Ashtavakra Gita Chapter 4 Commentary and Contemplation - 11th August 2017

Now we search Chapter 4. Chapter 4 is the glorification of self-realization. So this is the response from Janaka. Janaka says, 'Surely one who knows the Self, he plays the game of life. He was greatly from the world, bewildered, burdened, and in peace.' He's trying to explain now, because Ashtavakra often dealt with all the possible identity of money and work and kingdom and all of these things. We are trying to explain here, trying to respond to him, sharing that even for one who knows the Self, he plays the game of life. There is a fundamentally different thing that happened, not in actuality, but even in the play there is a difference between the sage and the expression of consciousness which is still pretending to be a limited entity, a person.

You see, comparing a sage, the liberated one, to most of humanity, it seems to be learning about life, bewildered, burdened, and in pieces. So that which burdens us, which bewilders us, it makes beasts out of us—all of that in terms of individuality, the sense of identity. Surely you give, you know, elation too. He abides in the exalted state yearned for by Indra and all the discontented gods. I don't worry too much about what I'm going to say, especially if you can't relate to it. I just want to say that in this appearance, it is possible for anything to appear. You might in the next moment find yourself living in a realm which is completely unidentifiable with this one. You might be appearing as one of the gods, like in the talking. Anything, everything might appear.

Please put that which is being spoken about here in the scriptures. It is beyond any realm, any experience. So it doesn't matter what they are looking for. Already he is a god over here. Whatever is my seat, this is beyond the realm of appearance. Whatever, no matter how sublime or terrible that experience might be, with the one who already is trying to say, 'You have to go here, you hook your cash.' Surely one who knows that the capital 'T' Truth is not touched by what you know or by gesture. Space is not touched by smoke. It seems to be, who can prevent the great soul who knows the universe as Self from living life as it comes?

This is a great rule because don't expect that things should change in the events of life because of the discovery that you are making. So life can continue to be as it likes. The theme of Zen saying is: before enlightenment, chopping wood, fetching water; after enlightenment, chopping wood, fetching water. But I'd like to add two words to that, which is 'or not.' Even that can seem to become like a position, that it has to be that way. So many can say, 'See, now, before something happened to this one, he had a job, he had work here. Do you think now after that he just left all of that? Therefore, he cannot be enlightened.' By them, it is not what they're saying. What they are saying is that it is completely possible for the same seemingly regular day-to-day life to continue, and it is completely possible that it doesn't. Actually, anything can happen.

This is important because many times this can become a condition in opposition. 'Okay, so then now what I found is witness, I found that it has no attributes, I found that it is unchanging. So now what is supposed to happen to me? Where is my halo and where are my followers? Where is my satsang program?' That's only a career pathway, actually. I think it is many who come to this discovery who continue with a regular life, who are never really outwardly sharing. In this way, to the first, a presence versus everyone, which is not necessary. It is to play a certain way.