Ashtavakra Gita Ch. 2, Vs. 20-25 Commentary and Contemplation - 10th August 2017

See, now what is the game that consciousness is playing? Consciousness is playing the game that at first we decided to pretend as if it is subject to this voice and actually is the one that is affected by this manifestation in some way. And now it's playing the game: 'Oh, that is beyond the voice's limitation.' So what can happen is that although the pointer goes to consciousness, it is recognizing that what the world is saying about me is not the truth about what I am. Is this part of my own design? Of course it is. Is it made up of consciousness itself? Of course it is. Yet consciousness contains both aspects. So if there is truth, this voice of truth like intuition, the Satguru's words, there will also be the opposite of that. If there is a saint, there is also the thief. So the manifestation includes both aspects of consciousness. Yet there is something which is pointing us to individuality. Just immerse it. Yes, yes, this is the way I stress so much. If a spectacle is not there, attention... as we see, so beautiful what he said. He says even the appearance of this thought, constant energy construct called thought, is part of the one appearance in perception. When we see with attention, there is no separation. Even that, the mind's unique power of belief which makes the pretense come on as if there is a separate entity here. So even that, of course, is part of the play of consciousness itself. But this is the way the play is designed.

I say often that most shops in the world are selling you individuality. There are some charms at the Satsang shop which is telling you the idea that, yeah, all of this is part of whose play? This game, given the design of this play, some are designated as alarm clocks and all they have to do is beep. We can't help it. Knowing fully well that the waking will happen, it will happen. It is not that there is confusion about who should wake up. The alarm clock is not worried about that. We are all those pointers. As a kid, you can see like that. My job is to be the job of expression.

You asked again, so why is there this awareness with this internal image?

You see, so when at first the translator used the word 'imagination,' what he's implying is not what we usually call imagination. He says a person is an imagined entity, does not even have phenomenal existence. To call the person the second level illusion. So whether you believe this phenomenal existence to be illusory or not, you will equate it like you are to see that this person I cannot find, but the appearance of this body is undeniable here. So what Ashtavakra is saying, or what the translator is using the word 'imagination' for, is that aspect of itself which creates, projects all this imagery, all this world of appearances. It is not the way we usually will use the word 'image.' We are this imagining that is this world of appearances. The body is then... say the distinction between reality and appearance. I mean, shows that the definition of reality, the case study, is that it is unchanging. When you find that which is unchanging, from that definition, this is an appearance, is it? So just keep it at that because otherwise we try to see this apparent as if it is imagination. See that the dynamic aspect which is really phenomenal, all the competitive perception, is history. The place we search for this witness, this is all we find.

So this is a point: there is no imagery with that. You cannot imagine awareness. See, if you imagine awareness, you have to find who witnesses even that. It's just like if I tell you just think about nothing. At best your mind will give you some blind, black-colored space. But not even black, it is not even transparent. You cannot imagine it. So this awareness, is it like that? Or does it have some attributes which can be made out of it? Is it then that it is the image? What is that? The body as our thoughts, type image, resolution has a huge... but has image. So what is that? It is phenomena. So where does it come from? So I am... we call that the... we conceive on the scale of this recount, but I as a Self remain infinitely. So what he is saying now, that all of this is imagination, he's talking about that kind of projection of imaging. He's not talking about that imagination which is part of the intuition. He denies that from the realization of that which is the Self, which is not phenomenal. From the perspective of that Self which I am, all of this is very good because oftentimes we hear this, then we try to, you know, do some sort of denial of the appearance of this world. No, the appearance is appearing. No further denial is needed. Just to call it appearance is enough. Appearance means one: that which comes and goes. Therefore, it is not the fundamental reality that which is unchanging.

'I see no differences or separation, even the multitudes appear as a single formless desert. What should I claim?' So what is he saying? That there's nothing to claim in this world because I am beyond this phenomenal creation. I do not exist in this realm as if I'm an object. But as long as... that's why I said it's a cheat code. As long as there can be still this belief that I am an object in this world, then for those who have been blessed with a little bit of Bhakti, for them they have the cheat code. They can hang on to the Master, their own divine presence. And it is okay to feel blessed with the physical embodiment of this divine presence, as all of us are blessed with the presence of purity. 'Not the body, I do not have a body. I am awareness, not a person. My thirst for life bound me.' Very potent words. 'Not the body, I do not have a body. I am awareness, not a person. My thirst for life bound me.' The second body, this body which is... it works in collaboration with perception but also continues to be an object of perception. So then you see that it is because it is an object of perception, both in the visual way as well as the something to say that this defines you, this is what you are. That is what conditioning stems from. Move your hand here, walk here, all of these things. And then we wonder about this or that.

If you see that this is the visual perception, perception of all that is experienced, in which container? The container of my existence, which also contains the visual, which is seemingly common sense of space. There is that space, the time-space our experience with what's fields. Unless you exist, is there an existence of time or space? From your insight, you have to see. If you speak from inference, then you say, 'Of course, I am sleeping, the world continued.' Right now these words, although they might seem to come from outside of you, they're just contained within you. That's for you. So they exist there. That consciousness is not this idea that we are one because of some reason, because we all experience... because we are already one. Not correct because of these diseases without an influence. We are the one because already we are that. That is our experience. But we have been taught by this mind and the conditioning, seemingly coming from the limiting illusion of myself.

'Winds of the mind boil the immediate waves of the world, but when the wind subsides, the limitless ocean, the ark of personhood is swallowed up along with the universe.' What? Personal boundary dissolves. The distinction that 'I'... we don't have a distinction of your limitation defining you. Then you will find that you should do so. I'm shaking my head over there. This is this one, I'm shaking my hand, she's this way. No, you don't even be in a rush to infer that or to transfer it. If you're seeing it, it is that. Once you just do this simple seeing, that the boundaries that I experience of sensation, which I will take them... the 'I' which contains them, where does it stop? So tightly as to this 'I' is not physically here. The phenomenal representation of 'I' is 'I am.' Then all of that is this master play of light. There is no... as I say, that your position is not in this universe. I'm pointing you to that which is beyond time and space, which is yourself. The position of the 'I' in space is within you, within your being. And these are not the things that you should inquire into. You just keep inquiring into 'Who am I?' and all of these will become your sense.

Sometimes it's good to hear because very sticky things are there. Like the Self contained within the body can be a very sticky thing. And we keep inquiring, and even at the end of the inquiry, you might come to the, 'Yes, there is awareness contained within this body.' The mind takes hold of our recognition and paints it in this way. So sometimes I shake you out of this idea. Why? Because the question I feel many times is this: 'I find that I am awareness, but how do I know that?' Even that is like missing the point in some way because we bought a mental interpretation of the recognition that sometimes we feel like it is one that happened without any concept.

Yes, but is it possible without having a concept which are making fine mostly to the...

The limitless ocean of myself, and how wonderful it is. The limitless ocean of myself, waves of beings arise, collide, wait for a time, and disappear as is their nature. How wonderful it is, the limitless ocean of myself. Tales of beings arise, collide, wait for the time, or disappear. This is the sweetness of all this.