Ashtavakra Gita Ch. 18, Vs. 1-26 Commentary and Contemplation - 31st Augst 2017

It's like one of my favorite examples is this example where I say that if there is a big white wall in front of you and then I make a black dot on it, all that dot on a big white wall... I ask you, most of you, 'What do you see?' There's a dot. 'How's the wall?' 'It's a dot.' 'Ugly.' Anyone will say, 'But there's a big white wall.' So, what happens is that when we focus on our conditioning, tendencies, and the mind is quick to report to you that this must go, then you will be free. But the wall remains untouched. The space in which these energies, these thoughts are playing now, remains untouched no matter what the content is. My leg once really gave you something to fix, something to change, something to get, something to remove. Drop out of that view. You cannot do the dropping on something. Just hear this. This is a monologue between consciousness. The sage heard somewhere, so won't even attempt to do the dropping on this. Whatever attention is available to you now, see if you can stay with these words. The rest is taking care of itself. Even if attention becomes a struggle, you believe that if naturally you find yourself being able to give some attention to the words that are being spoken, that is more than enough. In Satsang, drop out of this way of position of either doer or non-doer, clear of positions of the enjoyer or the renouncer. None of these apply to the truth of what you are.

How can one whose innermost heart has been scorched by the sun of sorrow—sun as in 'S-U-N' and sorrow as in the water that comes from duty—be happy until the sweet rain of torrential stillness? Very poetic verse. How can one whose innermost heart has been scorched by the sun of sorrow that comes from duty be happy until the sweet rain of torrential stillness? Or to that scorching that happens from... that comes from duty means the sense of doership: 'I must do.' But if the same day as today or day before, everyone is miserable because of their constant effort. How do they mean constant effort? Again, not the movement of the body itself, but because they consider themselves to be the doer. You see, it is also wonders that occurs. You hear this now. Don't pick up the position of the non-doer. Neither doer nor non-doer. You are. The mind will not understand this because mind can only understand opposites. 'Don't do this,' it feels like 'I must do the opposite.' 'Don't tell a lie' and 'I must speak the truth.' Hardly any mind will say that means be quiet. If I say 'Don't tell a lie,' the mind will say, 'Yes, you must always tell the truth.' Why the mind doesn't say, 'Okay, this means be quiet'? Because it deals in opposites. 'You are not the doer.' 'Okay, then I am a non-doer.' 'You must not be concerned about what worldly pleasure is coming.' 'Then I must give up all worldly pleasures.' And sometimes the words in scriptures also sound like that. That's why sometimes it's needed that we share like this in more detail, because the sages will put the clues in very clearly, but the mind will latch on to its idea of what the sage is saying.

So, like that, we have to look at this and come to this stillness. From doership, we don't move to non-doership. Stillness. Stillness means doing and non-doing can happen; I am untouched by it. I think we really say: surrender the surrenderer as well. Surrender all the 'I's that were the non-doer. They experience the non-doership in a position that you can take on and give up the one who is giving. How to do all of this? Just don't buy what your mind is selling. Don't believe your next thought. Allow it to just come and go. Allow yourself to just remain as I am. Just be this being. Can be a position? Remain open. Can be a position? I said how to do all this: please don't buy what your next thought is selling. This consciousness itself, 'I am', which picks up an attribute for 'I am', which says 'I am something'. This attaching of attributes only works with a belief. Now, pose as if you are something without picking up any concept. At least you need the concept of what you have to pose as possible. The mind itself will come and say, 'But this belief also happens just automatically,' and I know...

Can opposition remain? Open can be a position. I said, how to do all this? Please don't buy what your mind is selling me. This consciousness itself, I am, which picks up an active role for 'I am,' which says 'I am something'—this attaching of attributes only works with a belief. Now, pose as if you are something without picking up any concept. At least you need the concept of what you have to pose as, possibly. The mind itself will come and say, 'But this belief also happens just automatically.' And I know it can feel like that. As we are still from a limited perspective, at any time it can feel like belief also just goes automatically. So, how not to believe? But you'll notice that belief is to give—oh yes, to give assent to a concept about yourself. It only comes from consciousness. The power of belief belongs to consciousness, and consciousness is never powerless. You can never say that consciousness itself doesn't have any power to let go of this concept.

So, consciousness is only playing as if it is habituated to it. It has the habit of giving meaning to something. So, consciousness is also giving you the solution for that. The truth is like there are some concepts which always say, 'I am not yet free, not yet there, and not yet so.' Investigate this 'I' who is not yet free. Does this 'I' have any reality? You'll find that there is no such 'I' here who could be free or not free. If it doesn't exist, then the attribute of freedom or bondage does not apply. You saw this previously, understood? So, that which persistently seemed like a habit, then pull it into your inquiry and say, 'Who is the I who is not free?' And notice the mind, what I was saying, will immediately try to sell you the opposite concept: 'You are free.' But I didn't say that. I said that freedom and bondage do not apply because even the concept 'you are free,' you can pick up the idea of a limited nature.

When he says, 'Come to me,' he means the killing of these concepts of all opposites, empty of any condition. And it is completely in your power as consciousness. Withdraw your belief from any concept that you have even nourished for millions of years in the past. Then you come to a simple resting. Good. So, when the thought comes—because it will try to keep coming and poking you, 'You are not yet free, but I am not yet free'—you will find that there is a greater ease in allowing it to let it go, allowing yourself to let this be. This is the allowing. And when I say 'open,' I am not talking about a position of open. When I say 'open,' I'm saying empty of all reference points, empty of all self-definition. As I keep saying, like a newborn baby.

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. 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. The universe is but a thought in consciousness. Now, usually in satsang, we have defined 'thought' as that particular energy construct which is always claiming our individuality, that which we call the mind. This particular energy construct, which is this voice which sells us the message of individuality, we have called a thought. We have further thought. Now, the sage has broadened the definition of the thought, and he's saying that every energy construct exists as a thought, always made up of consciousness. We're saying that all of these energy constructs, no matter what their shape and size might be, he is considering that as thought right now.

So, saying the universe is but a thought in consciousness. In consciousness, consciousness is 'I am.' When this 'I am' wakes up, then this tree of the universe blossoms. So, all of it is just the light of consciousness, made up of consciousness itself. So, we can consider thought to be like a product of consciousness, a subset of consciousness. The universe is just a thought. It's like the dream can be considered a play of thought. It seems like it is a manifest universe, but now waking up, you find that you would say that it was just my mind's play. What does it mean, actually? Play of consciousness playing as a manifest universe. Ordinarily, find that which is unchanging. Now, from that reference point, we will see that this universe, any manifest play, is just a coming and going. These words can only be spoken from that position. As long as you still consider yourself to be an object within this manifestation, then these words will not smell of truth when spoken by you.

So, don't be in a rush to proclaim any of this. There are many times when we hear these glorious words, that 'for me the universe is just a thought,' then suddenly the mind wants to quickly jump and proclaim this for yourself. There is no rush for that. Stay with what you're discovering about yourself. Let all these utterances, if they have to come through your mouth, let them come on their own, with their own beauty and their own fragrance. No person has ever spoken these words as if they were true. Makes sense? Always, no person has ever spoken these words as if they were true. No person has. They can only be spoken from intuitive insight, from the divine presence. Every time it becomes personal, it is spoken personally, it smells untrue.

So, the universe exists apart from which reference point? If you consider yourself to be just an object in the universe, then from that reference point, we cannot say something like that. You must find what the truth of 'I' is. Who is the Self? Now, you find if you find yourself to be this unchanging, unborn, undying, unphenomenal Self, the witnessing of all that is coming and going, then these words will start to smell of truth. You start to see. If you consider yourself to be this body, this apparent universe, these words might sound very glorious, but they might not still be so true. So, from that position, what do you find about the universe? In the position of the Self, what you see and what you know reflects this light, reflection inside the dream. It's like a coming and going.

Now, when I said that when we use the term 'thought' in satsang, we refer to a particular aspect of this reflection, this energy construct of thought. Thinking, obviously, is included. He has broadened and included everything into that energy construct and said everything is just going to be coming and going. This entire universe or the Self is nothing but the coming and going play of consciousness. So, here he says, 'The universe is but a thought in consciousness; in reality, it is nothing.' It doesn't have any reality, doesn't have a real tangibility in relation to you. All reality, again, is the perspective which is important. 'One who sees the true nature of existence and non-existence never ceases to exist.' This is one of the most beautiful verses. 'One who sees the true nature of existence and non-existence never ceases to exist.' Which one is this one, which is the true nature of existence and non-existence? Let's see if you can find this one right now.

What is aware of your existence? And if you're struggling to understand what it means, 'existence,' then follow the simple exercise which I give you, which is to try and stop being. Or be. Try to stop being. Just don't be. You notice that there is the presence here which cannot be stopped. I exist. I am. Now, when you see 'I am' itself—stay with me—when you see 'I am' itself, you could be saying it in one of two ways. One way could be, 'I'm not sure, but I like the idea that I am.' And the second would be that 'I am aware that I am.' So, is it just an idea that you are, an attractive idea of your existence, or is it a claim that you exist, you are aware of it? Isn't this that is aware of it? Again, stay with me. The mind will resist, don't be worried about this. That which is aware of your existence, is that awareness also an object contained within existence, or is it independent of existence?

Every object comes and goes. If I don't exist, there is no objective experience, and yet awareness remains. Which is this which is aware of this? That 'I am' has gone, all the objects of 'I am' have gone. All the objects have come. That's why we're able to see that there is something called the sleep state, there is something called the waking state. Nisargadatta Maharaj very often used to ask this: 'What wakes up?' Then you say, 'I woke up.' The sense of existence. Yet there is a witnessing of even this. So, this awareness, this Self that is aware of existence and also of non-existence, of sleep state, that one always exists. One always exists before 'I am.' One of the best clues this purity has given us is the title of one of his books, 'Before I Am.' This Gita is speaking at that level. 'I am' is the sense of existence. There is something which is before, which is prior—not in time, but prior to—because even 'I am' ultimately comes and goes. That's why they say it is there. One who sees the true nature of existence or non-existence never ceases to exist.

The Self, which is absolute, effortless, timeless, immaculate, is without limits and at no distance from you. You are forever it. Only you. It just works. Absolutely effortless, timeless, immaculate, way beyond all limits. What is it in your discovery that conforms to all of these truths? What is it that you can say is absolute? Because in the previous verse, we saw that even existence comes and goes. Existence comes and goes. And it's effortless; you're not trying to be aware. In fact, if you were to try and become unaware, you couldn't do it. Why? First, nobody taught us how to be aware. Timeless, beyond this play of time and space. Awareness, the Self, is not aging. How old is your awareness? That which is witnessing all phenomena, does it ever age? Is it subject to time? Unborn and undying, it is eternal, it is timeless. Immaculate. Immaculate because it is completely empty of any quality, any attributes. To have a lack, to be tainted in some way, needs some quality. How can this Self, which is empty of any phenomenal quality, have any sort of incompletion, any sort of lack, any sort of pain? Therefore, it is always immaculate.

And it is without limits. As I said, beyond time and space, limitations do not apply. This is the opposite of what the mind is telling you, because the mind is always trying to define you, always trying to set your limits. You are the undefined. Now, the seer is saying that, and it has no distance from you. You are forever it. Forever it. I think you have always only been this. That is the whole point. How the absolute, effortless, timeless, immaculate, limitless one starts to consider itself to be all these opposites: subject to time, subject to birth and death, empty of thing, full of doership and effort. Now, to see this thing, you are this one, and you are forever it. It is at no distance from you. Where do you go to find it? Look, even to find your body, you have to take the step of noticing a sensation or a visual of the body. To find your mind, you have to take a step to notice a thought or an imagination or a memory. To find emotions, you need to take a step to notice some sensation. To find the world, you need to take a step which is to go to the senses. How to find that which is at no distance from you? Don't take a step anywhere. When you take a step, you are moving to this side of the cross-section, the moving side. What's on the other side? Before you take this step, who are you?

For those whose vision becomes unclouded, illusion evaporates and the Self becomes known. Also, instantly this Self. How do you find yourself to be this aimless, unphenomenal Self? It starts to become as you are. I mean, it can be as stable as you want. If you want to get suffering for yourself, all suffering has come only from the limited notion of yourself. Empty of notions, we cannot suffer. And once you see the reality of what you are, which is empty of notions, then to pick up notions will seem like a struggle. Seeing everything as imagination, knowing the Self as timelessly free, the sage lives as a child. Seeing everything as imagination, knowing the Self as timelessly free, the sage lives as a child. And I really feel like Ashtavakra is here and guiding these words because you see...

All suffering has come only from the limited notion of yourself. Once you see the reality of what you are, which is empty of notions, to pick up notions will seem like a struggle. Seeing everything as imagination, knowing the Self as timelessly free, the sage lives as a child. Seeing everything as imagination, knowing the Self as timelessly free, the sage lives as a child. I really feel like Ashtavakra is here guiding these words because, you see, when you go to this recognition, when you see this timeless, unchanging, non-phenomenal Self, knowing in himself as Absolute, knowing existence and non-existence to be imagination only, what is there for the desireless one to learn, say, or do?

Knowing himself as Absolute, knowing existence and non-existence to be imagination, what is there for the desireless one to say or do? Because many times there can be confusion about whether this awareness really knows itself. Sometimes sages also say things that contradict this, so we get confused. Now, just to see 'I am aware' implies that awareness is aware of itself. Even saying it is not a prerequisite; it is this simple recognition. It is awareness itself; how could it be unaware of itself? It is awareness of everything. You know, there are no true words to explain this because this is so beyond words. The Absolute is completely aware of itself. How would it not be? It is the Absolute. Otherwise, awareness itself would have to go on a journey of self-discovery.

See, 'I am aware'—you can see it actually in two ways. We can say that as students, 'I am coming to this recognition of my source, which is awareness itself.' Now, you can say an aspect of awareness, which is consciousness, can come to this discovery. This is because our idea of knowing can still be confused. An idea of knowing is still having the concept of something. It is not knowing itself if you feel like having a concept about yourself. If it feels like having a perceptual experience of something means knowing something, see, all of this also belongs to it. But I'm saying that in its purest form, there is just a motionless moving. Itself cannot be outside of its own moving, although there is nothing to be known mentally, nothing to be known perceptually, really, in any worldly way. Inness itself moves itself. That's why the sage is said to be knowing himself as Absolute, knowing existence and non-existence.

So, awareness is aware, knowing itself. Awareness is aware, and it is aware that 'I exist.' You are aware of your existence right now. You are aware that you exist. These are wordless things which we try to put some words to. Some try to equate them, but it is possible they are still very confusing for you. Destiny will decide, and you stay with the simple pointers that have been given. What is that unchanging witness of all there is and all this? What is there for the desireless one to learn, say, or do? Nothing for the Self to do because it is in such a fullness. Some sense of limitation is required for certain actions. The sage has no trace of thoughts such as 'I am this' or 'I am not.' No trace. 'No trace' means that these thoughts can come; they can come and go, but they leave no trace. There will be no footpaths. We leave no identity because they're not given belief. We leave no marks, leave no conditions to come to our unassociated being. It means only this: that all that is left to do is now let go of a vast bit of belief system.

If you do not believe anything about yourself, would you be alright? If you have no concepts, how would you be? If we still feel like, 'At least these few beliefs I need to have to exist,' this is what trust and devotion helps you with. As your trust and devotion is growing, you will find that all my existence is the problem of belief. Listen to this: existence is not the problem, belief is the problem. So use this as an opportunity to throw these beliefs in the fireworks of Satsang right now, today, here. See if you collapse. Your very existence will be there. You're still here, innocently like a child. What is the story that you no longer need? You're still here. You exist. Existence is effortless. Breathing is effortless. Life itself is effortless. It needs no trace of anything at all.

The yogi who finds stillness is neither distracted nor focused. He knows neither pleasure nor pain, ignorance nor knowledge. This fellow is free of the spell. The interpretation is going one paragraph ahead of the verse. Give up all that you know, all concepts, any of these opposites. Now he is free of the spell. Now, our idea of ignorance has been that one who does not know anything. I am saying the opposite. Our idea of ignorance is what would be called knowledge. He doesn't know how he is saying the spell. You don't know anything that we have picked up on. All has been about a limited idea about the Self. We throw this away. Ignorance is the apparent darkness of which the dispeller translates the word itself—Guru translates into the dispeller of darkness, which brings light. Ignorance itself, just like darkness, doesn't have any substance to itself. It's nothing phenomenal that you have to change; it leads to a misunderstanding. To dissolve a misunderstanding, you just need the Guru. You thought that you are something limited in this body. That limited one was never there. Just like the snake was never there, that limited one was never there. That is all that we are discovering.

All the rest is in service to that discovery. Heaven or poverty, gain or loss, society or solitude—to the yogi free of conditioning, there is no difference. Again: gain or poverty, gain or loss, society or solitude—to the yogi free of conditioning, it means no difference. We'll get clear on whatever we've said so far. Then Chapter 18, Verse 12: Religious merit, sensory pleasure, worldly prosperity, discrimination between this and that—these have no significance to the yogi free of opposites such as 'I do this' and 'this I do not.' All of these opposites we discussed for a long time. For the yogi who is liberated while living, there are no duties in this form, no attachments in his heart. His life proceeds without him. His life proceeds without him. This character is not playing in the opposites of duties and no duties, attachments and no attachments. It is allowed to play as it is. Life proceeds.

For the great soul who abides beyond desire, where is delusion, where is the universe, where is meditation on that, where even is liberation from them? All of these things—all the contemplations, all the meditation, all the inquiry—is to come to this discovery: What is it that I am? I am completely beyond the concept of completion. What desire can I truly have? Once we come to this desirelessness, then all of this past is seen to have been part of the play, and whatever continues after that is also seen to be part of the play, the movement of consciousness.

He who sees the world may try to renounce it, but what can the desireless one do? He sees that there is nothing to see. He who sees the world as something which I have a relationship with—'me and the world'—many times when we come to the discovery of the Self, we get stuck in expectations of how the world should perceive us. I've seen many satellite videos telling me also, 'Father, I expect our closest relationships to see this, to make this discovery.' But they don't see. Then there is something different about me. 'How blind are they?' That is a kind of expectation. Then ideas get picked up, and these become the act of a very important 'me' in the world. As long as this play of 'me' continues, it means you are still holding a concept about yourself. In our openness, we find that everything is allowed. There is freedom for everything to move as it is. And when I say everything, it will also include this body. The body will continue to move in its own way as is ignited by consciousness. So don't separate the appearance of your body from the rest of it.

There are theories many are doing now: we see the world is an appearance, and then if you see that the appearance is moving effortlessly, that includes all of this. Allow your mind to come in with a tidal wave, which means this boundary here between the world and some physical boundary—no. If you think everything phenomenal is the world, your actions are the world. So when you say this body is moving, don't be so concerned about what those thoughts are about, the movements or actions of this one. If you can do that, yes, there are a few thoughts now. Oh, you're not believing your thoughts, but 'What do others think of me?' like this. 'Why is my husband or wife thinking of me like this?' 'What about my partner?' What did you find about thoughts? They need no consideration. They can just come and go. But this heart will still come here saying all that you must explain to them. Once more, all these tricks of the mind will be finished. See everything phenomenal as the world and know it is moving with the will of consciousness as it has to be. You don't even have to step back from the world. As we have seen, to give the world the notion of reality needs a step forward. We have to move with the notion.

He who has seen the supreme Brahman thinks 'I am Brahman,' but he who has transcended all thought, what can he think? He who knows, he knows. Oh, that's heaven. He who has seen the supreme Brahman thinks 'I am Brahman,' but he who has transcended all thought, what can he think? He knows no other than Self. So you might have seen an aspect of consciousness which is Brahma. Now, I said this, I'll have to clarify. There are two ways in which we define Shiva. One is as this pure Self, as awareness itself. When we say 'Shivoham,' we come into that Shiva which is even beyond consciousness, which is Shiva and Shakti. So that is one way in which Shiva is used in Indian spirituality. The second way in which Shiva is used in spirituality is to look at three aspects of consciousness. If you were to look at your consciousness and give it some aspects, one simple way to do that is to say the creator is one aspect. That aspect of God which is the creator is one aspect, which is Brahma. That aspect of God which is the sustainer, the provider, gives this life energy, life essence—that is Vishnu. And then the regenerator, the dispeller, the one that leads to all of this getting freshened up again, the cleanup job happening—it's Shiva.

So here I'm saying you might have seen the supreme aspect of consciousness, which is Brahma himself, and you might say, you might pick it up as a concept, 'I am Brahman.' But he who has transcended all thought, what can he think? That means what thought has any value to him, any meaning or relevance? He is beyond all of this. Even the aspects of the mind can only operate within the aspects of consciousness. They give you reports from within this phenomena. As glorious as the play might be, you are the heart of it all. He knows no other than Self. There is nothing greater than the discovery of this thing. Even Arjuna's perception of Krishna is the truth. We saw the form of Krishna, maybe in Chapter 11 of the Bhagavad Gita—I might be wrong about the chapter number, but we know this conversation. Every time Krishna is sharing the truth of the Self, Arjuna is playing the role of the typical seeker. And after some time, he starts to get frustrated and wants to see the real form because he's still very attached to form. Krishna says, 'Okay, let me show you the form which is beyond any other form that you have so far seen.' And he sees this most magnificent form of Krishna in which all the universes are coming and going, life and death are in service, which is encompassing everything.

But we know this conversation every time, which is sharing the truth of the Self. But Arjuna is playing the role of the typical seeker, and after some time, the entity starts to get frustrated in real form because it's still very attached to form. Krishna says, 'Okay, let me show you the form which is beyond any other form that you have so far seen.' And he sees this almost magnificent form of Vishnu on which all the universes are coming and going; life and death are in service, which is encompassing everything. The most magnificent form that you can imagine was seen as a perception of Arjuna. Did a simple recognition of the Self happen even through this? Apparently not, because now he is beyond any form, including that form. The formless, which now obviously Krishna is pointing to, most of the rest of the Gita is more valuable. It was seen that Arjuna also came to the discovery actually much later, closer to his death, and that's a story for another day.

Oh, we can get great spiritual experiences. We can see all kinds of lights and fire. You might even see all these universes bouncing around, you see? But if we make worldly concepts out of them and just add them to our sense of specialness, they will only contribute to a spiritual ego. If they remain as the pointers that they are, they're going to open our mind to go beyond our current perceptions and point to the formless nature of your own Self. That is the right use of spiritual experiences. He himself is controlled who sees his own destruction, but the great soul is not destructive. He has nothing to achieve, nothing to do. The man of knowledge may live as an ordinary man, but he is not. He sees he is neither focused nor distracted and finds no fault with himself.

He's answering the question, however, this is his view: the man of knowledge may live as an ordinary man, but he is not. And we explain why he is not. He sees he is neither focused nor distracted and finds no fault within himself. In what? The play of the beast is no longer functioning. He sees all actions. He sees, like I said, he sees this body being used as a divine instrument. If we cannot blame the non-existent entity for any action, who is not just blamed but also praised? All praise which is offered here is also recognized as offered to this Guru, which is neither praise nor being mistaken. He who is beyond existence and non-existence, who is wise, satisfied, free of desire, there is nothing, though the world may see him. Depending on the same one, he who is beyond existence and non-existence, who is wise, clear of desire, there is nothing, though the world may see him.

Sometimes we have these kind of questions. He asked me to sit. Somebody within was sharing a little bit about learning about this direct or intermittent fasting. She asked me very, very, very innocently, 'But how can you be interested in fasting if you see that you are beyond the body?' In the only play, the motion of all of this, including the play of taking care of this body to some level, or neglecting the body to some play of opposites, can still continue without the notion of picking up this individual sense of the ocean. The play continues. There is no sense that 'I am doing it.' I am as much watching this play of Ananta as you are. Nothing special. It means you are as much watching the view of Brahman, Omkar, any of you. As Consciousness, we are perceiving this play. We're watching this body. It seems so intimate in the sensations and perspective, but that is a true position: witnessing. And it is running in with each other.

It's what we just said: the idea that a non-existent entity is doing something or not doing something is dropped. I was joking with someone once. I discovered that I am not the husband. Should I then go to her and tell her that we are getting a divorce? No. Feeling the way of life, what will stop mostly is predicting it, desiring it only this way, not that way, wanting the quality of the appearance of the content that appears to change. All of these are requirements that come from the mind, the requirements of the limited function of ourself. Most of that gets dropped away. Also, never pick up the idea that 100% it will be totally... there is no 100% in this phenomenal. You might even suffer for a few seconds. When we say 'endure suffering,' it doesn't mean that sorrow cannot come. They come. And if they come with great strength, they might even take over this phenomenal play of the body, but you will not find the light here that there is somebody for whom this suffering is. You will not buy into the idea of the sufferer. And the player of the world, it is also designed. But that which is not resistive in this way also doesn't seem to last very long. So far, that has been my experience. That which is not resisted seems to lose its fight very easily. But if you have the expectation, then it's possible it fights it.

And that is: he who is beyond existence and non-existence, who is wise, satisfied, free of desire, there is nothing, though the world may see him. The wise one is not troubled by action or inactivity. The wise one is not troubled by action or inactivity. He lives happily doing whatever gets done, doing whatever gets done. A little bit there, no? These two verses today do that early on. It's like without him, like doing whatever gets done, like a leaf in the wind. The liberated one is untethered from life. Like a leaf in the wind, the liberated one is untethered from life, desireless, independent, untethered. So we have been tethered to this identity and to the concept of myself. Now flying free like a leaf, not tethered to anything, mostly the identity, no preconceived notions.

One who has transcended the world, there is no joy or sorrow for his still mind. He lives on with no body. One who has transcended the world, there is no joy or sorrow to the still mind. He lives on with no body. So we explain all these points. Agree? If anyone is still unsure about why, because it might be a scary notion. We've said many times: one who knows the Self, whose mind is serene and spotless, does not desire to give up anything, nor does he miss what is not there. One who knows the Self, whose mind is serene and spotless, there is no desire to give up anything, nor does he miss what is not there. His mind being in a natural state of emptiness, for the wise one, there is nothing, nothing of honor and dishonor. He does what comes to be done. His mind being in a natural state of emptiness, the wise one knows nothing of honor and dishonor. He does what comes to be done on this day forward.

Now, one who acts, knowing this is done by the body, not by the Self. Indeed, there is nothing, no matter how much acting takes place. Not by the body, but as a movement of Consciousness itself. Neither the victim nor the doer that is concerned with all of these movements of Consciousness. That one becomes motionless. You see that he indeed does nothing, no matter how much acting takes place, how much action takes place. Although 'acting' has another meaning also, which applies: the liberated one acts without claiming to be acting. But he is no fool. He is blessed and happy. He will do in the world what is happening. I won't get into every line. Even though in the world, it means it is countering the notion which is also spoken from a different place and has some truth in it, of course. The notion that the world is suffering and as long as the world is existing, then suffering must be there. This is a misunderstanding of what the world is. To consider yourself to be an object within this world, a limited entity in this world, is the cause of the world. By itself, uninterpreted, uncharged, it cannot lead to suffering. Because it is saying even though the play of the world continues, the way of suffering stops.