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The Ashtavakra Gita
Before you start this powerful scripture:
How to understand Ashtavakra's Gita:
Of all the scriptures, this is one of the most, if not the single most, radical and direct scripture as it comes as close to inducing immediate truth and enlightenment as one could possibly get to with words. It is old; yet it remains controversial in that it defies all practices, religions, spiritual dogmas, scriptures and traditions as being useless and blinding, and if you read carefully, even condemns the very cause of our bondage to be those practices and paths.
The Ashtavakra Gita is simple, yet bound to be misunderstood: It is all-comprehensive, yet it explains to you no structure to follow and no path to go by. This is utterly naked truth expressed in words as good as you'll probably ever get it and as immediate as it is available in any of the scriptures; this Samhita cuts through all illusion and systems of belief, whether believed to be material, sacred, or spiritual. Ready to drop all your concepts? Ready to stop clinging to whatever spiritual teachers have taught you? Are you ready to drop whatever has ever been taught to you?
Try to read with an open mind: Don't try to collect knowledge out of this scripture. You may do that with all other scriptures if you like; you may spoil them to whatever degree your mind wants you to. But let this scripture be as it is as you read it with an openness of awareness. Don't collect knowledge, instead, just listen and let wisdom understanding dawn on its own. Just listen with an intensely relaxed consciousness as you read each line carefully and attentively. You can also choose to say it out loud to yourself slowly as you read it.
Just be open. Don't try, leave all effort to understand behind and just go with the flow of the words. Enlightenment or any form of 'enlightenening' realizations are a result of letting be, not of strive and effort. So let it be as it is while your eyes, ears and attention reads through the text; Don't actually read this scripture, instead; let it be read.
Introduction: A little background information:
The Ashtavakra Gita, also known as the Ashtavakra Samhita, is a teaching between the fully realized 12-year old master Ashtavakra and the King of Mithila, known as Janak who comes to Ashtavakra to beg for his wisdom after having recognized in him the presence and wisdom of an enlightened one. This scripture comes from Advaita Vedanta
Ashtavakra means one who is deformed in eight places. This is what his body was like: deformed in eight places. Said to be so due to a curse uttered by his father when Ashtavakra was still in the uterus of his mother. Much more is not known about him, only that this conversation/teaching took place when he was of the age of 12.
The first part of this text comes from Ashtavakra, teaching to Janak. Note that Janak is one of the most open-minded students Ashtavakra could wish for. He has fully ripened to understanding the words of Ashtavakra. So while Ashtavakra is expressing the Ultimate Truth in his words, the spark hits its target and Janak, for the first time in his live, can fully see, and realizes the same as all the sages of all times have realized; simply by listening with a completely open attitude. His entire being was as open and ready to receive as the mounth of whomsoever has not eaten anything in months.
So then the second part of this scripture comes from Janak, expressing his new-found enlightenment in similar words as Ashtavakra did. This part basically consists of some pwerful statements about the ultimate reality, which Janak is referring to as "I". Note that in fact it is the same truth speaking through both. At first it is Ashtavakra expressing his wisdom, then Janak expresses his; but both are one and the same, beyond body and mind. You could say both are Janak, or both are Ashtavakra his words.
Enjoy:
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