The Ashtavakra Gita is an ancient Indian philosophical text that presents a dialogue between the sage(women) medicago sativa Alfalfa infusions provide high-quali… More Ashtavakra and King Janaka. The text is the instruction for achieving self-realization by practicing three steps: repetition, reflection, realization, as taught by Yoganada.

The central theme of the Ashtavakra Gita revolves around the nature of the self (Atman) and the illusion of the material world (Maya). Ashtavakra teaches that true liberation comes from understanding that one’s true essence is distinct from the body and mind. This realization leads to the insight that suffering arises from attachment to the transient aspects of life. The text challenges readers to question their perceptions and beliefs about reality, inviting them to look beyond the dualistic nature of existence.

The Ashtavakra Gita emphasizes the importance of detachment and contentment. Ashtavakra advocates for a life free from desires and attachments, suggesting that true happiness is found within, rather than in external circumstances. This perspective encourages readers to cultivate inner peace and embrace simplicity, ultimately leading to spiritual freedom. The dialogues are rich with wisdom, encouraging a shift in consciousnessIn all its forms and protean manifestations, consciousness i… More that prioritizes self-awareness over worldly pursuits.

Lessons from the Ashtavakra Gita

In the Ashtavakra Gita, Maya is portrayed as a fundamental concept that illustrates the difference between the transient material world and the eternal truth of the self. Recognizing and understanding Maya is crucial for spiritual growth, as it allows individuals to detach from illusions and embrace the deeper reality of existence. The teachings encourage seekers to cultivate awareness, wisdom, and inner peace, ultimately leading to liberation from the cycle of birth and death. Overcoming Maya is essential for achieving liberation from Samsara, the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. Here’s how this process unfolds:

1. Understanding Maya
   Maya represents the illusionary nature of the material world, where individuals become attached to their identities, desires, and worldly experiences. This attachment creates a false sense of self, leading to ignorance about one’s true nature, which is eternal and unchanging (Atman). Recognizing that Maya is an illusion is the first step toward liberation.
2. Detachment from Illusions
   When individuals begin to see through the veil of Maya, they cultivate detachment from their desires, possessions, and even relationships based on ego. This detachment allows them to transcend the emotional and psychological turmoil that comes from clinging to the transient aspects of life. The realization that these attachments are temporary helps in reducing suffering and anxietyBacopa monniera • analgesic
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3. Awakening to True Self
   Overcoming Maya leads to a deeper understanding of the true self (Atman), which is beyond physical and mental limitations. This awakening shifts the focus from external validation and material pursuits to inner peace and self-realization. Recognizing oneself as part of the universal consciousnessIn all its forms and protean manifestations, consciousness i… More fosters a sense of unity with all beings, diminishing the barriers that Maya creates.
4. Breaking the Cycle of Samsara
   As individuals detach from the illusions of Maya and recognize their true nature, they reduce their karmic entanglements—actions driven by ignorance and desire. This reduction in karma is crucial, as it lessens the bonds that tie one to the cycle of Samsara. When the cycle of cause and effect (karma) is understood and transcended, the soul no longer needs to reincarnate, thus achieving liberation (MokshaFrom the latin word absolutum, meaning freed, unloosed. In s… More).
5. Experiencing Liberation (MokshaFrom the latin word absolutum, meaning freed, unloosed. In s… More)
   Ultimately, liberation from Samsara is the realization of one’s eternal, unconditioned state. This state is characterized by bliss, peace, and the absence of suffering. Once Maya is overcome, individuals experience a profound sense of freedom and liberation, no longer bound by the cycles of birth and rebirth. This liberation is the culmination of the spiritual journey, where the seeker realizes their oneness with the absoluteFrom the latin word absolutum, meaning freed, unloosed. In s… More reality.

Here, we can see the structure in which we can truly break free by using the threefold process (repetition, reflection, realization) on each stanza at a time in chapter One:

Instruction on Self-Realizing

1. Vision of the Self As the All Pervading Witness

(1.1) O MasterOne who is skilled in the Wisdom of life, or one who is no l… More, Tell me how to find Detachment, wisdom, and freedom!

(1.2) Child, If you wish to be free, Shun the poison of the senses.
Seek the nectar of truth, Of love and forgiveness, Simplicity and happiness.

Earth, fire and water,The wind and the sky – You are none of these.

(1.3) If you wish to be free, Know you are the Self, The witness of all these, The heart of awareness.

(1.4) Set your body aside. Sit in your own awareness. You will at once be happy, Forever still, Forever free.

(1.5) You have no caste. No duties bind you. Formless and free, Beyond the reach of the senses, The witness of all things. So be happy!

(1.6) Right or wrong, Joy and sorrow, These are of the mind only. They are not yours. It is not really you Who acts or enjoys. You are everywhere, Forever free.

(1.7) Forever and truly free, The single witness of all things. But if you see yourself as separate, Then you are bound.

(1.8) “I do this. I do that.” The big black snake of selfishness Has bitten you! “I do nothing.” This is the nectar of faith, So drink and be happy!

Know you are one, Pure awareness.

(1.9) With the fire of this conviction, Burn down the forest of ignorance. Free yourself from sorrow, And be happy.

(1.10) Be happy! For you are joy, unbounded joy. You are awareness itself. Just as a coil of rope Is mistaken for a snake, So you are mistaken for the world.

(1.11) If you think you are free, You are free. If you think you are bound, You are bound. For the saying is true: You are what you think.

(1.12) The Self looks like the world.
But this is just an illusion.
The Self is everywhere.
One.
Still.
Free.
Perfect.
The witness of all things,
Awareness
Without action, clinging or desire. 

(1.13) Meditate on the Self. One without two, Exalted awareness. Give up the illusion of the separate self. Give up the feeling, Within or without, That you are this or that.

(1.14) My child, Because you think you are the body,
For a long time you have been bound. Know you are pure awareness. With this knowledge as your sword Cut through your chains. And be happy!

(1.15) For you are already free, Without action or flaw, Luminous and bright. You are bound only by the habit of meditation.

(1.16) Your nature is pure awareness.You are flowing in all things,
And all things are flowing in you. But beware the narrowness of the mind!

(1.17) You are always the same, Unfathomable awareness,
Limitless and free, Serene and unperturbed. Desire only your own awareness.

(1.18) Whatever takes form is false. Only the formless endures.
When you understand The truth of this teaching, You will not be born again.

(1.19) For God is infinite, Within the body and without, Like a mirror, And the image in a mirror.

(1.20) As the air is everywhere, Flowing around a pot And filling it,
So God is everywhere, Filling all things And flowing through them forever.

The song unfolds into deeper and deeper realization, similar to a lotus blossoming on the still water of a lake. Without interruptions, you can see the subtle ripples slowly expand across the face of the water. This is akin to how consciousnessIn all its forms and protean manifestations, consciousness i… More unfolds. We get a better sense by repeating this same process in the following chapters:

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2. The Joy of Self-Realizing

The Infinite Self beyond Nature (Awareness) is discussed as light discovering itself and loving its shining glory, and removing the identification of the physical lower self. (The small “i” as discussed in gnosticismHarmozel, also called Armozel is one of the four Great Light… More, or the id in modern psychology).

3. Test of Self-Realizing

The Self in All and All In The Self is broken down as the infinite not being able to be dualized, shattering the perception we all have of duality: right v wrong; hot v cold; dark v light – these are all constructs of the physical mind, whereas realizing the Self requires one to re-unite to complete “one-ness” all things, thus achieving liberation from desire. Desire itself, in the spiritual realm, is the currency used for “trade” which manifests on this lower realm distorted as the inverted tri-unity (lust, angerA major affliction, one of the three poisons in Buddhism…. More, greed)

4. The Glorification of Self-Realizing

the Knower and the non-Knower of Self = the wise man knows the Self and plays the Game of Life; the fool lives in the world like a beast of burden, enslaving himself to foolish desires of physical boons. He then makes a living out of non-living, working for achievements, automobiles, houses and jewels – never knowing the Jewels of his own true Self.

5. The Four ways to Dissolution

Stages of dissolution of ConsciousnessIn all its forms and protean manifestations, consciousness i… More

Just as man sees a black snake out of the corner of his eye and strikes it with a stick in fear, only to find out it is just a moldy rope – One must see the World for what it is, and dissolve the i.

6. The Higher Knowledge

Irrelevance of Dissolution of COnsciousnessIn all its forms and protean manifestations, consciousness i… More

One must then come to comprehend that there is nothing to comprehend, there is no consciousnessIn all its forms and protean manifestations, consciousness i… More to dissolve. There is nothing to grasp, there is nothing to release.

7. Nature of Self-Realizing

The tranquil and boundless ocean of the Self.

“I am not in the world, the world is not in me.” The World is a magic show, and the Universe is a Game of Dice.

8. Bondage/Liberation

When the mind becomes attracted to something in the dice game, it is bound. When there is no attraction one becomes free.

9. Detatchment

Indifference

Nothing lasts, nothing is real. Once one gives up the desire for pleasure and knowledge, for life itself, he returns to his true Self.

10. Quietude

Desire is the binding agent that is wagered in the dice game. A man spends his whole life building his Kingdom, aquiring things, being married, having children, only for it all to be lost. Life cycle after life cycle. All of this is just noise, separating the Self from stillness. Even a million years of bliss is suffering, for there is no escape from it. Nothing else but bliss, no silence, no non-silence. No variance.

11. Wisdom

Stillness – self as pure and radiant intelligence

All things arise, suffer change, and pass away. Whom is the witness to these events? Who is the one who remains after everything else has passed? God made all things. There is only God. Clinging on to no thing, one becomes still. Trying to achieve stillness is still clinging to desire, and having desire is still being as a slave.

12. Abiding in The Self

Ascent of Contemplation

“First, I gave up action. Then idle words. And lastly, thought itself. Now I am here.” – 12.1. Doing and not doing are both action. Both come from not-knowing. Knowing this fully, I am here. – 12.6

13. Happiness

As many brilliant scientists have all discovered, both in ancient days and modern time, for every action there is a cause. For every cause there is an action. For every action there is also an equal, yet opposite re-action. Pleasure comes and then it leaves you. Pain comes, and then she subsides. Once you forsake all of these things, now you are happy.

14. Tranquility

Natural Dissolution of the Mind

Being empty in nature, the mind is awake even in sleeping. Without thinking, One thinks.

15. Knowing the Self

Unborn Self or BrahmanSanskrit T is derived from the root bṛh meaning ‘to expa… More – the clear space of awareness

I once had a profound experience with Lord Krisna, where my non-physical entity was performing some action for the Lord. I was not “physically” present in the action, rather – I was witnessing the scene from the side. Ive had numerous occasions of NDEs and OBE’s which have all taught me the same wisdom: You are NOT your body. Any of your bodies. Your body is not you. Those thoughts, are not yours. These feelings are not yours to enjoy, and all actions are not yours to perform. You are the pure Awareness.

16. Special Instruction

Forget Everything

As Bruce Lee masterfully demonstrated, you must empty your mind. We spend lifetimes devouring knowledge from scripture, chanting mantras, and spreading the good news, only to suffer the pains of losing it all.

17. The True Knower

Beyond All – AbsoluteFrom the latin word absolutum, meaning freed, unloosed. In s… More Aloneness of the Self

How can there be an I, if there is nothing else? What then is “else” but a fantasy? If there is only the is, there can not be anything that isn’t, isn’t it?

18. Peace

Way and Goal of Natural Samadhi

Many thousand lifetimes are spent meditating on God, One visualizing Himself to be Himself, not realizing there is only One without a second – so there is no One to whom you can meditate on.

19. Repose in the Self

Majesty of the Self

There is nothing pleasing or displeasing, only my radiance. Dissolving the mind, the highest meditation, means nothing. There is only my radiance

20. Liberation in Life

Transcendence of the Self

There is nothing to be bonded to, or to be free of. There is only the Self.