Journey from illusion to reality

What is meant by ‘I am Awareness Alone’? कूटस्थं बोधमद्वैतमात्मानं परिभावय । आभासोऽहं भ्रमं मुक्त्वा भावं बाह्यमथान्तरम् ॥ kūṭasthaṃ bodhamadvaitamātmānaṃ paribhāvaya ābhāso'haṃ bhramaṃ muktvā bhāvaṃ bāhyamathāntaram 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. ~ Chapter 1, Verse 13 ✥ ✥ ✥ Questioner (Q): Ashtavakra says, “I am Awareness alone, Unity itself.” Ashtavakra repeats this many a times in the whole chapter. To me, this seems like reminding myself of my ‘awareness-nature’ all the time. It can help me attain liberation. Please help me understand this. Acharya Prashant (AP): Ashtavakra says, “I am Awareness alone, Unity itself.” You probably took that the emphasis was on the word ‘awareness’. The emphasis is actually on ‘alone’. “I am Awareness alone.” Whenever we say we are something, we don’t merely say what we are, we also concurrently say what we are not. So, we have established...

Only a Godless mind will be petty यदि देहं पृथक् कृत्य चिति विश्राम्य तिष्ठसि । अधुनैव सुखी शान्तो बन्धमुक्तो भविष्यसि ॥ yadi dehaṃ pṛthakkṛtya citi viśrāmya tiṣṭhasi adhunaiva sukhī śānto bandhamukto bhaviṣyasi If you detach yourself from the body and abide in consciousness, you will at once be happy, peaceful and free from bondage. ~ Chapter 1, Verse 4 ✥ ✥ ✥ Questioner (Q): How to not be body-identified? Acharya Prashant (AP): We remember the body all the time. We remember so many other things all the time. Thoughts of the world occupy the mind all the time. Memory is active all the time. And all these need to be remembered because something important has been forgotten. The sense of self needs identification. The sense of self needs to find out what it is, who it is. After all, you do exist, right? You do exist. If you do exist, you ought to be somebody, something, some entity. And if you forget who you are, then you will need to hold on to something else. You’re required to constan...

Only a Godless mind will be petty यदि देहं पृथक् कृत्य चिति विश्राम्य तिष्ठसि । अधुनैव सुखी शान्तो बन्धमुक्तो भविष्यसि ॥ yadi dehaṃ pṛthakkṛtya citi viśrāmya tiṣṭhasi adhunaiva sukhī śānto bandhamukto bhaviṣyasi If you detach yourself from the body and abide in consciousness, you will at once be happy, peaceful and free from bondage. ~ Chapter 1, Verse 4 ✥ ✥ ✥ Questioner (Q): How to not be body-identified? Acharya Prashant (AP): We remember the body all the time. We remember so many other things all the time. Thoughts of the world occupy the mind all the time. Memory is active all the time. And all these need to be remembered because something important has been forgotten. The sense of self needs identification. The sense of self needs to find out what it is, who it is. After all, you do exist, right? You do exist. If you do exist, you ought to be somebody, something, some entity. And if you forget who you are, then you will need to hold on to something else. You’re require...