Guru Continues: “Self always remains only as a witness and an embodiment of knowledge. You have to use your will to make your antaḥkaraṇa inactive. By doing so, you will realize the completeness of the Self without disturbances. Body, indriya-s, prāṇa-s, mind, ego, etc. are veiling the Self and are known as upādhi-s. Upādhi-s arise out of ajñāna, but the Self remains secluded and remains unaffected by these upādhi-s (upādhi-s are around the Self forming a curtain between the Self and our mind. During Self-realization, these upādhi-s should be removed through meditation. There is no other means to realize the Self). Self is all-pervasive and you should understand this reality first. How can you keep ākāśā in a pot? What is inside the pot, is also outside the pot. Ākāśā inside the pot always remains unaffected by the shape of the pot. Similarly, Self always remains unaffected by upādhi-s. Right from Brahmā (the god in charge of creation) till a tiny grass, every shape and form are only upādhi-s and  Brahman (Self) alone is Omnipresent. We have already discussed about rope and snake. When fear of snake goes, you see the truth which is the rope. This fear is upādhi arising out of ajñāna. If this truth is understood, you will firmly affirm “I am Brahman”. You will also realize that you alone prevail in every cardinal and everywhere as there is no difference between Brahman and you. All that have shapes and forms are nothing but this eternal Brahman only (Sat). Brahman is like ākāśā, without any boundaries, though appearing with boundaries. Brahman has nothing either inside or outside, like ākāśā. If you realize this, there is nothing else to be known. What else is there to teach on this? One or two explanations is more than adequate. There is no difference between Brahman and jīva and Brahman alone is pervading the entire universe (omnipresence). There is no duality in Brahman and if you realize that you are Brahman, there is nothing else to be learnt. Those who have realized the Self always remain in blissful state with complete knowledge. Till one realizes the Self, he remains only as a corpse. The moment he realizes Brahman, he becomes Shiva.

“The one who has fixed upādhi-s around the Self is able to remove those upādhi-s, he realizes Brahman, the One without second, complete and devoid of any actions (Brahman is always a witness). When there is no difference between what is seen, seeing and the seer, where is the question of any difference in this? Similarly, there cannot be any duality in Brahman. In other words, what is seen is Brahman, the one seeing (seer) is Brahman and the act of seeing is also Brahman. Mind is the root for differentiating the universe from Brahman. Turn the mind inwards and fix it on the Self within. A jñāni directly experiences Brahman in his samādhi. Brahman is inexplicable and is the source of perpetual bliss. It is not comparable to anything. It is omnipresent. It is eternal, calm and serene, devoid of forms and guṇa-s. Dear disciple, listen to my teaching. With steadfast mind, realize the Brahman within you and get away from all vāsanā-s and achieve the goal of human life. By doing so, you will escape from the pains of saṁsāra. This body is like your shadow carrying karmic impressions of past births. You should treat this body like a corpse. Brahman is always pure and blissful. Once you realize Brahman, do not think about your body at all. Discard all your attachments on your body. That is why, a jñāni always remains in the state of bliss. For him his body is of no importance.

“Such a person is known as jīvanmukta. This means that he has attained liberation while still living. He perpetually enjoys overflowing bliss from within and ever remains in the state of eternal peace. The above practices are to be followed step by step. Otherwise, all your efforts would go waste. Forget about whatever you have done in this life and never repeat those mistakes. A person who is drunk, will not act like a stupid when he is not drunk. Similarly, when you have gained highest spiritual knowledge and realized Brahman, you will never get attached towards the ever tempting material world. If you remove every single trace of avidyā from your mind, there will no cause to get entangled in the material world. Practicing vairāgya and overcoming ahaṁkāra (ego) signify that you have rightly grasped my teachings. It is difficult to identify jīvanmukta, as there could be only one or two among millions. Still you will be able to identity a few among them. They will be totally devoid of material attachments and may appear sleepy and will behave like a child. He will eat what is offered to him and he never cooks for himself. He will appear as if he is dreaming, but he always stays united with Brahman. Such a jīvanmukta is highly gifted person. All his good karmas made him to transform into jīvanmukta. There is difference between jīvanmukta and sthitaprajña. Sthitaprajña is the one who controls his mind and firm in judgment and wisdom, calm and contented. He too remains in the state of bliss. Prajña means transcendental wisdom (The only difference between the two is that a jīvanmukta always remains with Brahman and a sthitaprajña is just a step away from merging into Brahman). A jīvanmukta will continue to live till all his karmas are exhausted. He will not recollect his past and will never think about his future. Even if he gets his most desired object, he will not even look at it. He will not find any difference between his soul and Brahman and no difference between the universe and Brahman. Even if he is teased and abused, he will not care. Nobody can influence him.

“Please understand that the one who has realized Brahman will never be interested in worldly affairs (such as ego, desire, attachment, lust, etc.) If one is interested in worldly affairs, he can never be a jīvanmukta. It is not a state that is to be declared by him to the world. It is the blissful state that he alone enjoys all the time.”

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