Ashtavakra Gita : contemplations on random verses

[Unseeking Seeker]

Verse 18.4 revisited on 29-December-2021

18.4
“The universe is but a thought in Consciousness
In Reality it is nothing
One who sees the true nature of existence and non-existence
never ceases to exist”


We look not askance
At consciousness in trance
For unless subject and object merge
We experience not in fullness the bliss surge
However when our attention is distilled
Voids within with God’s love filled
There remains no separation
In single pointed attention

Our consciousness expands
Higher mind instantly understands
That the universe is contained within us
All of creation but thoughts of love and animus
A dream world manifest by heart’s desire
Once cravings consigned to the pyre
All that is, is God consciousness
Absolute non-dual awareness

[Unseeking Seeker]

Verse 18.5 revisited on 08-January-2022

18.5
“The Self--which is
absolute, effortless, timeless,
immaculate-- is without limits
and at no distance from you
You are forever It”


Pristine, singular, absolute awareness
Restricted to mind-body consciousness
Is subjected to the power of maya illusion
Believing itself to be mind-body, a delusion
This dilemma being merely a hypnotic trance
From which we awake, when erect is our stance
Invoking inner polarity of both senses and thought
By resting in tranquil stillness, no longer fear fraught
Whereupon baton of our awareness reclaimed by soul
Infuses in us bliss vibrancy making us a seamless whole
Consciousness expands encasing the entire universe
Being our innate Self, so we’ve no need to rehearse
Our soul, within form, as indivisible God-essence
Purifies mind-body vessel in full luminescence
With the clear recognition that God alone is
Imbibing the rapturous magnetic bliss fizz
Partaking of here now, both the worlds
As light of truth is within us unfurled

[Miss Hepburn]

I'm still here reading. Thank you.

[Unseeking Seeker]

Originally Posted by Miss Hepburn

I'm still here reading. Thank you.

Hi, Miss H! Why don’t you write your understandings of each verse too?

[Miss Hepburn]

Originally Posted by Unseeking Seeker

Hi, Miss H! Why don’t you write your understandings of each verse too?

Ok ---they are all true! Do you think I was placed on your life
so you could deal better with disappointment?

[Unseeking Seeker]

Yes, Miss H, the non-dual truth is clear and yet unless the assimilation is flicker-free, we tend to sway a bit

[Unseeking Seeker]

Verse 18.7 to 18.8 revisited on 12-January-2022

18.7
“Seeing everything is imagination,
knowing the Self as timelessly free,
the sage lives as a child”

18.8
“Knowing himself as Absolute,
knowing existence and non-existence
to be imagination only,
what is there for the desireless one
to learn, say or do?”


What is the underlying noumena
Birthing all manifest phenomena
Self-hypnosis in the hall of mirrors
Fears and desires giving us shivers
Being but illusions we did manifest
Akin to a lucid dream playful jest

At day’s end we slip into deep sleep
Thoughts fade, bliss sinks in deep
We awake each morn sans memory
In stupor continuing our life journey
Yet while awake if we opt for silence
We reclaim divinity of our innocence

Oh worthy lama, cessation the way
Fearless, desireless, given to play
In monk mode embrace and release
Free flowing like the morning breeze
Presence within but not of the world
Sees with each breath, joy unfurled

Mind-body that hitherto was subject
Shifts into the void, thus an object
Pristine awareness free from thought
Devoid of thought, is not fear fraught
That that remains our soul presence
Blissful love and light luminescence

[Unseeking Seeker]

Verse 18.13 revisited on 21-January-2022

18.13
“The yogi who is liberated while living
has no duties in this world,
no attachments in his heart
His life proceeds without him”


When boundaries blur
There remains no ‘other’
The manifest is God alone
Even this body, we do not own
The thoughts we call ours, inspiration
Drawn into form as of heart’s resonation
Being breathed each moment by God’s grace
Knowing this the hermit slows down his life pace
Detached from outcomes, he lives in the void
In the continuum unending by love buoyed
Abiding in calm thought rested stillness
Ever entwined with the That oneness
Single pointed remains his attention
Bliss suffused, life a celebration

[Unseeking Seeker]

Verse revisited on 28-January-2022

18.28
“Beyond stillness,
beyond distraction,
the great soul thinks nothing
of liberation or bondage
Having seen the universe is void--
even though it seems to exist--
he is God”


How still is our stillness
Even in the void of oneness
If there be trace of separateness

Perceiving without presupposing
Knowing but without judging
Discerning by intuiting

Tranquil and content
In both ascent and descent
Vibrant in the divine bliss current

Graced to behold God face to face
Pure heart imbibing His grace
No puzzles left to lace

God alone is, all that is
Source of aliveness, pure bliss
One consciousness both that and this

Divine dance of separation and union
Witnessed from void of cessation
As an unending celebration

[Unseeking Seeker]

Verse 18.32 revisited on 05-February-2022

18.32
“Hearing ultimate Truth,
the dull-witted man is bewildered
The wise man hearing Truth
retreats within and appears dull-witted”


When divine wisdom in heart is sown
The hermit’s words sound like a koan
People bewildered at the monk’s delight
Bliss which he says cascades day and night
Recognition that we live in the womb of God
When affirmed leaves the populace overawed
Talk of hidden conduits with this here body form
Within which pulsates magnetic bliss currents warm
Ascension through octaves of love infusing compassion
Vibrant void like joyous stance an ever present meditation
Truth of oneness when the rest feel poignant separateness
Effusive reverence when recalling being touched by God’s hand
Open secrets hidden in plain sight most people cannot understand