Ashtavakra Gita Chapter 16 Commentary and Contemplation - 29th August 2017

One who is attached to the world thinks renouncing it will relieve his misery. One who is attached to the world thinks renouncing it will relieve his misery. One who is attached to nothing is free; he does not feel miserable even in the world. One who claims liberation as his own, as an attainment of a person, is neither enlightened nor a seeker; he suffers his own misery. One who claims liberation as his own, as an attainment of a person, is neither enlightened nor a seeker; he suffers his own misery.

Though Hara, Hari, and the lotus-born Brahma himself instruct you, you will know nothing. Though Hara, Hari, and the lotus-born Brahma himself instruct you, you will know nothing until you know nothing. Until you know nothing, you will never know.

So these eleven verses actually are called 'Special Instructions'. What confession we can say at some level, where they are not for everyone in the sense that if you really have not been within the previous fifteen chapters, then you jump in straight to this chapter, 'Special Instruction', what's going on here? But this one, if you have been—if you enjoyed the first fifteen chapters—then this chapter is actually encapsulated part of what has been shared on here. Absolute, most of the clues, and actually it takes it even further because he says to go beyond desire and not desire, to go beyond even this, the seeker identity and also the enlightened one identity. So it takes us deeper into emptying of all the concepts that we could have picked up.

So let's go verse by verse. So Ashtavakra says: You can recite and discuss scripture all you want, but until you drop everything, you will never know truth. So now, saying that this is very meta because scripture itself contains this. What is it saying? It's saying that the purpose of satsang, the purpose of these scriptures, the essence of them, is to bring us to our emptiness, to bring us to our not-knowing, a mental not-knowing. Because all the discovery that all of these many conclusions that we have drawn—especially the main premise of all of these mental conclusions—that there is a limited entity, 'me', that is the doer, desirer, experiencer of this world, this one is not true.

And we see that all these mental conclusions have been in service to this identity. And as we drop all of this behind, that existence still is, more the same, one might say, shining brightly, unattached, unadulterated, unconditioned, a true shining presence. So you might read as much scripture and talk about knowledge for lifetime after lifetime, but if it is not leading you to this emptiness, to this openness, to this surrender, to this acceptance, then it is as good as any other worldly knowledge, maybe even worse.

So we can no longer remain gatherers of concepts. Our thing is today that one man or woman is in prison. We feel like they were always in this prison; they were born here and they will die here. But something inside them allowed to them and said, 'Oh, this is not your truth. There's a deeper truth about you which will free you from this prison.' And this one makes a prayer saying, 'Please show me this deeper truth because I want to be free from this prison.' Anything that frees me. Many solutions come to him; actually, he feels she feels more and more imprisonment.

Then one day he hears the Satguru's voice, words of the inner Satguru, which is telling him, 'Look, look really, where is this prison? Where are these limitations? It seemed to constrict you. Can you find the one that is in prison?' This one actually looks and finds that there is no prison, there is no limitation, because just by now fallacy, there is only a limited presence here. This is the recognition that he is coming to, that all of you are coming to in satsang. That is completed. All the concepts that I picked up, all the conditions about myself that were picked up, just meet this imaginary prisoner, 'me'.

So this moment of recognition happens for all of you every day in satsang when you see what is the reality of what you are. And this one, for an instant, feels that they are free, he is free, and yet he imagines again these prison bars and plays the game of killing himself or herself from this. This is how satsang is functioning in your intuitive presence, to come to this simple recognition of what is. It is not difficult, you see. Now that you are free, this play of imprisoning yourself again is the play of 'now', is the play of judgment, is the play of wanting mental confirmation, okay, of expectation.

When we buy into these things, when we imagine ourselves imprisoned again as an object, with this desire, these expectations, even out of freedom, so then the game of satsang goes on like this. I was saying this yesterday, that it can go on like this for a few minutes or a few hours or weeks, months, years, centuries, lifetimes. There is no end to this because the bars are imagined and consciousness has complete freedom to imagine for as long as it likes. Time is not really a concern for consciousness. Then this game is played. This is the simple game of coming to the recognition of what you are. All the pointers are for that. The game of being done with your 'but', then we play this 'but, but, but' game for as long as you like because that is also the play of consciousness, you see.

And then come to this simple saying that I have always been only this. I am not becoming a better self. The full freedom must have only been the real discovery of what I have always been, what is already here. Satsang then is just the simple game of coming to this recognition of what truly is and dealing with all the tricks of the mind after that. Whatever the 'but' might be, know that it is your pretend limitation. It has no real tangible power. It only seems to derive its power from your belief, your interest, your attention. And many times these are spiritual concepts, these are scriptural concepts that also play as if they are pretend bars of this written prison.

I thought the person who is in prison, you can show me more the prison in which he is in prison to control. As I said, it's very beautiful. Exert that that which points you to the reality is the only knowledge which is worthwhile, and that which points you to your illusory nature, to your pretend make-believe facade of being an individual entity, is ignorance. That is the difference between Vidya and everything. Knowledge and ignorance is simple like this.

You can enjoy and work and meditate, but you will still yearn for that which is beyond all experience, in which all desires are extinguished. So 'enjoy' means play as the one who is an individual entity who's experiencing the world, tasting the fruits of this world. 'Work' from the idea of individual devotion, 'I must do this and I must do that'. And 'meditate' means that on the meditator perspective, take on the spiritual seeker perspective. And all these three perspectives might be there, but somewhere inside you, you will still yearn for your unlimited Self, yearn for that which is beyond all experience.

Also, Guruji, a beautiful master, Mooji, has so many ideas, well, demystified these words for us. Otherwise, we'll stay for that which is beyond all experience. See what we mean, what we make out of it. Even for that which is beyond all experience would sound like, 'I can never experience it, there's no point, it's pointless.' Wrong interpretations can come. But because we are guided to this non-phenomenal seeing, non-phenomenal experience, that is what is called Vidya, knowledge. See that which is beyond all experience. What is it here now for you that is not an object of experience, that is beyond objective attributes, beyond color, shape, and size? Is there something? Is there something? It's not a thing of contact, to use language.

So I see this question to ask is useful either way. Even if you feel like it is nothing or you haven't found it, then move. And if you see that there is, of course, that which witnesses all phenomenon itself is not phenomena. That reality for which everything else is an appearance itself is not an appearance. You are not an appearance, or are you? And if you are an appearance, then who are you appearing to? Who are coming and going in relation to one? But you will still yearn for that which is beyond all experience and in which all desires are extinguished.

Once you discover your unchanging, non-phenomenal reality, can you truly, truly in your heart thirst for something which is phenomenal? If you realize that this appearance, which is an aspect of you—whatever the appearance might be—but you see the ground on which this appearance stands on is the non-phenomenal Self, the reality of you, that awareness. What thirsting for anything? Desire loses its fire because you find that you are already all there is, that beyond all there is. Don't get confused by this to mean that in the claim external expression you will not express, like, 'I have no desire of food, I cannot want anything to eat.' Something like, will the expression, this body, this expression, all these desires, all these expressions, preferences can still be played out. But what you will notice is that the feverishness, the thing that 'I can suffer if I don't have this', that goes away. This idea of psychological suffering because of the lack of something, that goes away. Can still go to a restaurant and order pasta.

That in the claim, external expression, you will not express like, 'I have no design of a fool, I cannot want anything.' To meet something like... will the expression, this body, this expression, all these desires, all these expressions, references can still be cleared out. But what you will notice is that the feverishness, the thing that 'I can suffer if I don't have this,' that goes away. This idea of psychological suffering because of the lack of something, that goes away. You can see, go to a restaurant and order pasta—pasta, pizza—this is not telling you you're running out of... After what has been charged with is that really when you feel like, 'Okay, if I don't have this pasta, then so much life is miserable.' Example: you can replace pizza with whatever, and you will quickly find that whatever, if you really do... 'But I don't have this, then life is not complete and I am not happy and there is a lack of something.' Anything, including freedom, without the seeker from this, even that must be looked at.

We still yearn for that. Why is he guaranteeing that you will still yearn for them? Because that is the truth. It is not subject to time. But somewhere at some point, even if there are many in this world, if you might read this and say, 'But we are enjoying and working and meditating,' and they just find the Savior said you could do all of these things, but you will still yearn for that because the design of this place is like this. That ultimately in the play also, we come to the truth of what we are. The sense of complete satisfaction, desirelessness of feverishness, life—let's put it that way. English, yes, gibberish. Let's discover that I am not something limited. As long as we carry a notion of limitations, desire is bound to creep up on you at one point or the other because your intuitive nature is telling you that you are unlimited.

You see, okay, this is a very subtle point. If there is still some belief in your limitation, then desire is bound to creep up on you because somewhere it is known that you are not just that limitation. So the mind's version of getting over that limitation is to acquire more, so that it can seem larger than what it believes itself to be. We will not find that satisfaction in that way. So acquisition of more and more objects, nobody here comes to this satisfaction of the sage. See that completion is here this way.

Beautiful story of... just here, it's very nice to eat there. When I was in the body in Tiruvannamalai, there was more about him being an avatar, some God. Forget that. 'What should I go to this?' This means that so traditional spiritual background, they came to them and said, 'Is it true what they say, that you are an avatar of this?' As with nature, which I realized later, you do not answer 90% of the questions. And no, again, sages, but answer us, it's important. 'I am the avatar of this born again and this one about...' Very agitated, he insisted, 'No, no, your first answer.' So the one side and the side of the story like that required... she, as if it's a special answer. Nothing like that. He quietly said, 'And I thought is just an aspect of consciousness. Guru is the entirety of consciousness.'

Such a such a beautiful story. That which is your simple recognition of this unconditional being, unconditional presence, is this consciousness which is playing as Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. Of the aspects of consciousness, the creator, preserver, and destroyer are all the function of your being, of our existence itself. After the great Indian sage, Saint Kabir Ji, said that if Krishna and my Master both were standing together on the road, who should I bow down to first? I bow down at my Master's feet because it is only his light which brings Krishna alive for me. To this consciousness, which is the source of all this manifest world, including the aspects—all the aspects which then humanity has looked at eventually as various aspects and given their names and labels—all of this arise from consciousness itself and go back into consciousness itself. So that you are then, if you are the source of all of this or desire, then you have what sense of lack can you still believe about yourself? Desire only means that I am limited and something else will give me some completion of some senses, completions.

Everyone is miserable because they exert constant effort, but no one understands. A right mind can become unshackled upon hearing this one instruction. What should happen in reaction to this feeling? This is just like you took this heavy burden of doing worship. What would your life be if there was no need for this kind of effort-making world? The idea that you have to do something. That's why when we go through this simple exercise to see that this world, which includes this body, exists here and was moving effortlessly. Everything is happening effortlessly. Your existing here now, your presence here now, is effortless. Are you working hard to be? We are only working hard to be something, to become something. But being is prior to becoming, and you are aware of your presence whether your mind is as yet giving you this certificate or not. Doesn't matter. Know that you exist. Nobody doesn't know that they exist. That is also effortless.

So if the existence of this world is effortless, which includes all the actions and movements that have come through this body also; if your existence here is effortless and this awareness of your existence is just completely effortless and natural, this idea of personal effort, individual effort, must be what? Must be ignorance. What did we say? That which points us to the truth about what we are is knowledge. That which reinforces the false idea about what I am is ignorance. Because they understand... 'or' is not a good word for most, come to that. So this, because you feel that even if you come to the same that, yes, the world is moving on its own, what is moving the world? But the mind has this trump card up its sleeve which says, in the sensations which we power the world, let's separate a group of sensations, see, which is your body. Let's separate that out because that is you, that is your responsibility. God cannot take care of this. What will operate something of the rest of it? But this group of sensations which we call the body, and sometimes the mind, then that is out of this and this is no responsibility. My friend, we cannot give it up. This is escapism. The mind will come, 'This is some sort of escapism.'

So actually, this lack of investigation about what we really are is that escapism. But assuming that in the group of apparent sensations, we get a set of sensations, make a mix of me, and everything else is not me, while at the same time finding no contradiction and saying, 'Oh, but what is everywhere is the sort of mental escapism.' So when you come to this seeing that everything is one, this one... if we were to investigate the next time something is spoken from these powers, that body which seems to be you, notice again the words which have spoken for any movement of them and see that it is just happening, just a happening. And you will see that this life, the clouds which are moving in the sky, the movement of the oceans and rivers, and in this style of this entire apparent appearance, this body is a tiny... if a cloud was given the mind and it said, 'See, this is your boundary and you have to go and get that other stuff so you become bigger,' that is desire.

Let's let's see how far we can stretch this metaphor. Now you're like, you are the sky, but suppose now you had a mind which is convincing you that you are one cloud and it was saying that you are separate from the rest of it, you are just this one cloud. Then as a cloud, it is telling you what to do. Why? Because you don't want to be standing easily, cloud. You want to become happy because water particles change, just you have to really go to them fast. And this feeling could be there, that cloud is doing something that makes a difference in the overall movement. So if you like decided to move towards those water particles and to try and get bigger, and sometimes it comes and what is with releases, then the clear desire. If movement has to happen as the movement has to happen, but sometimes something is acquired, sometimes something is not acquired. This gate or this pride here, 'I did it all, I can work hard enough.' It's just like that, the cloud is saying, 'Oh, fast enough to merge with those water particles and to come.'

So this duality means you're on the sky or something separate, just one cloud amongst all of this. All the sensations are there. Now I'm really stretching it. Suppose that the perceptual centrality, the way that you are experiencing the rest of the sky, was from the perspective from the center of the cloud. So that is there, and also this voice is telling you that you are this cloud, you are this cloud. So this guy is... it's very possible because the perceptual way that you witness this creation is seen like, 'Oh, we have a contained within this.' And there's a verse also which is saying, 'Oh, I am just this.' So it is muted, convincing sky itself is made this convincing, would believe that it is a trap.

Then what do we do in Satsang? We say, you consider your boundaries to be these boundaries of this cloud, but notice that this entire boundary of the cloud is contained within you. When I ask you to check the boundaries of your body and where they are contained, this is the discovery which is happening to you: that I have considered this to be my boundary, but actually all of this is something... If you were not the container and you were the contained, how would you find the boundaries within yourself? So let's see, if you were not a container but you were the contained, could you discover that the boundaries were within yourself? You would not have any idea about the boundary because it is outside of you. But what happens with you in the body? You find that the visuals are happening inside me. The sensations are... the space in which they are perceived is the same space in which everything else is perceived. The birds in the sky or the traffic on the road, all of this is contained in the same space which we call the space of being, or the space of perception, the space of experience. All of this is part of your being. This way you're finding your unlimited sky nature.

So everything is contained within you. Now the master, I deliver to whom even blinking is a bother, is happy. But he is the only one. What does this mean? It is not... definitely does not mean that you blink thirty times a minute, doesn't maybe very often. So then become a father in that way that the blinking is happening. So and suppose even if I have to be the beam, imagine if I have to time my blinking. I say every three seconds, please blink for the rest of her life. But you can hand this over to God. God knows when to. I don't have to be in item the kind of doership to blink. If you picked up an idea about something to do with you blinking, if you picked up the idea that it is healthy for your eyes precisely every ten seconds, life will become a living hell very quickly. This is what doership does to us.

Understanding now this is... he says everyone is miserable because they exert constant effort. It is like we are holding this life up. Without our holding it up, this life will just disappear. We cannot hold aside that which considers itself to be holding this life, is not even here, is not even existing in a phenomenal way also. This race is sleeping. This metaphorical example for the same reason: if I was told that I have to play, you imagine that if I was told that I have to learn this life, then there are two perspectives left. So greater perspective is that I am not this individual entity, anything prisoned. Oh, did you sleep? We will do it. Golden least not this one. I am what this is saying: I am the shoreless ocean in which the hearts of the universe, they come and go. Even simpler than, 'I am the solitary witness of all there is.' What is more in line with your recognition to the intuitive insight? And the mind is figure opposites like, 'This is done and this is yet undone.' One becomes indifferent to merit, wealth, pleasure, and evolution. Very subtle messages have...

I am NOT this individual entity, anything imprisoned. Oh, did you sleep? We will do it. At least not this one. I am what this is saying. I am the ocean in which the hearts of the universe, they come and go. Even simpler than that: I am the solitary witness of all there is. What is more in line with your recognition, to the intuitive insight? And the mind is free of opposites like 'this is done' and 'this is yet undone.' One becomes indifferent to merit, wealth, pleasure, and liberation. Very subtle messages have been put in this. The cleanup is cleaning up everything.

What is the first one? Merit. Whatever you always hear—in India it is very popular—that our job is to do as much good karma as possible so that is counted as merit. With more and more merit by doing more, now we're even outdoing it. This concept that there is no good here; this body is in service to consciousness itself, exactly the way it chooses to. So this idea of gaining more and more merit so that I can enjoy the fruits of this merit, which is also a never-ending cycle, it's kept us. Well, I spoke about this security perception about pleasure. So often we've spoken about this oscillation between pain and pleasure in the state of the body and us making a conclusion about ourselves based on the state of the body or the sensations experienced. So then life can seem to be just about avoidance of pain and rushing towards pleasure.

And then he also put in liberation. And the mind is free of opposites like 'this is done' and 'this is yet undone.' If you don't have a concept, one becomes indifferent to merit, wealth, pleasure, and liberation. This is so important because this is the arch-nemesis of satsang, the checker guide: 'This is done, this is not done. You are free 90 percent, 30 percent, 70 percent.' Please check again. Just keeping track of your liberation. You can be free of these 100 balls in this. One who abhors sense objects avoids them. One who desires them becomes ensnared. One who neither abhors nor desires is neither detached nor attached.

This is very, very important because so much of spirituality, especially traditional spirituality, seems to tell us that we must be free from our attachments and we must be detached. What is more important is to see what you are. Why? Because when you see what you are, you will realize that you're already pure. On attachment and detachment, he says that which we abhor then becomes like an avoidance. You want to run away from that: 'Oh please God, make sure this does not happen in my life.' It's an avoidance of that. That which we desire, then we are caught in their foolishness about it, ensnared by it.

A lot of tendencies, vasanas, conditions get created just because we hear that we must be free from conditioning. If you hear you must be free from lust, then the condition will be there that 'I must become free of my lust.' And every time lust appears, then you will say to yourself, 'No, this is not good. I am not good enough here. I cannot be free because I am not free from lust.' So on top of the lust, we added another four conditions. That's fine, but once we see which is very—the best right now—who you are, who is it that you are referring to as myself? Are you also subject to conditions? Are you also an occurrence? And then this desire-aversion doesn't apply to me. Worship, non-dual, apply to one who neither abhors nor desires, is neither detached nor attached. We'll be beyond all of this.

As long as there is desire, it is the absence of discrimination. There will be attachment and non-attachment. This is the cause of the world. What does this mean? As long as there is a desire, which is the absence of discrimination, how can discrimination help with desire? What is discrimination? To be able to... okay, discrimination is not the way it is usually used in encouraging any source of discrimination. The same is the meaning between what is real and what is unreal, which is called viveka. It's like a positive discrimination. So you know that what is changing and what is unchanging, all this truth, what is false, what is real and what is not true.

Why does he say that desire is the absence of discrimination? It's the minute you see what is real, you will find that which is already complete. It can have no lack of desire. So desire is only a product, as I call it, the three Ds: duality, desire, and devotion. They're all a product of the absence of discrimination, confusing the impermanent to be true and being in denial of the unchanging. That which is coming and going in appearance, you want to hang on to that forever; that is desire. That which is already here and complete and unchanging, that you don't look at. That is what saves me by absence of discrimination. As long as there is this absence of discrimination, there will be attachment and non-attachment. That is the play of conditions and this play of wanting to be rid of conditions, of desires and of aversion. This is the cause of the world.

So we talked about two levels about how the term desire is used. He's talking about this worldly play. The idea that there is me and there is a world comes only when we have this lack of truth inside and we have this absence of discrimination, teaching what is true and what is false. We call this clear play of duality: me and the world, me with respect to something else, me and my experience. The duality is a product of false ideas, concepts, indulgences. It creates attachment; aversion creates opportunities. Like a child, the sage is free of all this and thus lives on as a child. Clear of all these opposites, indulgences, aversion, attachment, non-attachment to... oh, Nirguna Brahman, free of all these positions. What are you? Just like a child enjoying whatever is in the great way that it is, free of guilt, grievances, and regret. A child before we learned how to pick up all this content.

So this is the team visited. We picked up all of these and now we're dropping all of these if we have got these limitations and suffering to online. And so commonly everyone says, 'I wish I could go back to my life as a child.' And so happy as children, you see why? Because you're not buying all these grievances, regrets, fear, and pride. So much life is fresh. One who is attached to the world in renouncing it to relieve his misery—so even this position of renouncing the world is actually a symptom of our attachment to it. It's true. So if you have to take a position with regard to something, that means it really means something to you. You know, to take the position that 'I'm renouncing the world' means it is still my attachment which is playing out as a symptom that I have to do something to get rid of it.

One who is attached to nothing is free, doesn't need to renounce. So this is the power of this discovery, this recognition. You transcend this level of play as an individual entity and you come to the substratum. You see that I am the substratum. Do you have to attach or detach to anything? It is only when you consider yourself to be part of the play, an object within the play, do all these concepts still apply. To this one who is attached to nothing is free and does not feel miserable even in the world. Doesn't have to renounce the world, doesn't have to pick up the saffron robes and walk away from house and family. When they complete, there is this seeing that I am that which can be attached or unattached. I don't need to accept or renounce. As he said earlier, acceptance and renunciation don't apply to me. This is very, very important.

He who claims liberation as his own as an attainment of a person is neither enlightened nor a seeker. He suffers his own misery. There is no such thing as an enlightened person. It's a paradox in terms. So you can feel like 'I am an enlightened person.' Then what is that? 'I am now a special sort of person.' This is the intellectual understanding or spiritual ego and clear like this. I have now picked up... what did he say right in the beginning? You can read the best scriptures, but till you come to this point of knowing nothing, you will suffer. And this is how it plays out. 'I have been to 100 satsangs and I know all the concepts that are shared there. I am free.' Which can also be one of the concepts. If we realize the concept 'I am free,' for you to be free, if your enlightenment is dependent on this belief about yourself, it exists in this mind plane as a spiritual ego.

And until even these concepts... that's why this is clarified really well. He who claims liberation as his own as an attainment of a person—that 'I as an individual entity got something special'—is neither enlightened nor a seeker. Enlightenment, we want to come to this light of your presence, unshackled conditions. So because they are still holding on to concepts and conditions, you cannot call them liberated. And they are also no longer the seeker because they are mind-bound to the concept that they are free. So there is a special kind of misery reserved for these people. He suffers his own misery. Anything that is spiritual specialness for each an ego and even the play of the most humble seeker, how it can convert them into this arrogant, egoistic spiritual ego, so desperate to be right, so desperate to be accepted as the ones of the truth, so quick to say that they have gone beyond their master.

All this is the play of consciousness as a person who is playing as if a very enlightened person. As my Guruji says, if you feel like you don't... if you haven't got it, keep coming to satsang. But definitely if you feel that you have got it, keep coming to satsang. Working on that, he who keeps chopping it from all sides and directions. It will teach me until I am unconditioned about yourself, except some momentary conditions once in a while. You see, sometimes we take even our most pure insights and use them as some sort of a claim or aspirational. Only time it happens in satsang, I'm asking someone, 'So where is this coming from?' when you can smell that intimately. 'So where is this coming from?' 'This is from my inside, trust me, trust me.' Also much holding on. That one that you found yourself to be is from all of this automation and training. Don't have to do anything to anyone. Your fragrance itself will bring me to your feet.

He who claims liberation as his own as an attainment of a person is neither enlightened nor the seeker. He suffers his own misery. Oh Hara, Hari, or the Lotus-born, my own self. So what is Hara, Hari? Shiva, Ram, Vishnu, and Shiva. My own self. Come and instruct you. Until you know nothing, you will never know. Self-contradictory? There are two types of knowing which are spoken about. You know nothing if you don't come empty. You open them, let it fill you. Empty of until conditions. It is him that the true recognition of this awareness, this doing, this seeing, they lose same what to be found. As I say that, and if my favorite word is 'open,' right? Because it is a beautiful pointer. And if you as consciousness play in this way that you apply this pointer of 'open' with integrity, you will see that these conditions have no power over me.

Know them, allow everything to come and go. Allow your attention also to go wherever it wants. If you lie, don't hold on to even if it gives a bit strange, bit wobbly. You don't need to concept, no matter how high the concept might be. That also comes and goes. No judgments, no doubts, no conclusions, no yesterday, no tomorrow, no speculation, no projection, no yes or no. No concept of anything at all, even about the Self. Don't know anything about anything. Come to your childlike nature, childlike innocence. Become an infant. You're freed from this prison that never was. Everything now that you become will become part of the make-believe tricking prison again. Every moment this is true: you are free. This is the play of consciousness. The Hara, Hari of the Lotus-born, my own self, instruct you until you know nothing.

So this we come to the end of Chapter 16. Our special instruction. Special instruction also because not all talk to specialness. After special instruction to rid the self of specialness.