone exists
There is no person or god other than You”

15.17
“One who knows for certain
that the universe is illusion,
a no-thing,
becomes desireless,
pure Awareness,
and finds peace in the existence of nothing”


The zone of deep silence
Beyond mind
Presence in self existence
Formless space aligned

***