Ashtavakra Gita

 
 1: Instruction on Self-Realization
Janaka asked : Master, how is Knowledge to be achieved, detachment acquired, liberation attained?

Ashtavakra answered:
To be free,shun the experiences of the senses like poison.
Turn your attention to forgiveness, sincerity, kindness, simplicity, truth.
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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.
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Abide in Awareness with no illusion of person.
You will be instantly free and at peace.
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You have no caste or duties.You are invisible, unattached, formless.
You are the Witness of all things. Be happy.
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Right and wrong, pleasure and pain, exist in mind only.
They are not your concern. You neither do nor enjoy. You are free.
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You are the Solitary Witness of All That Is, forever free.
Your only bondage is not seeing This.
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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.
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A single understanding: “I am the One Awareness,” consumes all suffering in the fire of an instant. Be happy.
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You are unbounded Awareness Bliss, Supreme Bliss in which the universe appears like the mirage of a snake in a rope. Be happy.
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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.
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You are Self—the Solitary Witness. You are perfect, all-pervading, One. You are free, desire-less, forever still. The universe is but a seeming in You.
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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.
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You have long been bound thinking: “I am a person.”
Let the knowledge: “I am Awareness alone” be the sword that frees you.
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You are now and forever free, luminous, transparent, still.
The practice of meditation keeps one in bondage.
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You are pure Consciousness the substance of the universe.
The universe exists within you. Don’t be small-minded.
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You are unconditioned, changeless, formless. You are solid, unfathomable, cool. Desire nothing. You are Consciousness.
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That which has form is not real. Only the formless is permanent.
Once this is known, you will not return to illusion.
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Just as a mirror exists both within and without the image reflected,
the Supreme Self exists both within and without the body.
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Just as the same space exists both within and without a jar,
the timeless, all-pervasive One exists as Totality.