Observations placeholder

1: Instruction on Self-Realization

Janaka said: 1.1 Master, how is Knowledge to be achieved, detachment acquired, liberation attained?

Ashtavakra said: 1.2 To be free, shun the experiences of the senses like poison. Turn your attention to forgiveness, sincerity, kindness, simplicity, truth.

1.3 You are not earth, water, fire or air. Nor are you empty space. Liberation is to know yourself as Awareness alone— the Witness of these.

1.4 Abide in Awareness with no illusion of person. You will be instantly free and at peace.

1.5 You have no caste or duties. You are invisible, unattached, formless. You are the Witness of all things. Be happy.

1.6 Right and wrong, pleasure and pain, exist in mind only. They are not your concern. You neither do nor enjoy. You are free.

1.7 You are the Solitary Witness of All That Is, forever free. Your only bondage is not seeing This.

1.8 The thought: “I am the doer” is the bite of a poisonous snake. To know: “I do nothing” is the wisdom of faith. Be happy.

1.9 A single understanding: “I am the One Awareness,” consumes all suffering in the fire of an instant. Be happy.

1.10 You are unbounded Awareness— Bliss, Supreme Bliss-- in which the universe appears like the mirage of a snake in a rope. Be happy.

1.11 It is true what they say: “You are what you think.” If you think you are bound you are bound. If you think you are free you are free.

1.12 You are Self—the Solitary Witness. You are perfect, all-pervading, One. You are free, desireless, forever still. The universe is but a seeming in You.

1.13 Meditate on this: “I am Awareness alone--Unity itself.” Give up the idea that you are separate, a person, that there is within and without.

1.14 You have long been bound thinking: “I am a person.” Let the knowledge: “I am Awareness alone” be the sword that frees you.

1.15 You are now and forever free, luminous, transparent, still. The practice of meditation keeps one in bondage.

1.16 You are pure Consciousness— the substance of the universe. The universe exists within you. Don’t be small-minded.

1.17 You are unconditioned, changeless, formless. You are solid, unfathomable, cool. Desire nothing. You are Consciousness.

1.18 That which has form is not real. Only the formless is permanent. Once this is known, you will not return to illusion.

1.19 Just as a mirror exists both within and without the image reflected, the Supreme Self exists both within and without the body.

1.20 Just as the same space exists both within and without a jar, the timeless, all-pervasive One exists as Totality.