Ashtavakra Gita ~ commentary on random verses

[unseekingseeker]

15.7

“You are That in which the universe appears 

like waves appearing in the ocean

You are Consciousness itself

No need to worry”

From our here and now vantage point

Breath by breath as bliss we self-anoint

Simply abiding in thought rested stillness 

Formless soul presence one with oneness

Head and heart align with pulsations divine

Bliss throbs heighten, for which lovers pine

As a hue of divine sublime love pulsation

Yet far cry still is wisdom assimilation

Glimpses of truth shown as a teaser

Light that flickers, not heart appeaser

For merely knowing, not quite becoming

In a sea of darkness, we are still swimming

For although we know that God is omnipresent 

We yet grant not love unconditional consent

Blockages within veil divine love and light

Enabled not yet is clear spherical sight

We witness oscillations of our heart

From ego spawned delusion yet to part

During samadhi, the universe disappears 

On entering mind-body, duality reappears

God alone the doer, we are all receptors

As bliss percolates our body vectors

The underlying truth of oneness is clear

Yet we still cling to desires, ego holds dear

Oh worthy lama, we are yet to fully become 

One with the That oneness, as light of the sun

[unseekingseeker]

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”

Let’s begin then, by exiting self-hypnosis

Enslavement to lower mind

Melding mind, soul, spirit, Perichoresis 

Exiting narrow thoughts that bind

Our innate aliveness, where is it located

Is it in the head or the heart

Desire enmeshed thought, has us agitated

Until we add love to cart

Head and heart meld, in a stillness continuum 

Devoid of thought, fears and desires recede

There remains in mind-body, no ego residuum 

Layer by layer, erst habit patterns we weed

There is no thought, yet our awareness remains

Poised in the void in childlike wonderment 

Soul cleansed of feral stains, measuring not gains

Magnetised, reveals innate essence luminescent 

We may call this Holy Spirit, kundalini or grace

There is no one now within, to assign any label

In timeless time, we may see God face to face

Inner alignment being all it takes for this miracle 

Becoming the answer, we need no translator 

Yet the light that already is, we cannot transmit

Ceasing to be a doer, as a humble receptor

Know God in-dwells all, when we cease to resist

[unseekingseeker]

16.7

“As long as there is desire--

which is the absence of discrimination-- 

there will be attachment and non-attachment

This is the cause of the world”

16.8

“Indulgence creates attachment

Aversion creates abstinence

Like a child, the sage is free of both 

and thus lives on as a child”

Desire, the cause of manifestation 

Aversion, the opposing force of repulsion

Oscillation between the two, cause of suffering

Unless we vaporise seeking God in a burning yearning

The mindful eye cognises flickers of aversion and desire

Head melds with heart, then God is all we aspire

We entwine with universal consciousness 

In a continuum of blissful stillness 

Subject-object merge to become one 

Boundless love and light of the spiritual sun

As indivisible God essence, our soul luminescent 

Transmutes in permanence into its native divine element

Likening the world to a lucid dream, from which we awake

Liberated while alive, the sage lives for love’s sake

In but not of the world, like the vibrant void

Moment to moment, by God buoyed

[unseekingseeker]

17.17

“The liberated one

neither avoids experience nor craves it

He enjoys what comes and what does not”

17.18

“The sage is not conflicted

by states of stillness and thought

His mind is empty

His home is the Absolute”

distilling attention

till no attribute remains 

an orientation of celebration 

there then within, no dark stains

that that comes and goes unreal

save throb of the bliss thunder

renewing rapturous appeal

rising from down under

satchitananda the truth

known when we come undone 

melding with the current forsooth 

mind-body, soul and spirit become one

nodes within stir and boundaries blur

between form and formlessness 

we concur to energy transfer

entwined with oneness

embrace and release 

offerings to our aliveness 

flowing like the morning breeze

blissful and tranquil is consciousness

[unseekingseeker]

17.20

“The sage is free

His empty mind no longer projects 

delusion, dreaming, dullness

This state is indescribable”

Once we choose

To sidestep ego ruse

Shifting from the external

Into the vibrant void internal

Abiding in thought rested quietude

Stillness stretched with fortitude

Mind is then but an instrument 

Consequently ego decadent

Thus, devoid of desire

Our heart all afire

No one within remains

Save presence unstained

Magnetism pervades our form

Felt as rapturous bliss currents warm

We may call this divine assistance 

To exhume residue of resistance 

Thus we remain God fixated

Through day and night elated 

Boundaries blur, void and we one

We do nothing, yet all doings are done 

Inner polarities of our senses awake 

Kundalini energy gives us a shake 

We thus be in dynamic stillness 

Entwined with That oneness 

In but not of the world, we yawn

Each heartbeat ushers a new dawn

[unseekingseeker]

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

[unseekingseeker]

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

[unseekingseeker]

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

[unseekingseeker]

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

[unseekingseeker]

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”

Doing nothing, simply present

We are as are in our native element 

Mindful eye of each pulsation cognisant

Body ages, memory fades, we learn

Misaligned from love, suffer, burn

Narrow cravings of ego upturn

God omnipresent, here within

Silence the void, where we begin

Feeling then, bliss throb on our skin 

Ceasing to weigh and size, we vaporise

Receptive to each offered surprise 

Feel oh hermit, magnetism rise

Exiting limited mind borne doership

Head-heart melds ending one-upmanship

Through day and night unending our worship 

We negate not this here mind-body combine 

Simply ceasing doing, with love we align

Playing earth role as God does assign

Nothing to be done, we’re bliss replete

Nodes within dance to the divine love beat

As magically rises within us, magnetic bliss heat

[unseekingseeker]

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”

Mere affirmation

Not a confirmation 

Although we confess

That there’s been progress 

With glimpses offered

Wisdom proffered

In a slow tease

That does please

Essence of presence

Blissful joyous innocence 

Knowing God in-dwells each form

Birthing magnetic rapture warm

No sooner ego disappears 

God Himself appears

The way is simple 

Though mind fickle

Once it melds with heart

Feel therein bliss ignition start

Soma nectar flows through nadis

Heightened ecstatic joy in continuity

Each pore a door, do we yet need more

There is no one here keeping a score 

All is, as is, a bliss continuum 

Each node our sensorium 

Love meads, we follow

In stillness mellow

[unseekingseeker]

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 are 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

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

How complete is our surrender

How pristine is our childlike wonder

Resting both thought and memory imagery

Divine aligned, vibrant yet sedentary 

Neither seeking nor resisting

Each life pulse delighting

Here and now, in the flesh we stand

Astonished to see awareness expand

Extending to limits of boundless space

Seeing all forms breathed by His grace

Ending forever delusion of separateness 

As consciousness entwines with oneness

Back here in form, we plot heart’s impulse

Desiring bliss permanence here now at once

Oscillating between desire and aversion 

Illusion indulgence birthing delusion

Witness the periphery from the centre

Cognising all misaligned ego forms canter

Internal eternal, whilst external ephemeral 

Enter silence dwelling in calm continual

Ceasing to weigh and size, vaporise

Resistanceless to offered surprise

Whereupon as in but not of the world 

Delight in unfoldment as bliss is unfurled

Relegating mind-body as but an instrument 

We abide in soul presence luminescent 

Head melds with heart, love aligned

All doings done, nothing to be divined

In occupation of assigned earth life vessel

Centred in the void, we behold God’s miracle

[unseekingseeker]

15.6

“Realize Self in All and All in Self

Be free of personal identity

and the sense of “mine.”

Be happy”

Heart aglow

In stillness slow

In-form consciousness 

Melds with the That oneness

As we be tranquil and still

Allowing God to instil

Wisdom deep

As we take the leap

Into the dark, vibrant void

Wherein by love divine buoyed

We garner deep wisdom

Within body prism

That God omnipresent 

Omniscient and omnipotent 

Breathes His life force in each form

Manifest as aliveness warm

Immediate and intimate

As heart to love does gyrate

In a play of union and separation

Wherein the search births bliss elation

God alone is, nothing else is

All pervading bliss fizz

Our this here identity

In divine entwined serenity

Recognises ego as dream object

Brought forth by God-dreamer, subject

Mind-body energised by His life

Our innate awareness rife

There then thus no difference

Between aspects of luminescence 

Varied love hues but spiritual light white

Manifest as rainbow solely for delight

Once our will to love pulse bends

Purpose of dream life ends

[unseekingseeker]

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”

Doing nothing, simply present

We are as are in our native element 

Mindful eye of each pulsation cognisant

Body ages, memory fades, we learn

Misaligned from love, suffer, burn

Narrow cravings of ego upturn

God omnipresent, here within

Silence the void, where we begin

Feeling then, bliss throb on our skin 

Ceasing to weigh and size, we vaporise

Receptive to each offered surprise 

Feel oh hermit, magnetism rise

Exiting limited mind borne doership

Head-heart melds ending one-upmanship

Through day and night unending our worship 

We negate not this here mind-body combine 

Simply ceasing doing, with love we align

Playing earth role as God does assign

Nothing to be done, we’re bliss replete

Nodes within dance to the divine love beat

As magically rises within us, magnetic bliss heat

[unseekingseeker]

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”

Mere affirmation

Not a confirmation 

Although we confess

That there’s been progress 

With glimpses offered

Wisdom proffered

In a slow tease

That does please

Essence of presence

Blissful joyous innocence 

Knowing God in-dwells each form

Birthing magnetic rapture warm

No sooner ego disappears 

God Himself appears

The way is simple 

Though mind fickle

Once it melds with heart

Feel therein bliss ignition start

Soma nectar flows through nadis

Heightened ecstatic joy in continuity

Each pore a door, do we yet need more

There is no one here keeping a score 

All is, as is, a bliss continuum 

Each node our sensorium 

Love meads, we follow

In stillness mellow