Month: March 2020

Steady Wisdom: Week 13 Progress Check

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Steady Wisdom: 108 Verses On Changing My Thinking

DAY 91

“Everything is indeed myself, from the creator of the universe down to the smallest tuft of grass.”  The one who knows this for certain becomes free from conflict of thought.  They are pure, peaceful and free from care for what is attained and not attained.
-Ashtavakra Samhita 11:7
Meditation

The inescapable conclusion of, “Everything is indeed myself” is that nothing but myself exists.  What is spoken of as “everything” is merely an idea falsely superimposed onto myself.  That being so, where is thought and how could I be in conflict with it?  How could I be tainted when nothing other than myself exists to taint me?  How could I be disturbed when there is nothing to disturb me?  How can I be free of care when care itself is a false notion?  OM. 

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Steady Wisdom: Day 90

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Steady Wisdom: 108 Verses On Changing My Thinking

DAY 90

I cannot be purified by the practice of yoga.  I cannot be purified by destroying the mind.  I cannot be purified by a teacher’s instructions.  I am reality itself and purity is my nature. 
-Avaduta Gita 1:48
Meditation

I can only purify myself if I am contaminated.  I can only be contaminated if something other than myself exists to contaminate me.  But I alone exist. 

The body and mind can be purified through yoga.  The mind can be purified (destroyed) through meditation.  Ignorance can be purified by the teacher’s instructions.  But once the ignorance of my true nature is gone, I see that I have always been pure and nothing can change that.  OM.  

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Steady Wisdom: Day 89

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Steady Wisdom: 108 Verses On Changing My Thinking

DAY 89

My belief in duality has ceased.  Of what value is a mind free from thought and desire? Of what use are the scriptures or self-knowledge?
-Ashtavakra Samhita 20:2
Meditation

I have seen through the illusion of duality and what is illusory can have no real value.  Further, value itself has no basis when nothing exists outside of myself for me to value.

Yes, a mind free of thought and desire was necessary for me to be able to properly approach the scriptures.  And the scriptures were an invaluable sign that pointed to the truth of my nature.  But now that they have helped me realize I am non-dual consciousness-existence, what purpose can they serve?  Now that I’ve found the “object” of my inquiry (myself), I no longer need the “finger” (scriptures) that pointed to it.  Nor do I need a mind free of thought and desire because the direct realization of my true nature has shown me that I am naturally free of both.  OM.

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Steady Wisdom: Day 88

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Steady Wisdom: 108 Verses On Changing My Thinking

DAY 88

I am pure consciousness, not subject to modification.  In my true nature I have no relation with any object.  Established in my own self, I am unborn perfect infinity, extending to the front, the sides, below, above, everywhere. 
-Upadesha Sahasri 10:2 (Metrical)
Meditation

I am pure consciousness. I never become the objects that appear in me, nor am I affected by them.  I have no relation with any object because objects do not exist.  Or alternately, I have no relation with any object because all objects are in truth nothing but myself.  Relation can only occur between two different things—but I alone exist so this is not possible. 

I am unborn, perfect and infinite.  Until this fact is perfectly clear, I meditate on this knowledge until my mind becomes firmly established in it.  OM. 

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Steady Wisdom: Day 87

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Steady Wisdom: 108 Verses On Changing My Thinking

DAY 87

I am neither bound nor free because bondage and freedom are illusory concepts. The universe, though appearing in me, only appears to exist because of ignorance.  Knowing I am the self, my belief in the illusion ceases. 
-Ashtavakra Samhita 2:18
Meditation

I appear to be bound by the universe when I believe it is real.  But the universe cannot be real because it continuously changes in the waking state; it is periodically replaced by an ever-changing dream universe in the dream state; and it is completely absent in deep sleep. How real is that? 

Perhaps the universe is still there when I don’t see it in the state of dream or deep sleep?  Even if it is, that does not establish its reality.  For if it were real, it would continue to be evident in dream and deep sleep.  For that which truly exists is self-evident and does not need to be established any means of knowledge such as perception.  The self alone is self-evident and self-established.  I am that self and I alone exist. There is no bondage to escape from and no freedom to strive for.  OM. 

Read Series Introduction