Meditation On The Song Of Ashtavakra

Oh Master,

Tell me how to find detachment,

Wisdom,

And freedom.

Child,

If you wish to be free,

Shun the poison of the senses.

Seek the nectar of truth,

Of love and forgiveness,

Simplicity and happiness.

Earth,

Fire,

Water,

The wind and the sky.

You are none of these.

If you wish to be free,

Know you are the self,

The witness of all these,

The heart of awareness.

Set your body aside.

Sit in your own awareness.

You will at once be happy,

Forever still,

Forever free.

You have no chaste,

No duties bind you.

Formless and free,

Beyond the reach of the senses,

The witness of all things.

So,

Be happy.

Right or wrong,

Joy or sorrow,

These are of the mind only.

They are not yours.

It is not really you who acts or enjoys.

You are everywhere,

Forever free,

Forever and truly free,

The single witness of all things.

Know you are one,

Pure awareness.

With the fire of this conviction,

Burn down the forest of ignorance.

Free yourself from sorrow and be happy.

Be happy,

For you are joy,

Unbounded joy.

You are awareness itself.

The self looks like the world,

But this is just an illusion.

The self is everywhere.

One.

Still.

Free.

Perfect.

Meditate on the self.

One without two.

Exalted awareness.

Give up the illusion of the separate self.

Give up the feeling,

Within or without,

That you are this or that.

My child,

Because you think you are the body,

For a long time you have been bound.

Know you are pure awareness.

With this knowledge as your sword,

Cut through your chains and be happy.

For you are already free,

Without action or flaw.

Luminous and bright.

Your nature is pure awareness.

You are flowing in all things and all things are flowing in you.

Yesterday,

I lived bewildered in illusion.

But now I am awake,

Flawless and serene,

Beyond the world.

From my light,

The body and the world arise.

So all things are mine,

Or nothing is.

Now I have given up the body and the world.

I have a special gift.

I see the infinite self.

My nature is light.

Nothing but light.

When the world arises,

I alone am shining.