#2. Truth Is Unrecognisable | Ashtavakra Gita

Let us understand the significance of Ashtavakra. It means a body with 8 deformations. Ashtavakra was born with 8 bends in his body given as a curse by his own father. Truth also is an embodiment with 8 deformations. To grasp the first deformation, meditate on the scene how Ashtavaraka met Janaka. Meditate with me and realise it for yourself, Dhyanse.

Transcript

Namaste and welcome to this life meditation session with me,

Dhyansi.

We are meditating on Ashtavakra Gita,

The path of truth.

Ashtavakra,

This name Ashtavakra is significant enough to understand.

The man with eight bends with eight deformations.

And this dialogue,

Ashtavakra Gita,

Is this dialogue between this man,

This sage,

Ashtavakra,

And the king Janaka.

He is between a master and a disciple.

The master,

Ashtavakra,

And the disciple,

The Janaka.

This master,

This sage,

Ashtavakra,

He got this name Ashtavakra from the deformations he had in his body.

Eight deformations.

Can you imagine a person,

An embodiment with eight defects,

With eight deformations in the body.

In the previous session,

I shared with you how this man got eight bends in the body.

His father cursed him while he was in the womb and trying to correct his father while the father was going through scriptures,

Trying to recite all the teachings of the scriptures.

And this man,

As he was in the womb of his mother,

He was being cursed by the father to be born with eight deformations,

To be born so ugly with eight deformations that you could always see,

Recognize from a distance that Ashtavakra is coming.

That a man so ugly with eight deformations,

With eight defects,

With eight bends is coming.

This is significant to understand because truth also has eight bends.

Truth is also embodied with eight deformations.

Therefore,

Ashtavakra,

Gita,

Therefore the significance of this Ashtavakra Gita,

Otherwise we could have said the father could have cursed Ashtavakra with ten bends or fifteen bends or a hundred bends.

Why eight bends?

Because truth has eight bends,

Eight deformations.

You may see a million deformations but they can all be put together in eight deformations of the truth.

Eight bends in the embodiment of truth.

Truth is there but with these eight embodiments that are the curse of the truth,

That are the blessing of the truth.

When you come across truth,

You will see,

You will feel,

You will recognize these eight bends in the truth.

What is the first bend of the truth?

First deformation of the truth.

To understand that,

Let us also go back in time and understand and visualize this meeting between Janaka,

The king,

And the master,

The sage Ashtavakra.

How did that meeting happen?

It reveals the first bend of the truth.

Janaka,

The king,

He was fond of philosophy,

He was fond of knowledge,

He was fond of listening to wisdom,

Listening to intellect,

Listening to scholars.

So he had organized a debate in his court,

Which he was doing on many occasions.

But this was one grand debate that he had organized and he had invited people from all over the world to come and debate against each other,

To have that challenge to each other,

To defeat each other in the debate of philosophy,

In the debate of wisdom,

In the debate of all the knowledge possible that they have learned from different schools where they went and come.

And the condition was,

If you win,

You will be extraordinarily rewarded,

But if you lose,

You will be put in prison.

Father of Ashtavakra,

He was also a learned man,

He was also a scholar,

He had also dedicated his whole life to learnings,

To teachings of spirituality,

Of wisdom,

Of knowledge and so on.

So he went to that court and he debated with some other people and he lost that debate and king had put him into the prison because the father of Ashtavakra was a man.

The father of Ashtavakra,

He had lost that debate.

Hearing about this,

Ashtavakra immediately decided to go to this court and free his father from Janaka's prison.

As soon as he entered the court where the debate was happening,

Where hundreds of scholars were there,

As soon as he entered the court of the king where all these scholars were there,

Everybody saw this man with eight defects and started laughing.

The moment Ashtavakra entered that courtroom,

Everyone started laughing,

Everyone looked at that man with eight deformations and to see such a crooked body,

Everyone started laughing.

Listening to this laugh,

Ashtavakra shouted,

O king,

You called me to this court of the wise men but here I only see butchers and skinners.

The moment Ashtavakra said that to the king and to the entire court,

There was silence.

Ashtavakra said,

O king,

I thought that you had invited me to be in debate with the wise men.

Here there are only butchers,

Only skinners,

Only those who can see just the body,

Who can just see the defects in my body,

Who cannot see through and beyond just the body.

And there was silence in the court.

We also,

As soon as we come across truth,

We cannot recognize the truth.

That is the first defect of the truth which is revealed from this story,

From this meeting,

The first meeting of Janaka and Ashtavakra,

The disciple and the master.

The moment master entered that court,

Everyone laughed because they could not see the truth.

Even the disciple himself,

Janaka himself,

He could not see the truth.

He laughed as well along with others.

But when the truth enters,

The truth enters with its roar and Ashtavakra said,

This court is not of the wise men,

This court is of the butchers who can just see the defects,

Who can just see my body.

So the first defect of the truth is you cannot recognize the truth.

Understand what is recognition.

Recognition is re-cognition,

Is repetition of the cognition.

Cognition of what?

Cognition of what you already know through your senses.

Cognition of the perception.

Cognition can never reach to the truth.

In cognition,

You can never arrive to the truth.

Therefore,

You can never recognize the truth.

Truth entering your life,

You cannot recognize the truth.

You have put statues of Buddha in your garden,

In your living room,

In your altar,

The face of the Buddha.

Everyone has done that and everyone feels that that is the Buddha.

When you look at that face,

You create a perception,

A cognition of Buddha.

But is that the Buddha?

Is that the truth?

If Buddha would enter your life,

You will not be able to recognize the Buddha.

In fact,

Buddha is entering your life every day,

Every moment,

Every second,

But you are unable to recognize the Buddha,

The Christ,

The Krishna.

Any form of God,

Any form of truth is entering your life day in,

Day out,

Every minute,

But you keep on missing it.

Because you are trying to recognize this.

You are trying to recognize the Buddha,

The Jesus,

The Krishna,

The God,

The truth in those scriptures,

In those sculptures,

In those beautiful faces,

Beautiful imagery,

Beautiful ideas that you have given to yourself.

But truth is right here in front of you.

The truth enters in your life in every possible way,

But you are unable to recognize.

Every person that comes across your life is bringing the truth.

Every animate,

Inanimate interaction that you have is coming along with truth,

But you are unable to recognize.

Because in your cognition,

There is an idea of truth,

There is an idea of God,

There is an idea of something far bigger than this right here.

The truth is right here in this space as you are sitting right now listening to me,

But you are trying to recognize the truth and therefore you miss.

That is the first defect of the truth.

The truth can never be recognized.

Then what can happen to the truth?

How can you approach the truth?

Truth can only be approached in the meditative silence.

In that silence,

In that awareness,

Where cognition is not colored by your perception,

Where there is no cognition,

Where there is no wish for cognition,

In that moment,

In that gap,

In that silence,

Right here,

Not a moment somewhere else,

Right here,

In this moment there is truth.

Get out of trying to recognize.

Be in this meditative silence,

In this awareness and there is truth.

So you cannot recognize the truth,

But you can realize the truth.

Realization is possible.

Realization is happening in this very moment,

Which you cannot articulate,

Which you cannot recognize,

But you can realize it right here,

Not somewhere else.

The moment of enlightenment is not somewhere else,

Is not far from you,

Is not an idea,

Is not for somebody else.

It is right here for you in this moment.

Don't try to recognize,

Realize.

Let us move in this meditative silence before we proceed with this Ashtavakra Gita and get into the dialogue of Janaka and Ashtavakra,

Get into these eight deformations of Ashtavakra of the truth,

Of the embodiment of truth.

But at this moment,

Realize the truth in the meditative silence with me in these moments,

Nowhere else in these moments,

Right here.

Please close your eyes.

Take a posture where your body is so relaxed that you can forget about the body.

Your mind going here and there.

Bring it in this moment,

In this moment of truth.

Your heart,

Bring it to this moment of truth.

Your heart may go here and there searching for the truth in ideas,

In its beliefs.

Bring it here.

The truth is right here.

Let us move in this meditative silence.

Don't wait for the commands.

Be here.

The truth is right here.

Entering you from all directions.

Right here.

Let us move in this moment of truth.

Let us move in this moment of truth.

Let us move in this moment of truth.

Let us move in this moment of truth.

Let us move in this moment of truth.

Not trying to recognize,

Repeat,

Rather realize.

As you open yourself to this silence,

To this awareness.

Let us move in this moment of truth.

Let us move in this moment of truth.

No effort whatsoever.

The truth is right here.

Let us move in this moment of truth.

Let us move in this moment of truth.

Nothing to see in this silent awareness.

Nothing to recognize.

Nothing to realize.

Nothing to see in this silent awareness.

Nothing to see in this silent awareness.

Nothing to see in this silent awareness.

Be silent and realize.

Nothing to see in this silent awareness.

Nothing to see in this silent awareness.

Nothing to see in this silent awareness.

No mind,

No cognition.

There is truth.

Right here.

In this moment.

No mind,

No meditation.

No mind,

No meditation.

Realize it.

No mind,

No meditation.

No mind,

No meditation.

Very gently and slowly.

You may open your eyes.

Maintaining this realization.

This truth that is there in this moment right here.

Not trying to recognize it,

Realizing it,

Taking this realization to every aspect of your life.

Thank you very much.

Namaste.

Reviews

🙏🏾🙏🏾🙏🏾

I’d forgotten how impactful this tantric teaching is, perhaps one of the ones most impactful to me. Realization of the Truth is all that can be done, an important distinction from the recognition of Truth, which is an illusion. This gives me a lot to sit with and that Truth can begin to be realized on the cushion, which is why meditation is so liberating. Thank you, Dhyanse, for your wisdom!🙏🏼🤍

Amazing. The best thing about his sessions is they are very simple and focus on one thing at a time. Thank you

Thank you for this most profound and yet simple wisdom.