Chapter 2
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The Avadhut said:
1. Do not hold the immature, the credulous, the foolish, the slow, the layman and the fallen to have nothing good in them. They all teach something. Learn from them. Surely we do not give up a game although we have mastered it?
2. Think not lightly of your Guru should he lack letters and learning. Take the Truth he teaches and ignore the rest. Know well that a boat, painted and adorned, will carry you across the river; so also will one that is plain and simple.
3. The higher intelligence which without effort pervades the movable and the immovable, and which by nature is all peace and consciousness, that I am.
4. How can the one supreme consciousness which without effort rules the living and the inert and is all-pervasive, be other than I?
5. I am subtler than primordial substance, beyond elements and compounds, free from birth and death, above duality and unity.
6. The modifications of the inner organ (antahkarana) have no part in me. Like bubbles rising and falling in a river, thoughts and volitions rise and disappear in the inner organ.
7. As softness is not perceived apart from soft objects, as sweetness is not known apart from honey, as bitterness is not known apart from the [very bitter-tasting] Neem tree [leaves], as fluidity and coolness are the nature of water, so the primordial form of matter called mahat ['giant'] is no other than the Self (Atman). As the rays of the sun differ not from the sun, so matter does not differ from God.
8. How can "I" or "you" be said of Brahman which is more subtle than mahat, free from all attributes, greater than all, above the range of mind and emotion, without medium or limitation, lord of the universe? It can neither be called static or dynamic.
9. As space cannot be compared with another space, so Brahman being above duality, cannot be compared with any object. Brahman alone is perfection, taintless, all knowledge.
10. It walks not on the earth, the wind cannot move It, the water cannot cover It, It stands in the middle of [inner, subtle] Light.
11. It pervades space-time. Nothing pervades It. From limitations ever free, eternally the same, with nothing outside It and nothing within, It abides.
12. Atman, of which the high yogis speak, most subtle, beyond perception, without attributes, must be realized step by step, and not by sudden violence.
13. Ever practicing yoga, not depending on any object, the yogi merges his consciousness in Brahman, and becomes Brahman.
14. There is but one antidote to the poison of highly dangerous passions, which beget infatuation, and that is to return to the state of Atman. Atman is unapproachable by the emotions, is ever formless and independent.
15. Hidden in the realm of eternal consciousness lies the world's cause, which is prakriti. Within this cause is Brahman. The husk of a coconut is the world, the pulp is prakriti, and the sweet cool water encased in the pulp is Brahman.
16. Like the full moon is Atman. See It in all. Duality is the product of defective vision. As there is only one moon so there is only one Atman in all.
17. No duality can touch the conception of Brahman, because It is all-pervasive. The wise who teach this acquire boundless patience, and their disciples can never be too thankful to them.
18. The talented as well as the witless attain the state of desirelessness by knowing the mystery of Atman, through the grace of their spiritual teacher.
19. This transcendent ['beyondic'] state of consciousness is reached by those who are free from attachment and aversion, ever engaged in doing good to all living beings, whose knowledge is firmly rooted, and who are patient.
20. The yogi is merged in the divine after leaving the body, as the jar-space is merged in cosmic space on the destruction of the jar.
21. The statement that the future condition is determined by the state of the thoughts at death is made of the uninitiated, not the initiated.
22. The knower of Brahman may leave his body in a holy place, or in the house of an untouchable, he is absorbed into Brahman.
23. When a yogi has realized Atman, which is his true Self, birthless and beyond the range of the mind and emotions, then the karmas [actions and their retributions] no longer touch him. He may perform the rituals or leave them. To him it is all one.
24. Atman realized is the master of creation, eternal, indestructible, formless, without dimensions, absolutely independent, without pleasure or pain, full of all powers.
25. The wise discover that Atman is not seen either by the study of the Vedas, by initiations, by shaving the head, or by being a Guru or chela [dear, intimate follower or disciple]. Nor is it seen through postures.
26. That God, Atman, by whose power the whole universe is born, in which it abides and to which it finally returns like bubbles and waves in the sea, is realized by the wise.
27. Atman, which the wise realize, is not the aim of control of breath (pranayama) or hatha yoga [of physical postures and the like]. In It there is neither knowledge nor ignorance.
28. There is neither unity nor duality in Atman, nor unity-duality, neither smallness nor greatness, neither emptiness nor fullness. All these exist in the mind, and the mind is not Atman.
29. The teacher cannot teach Atman [note]; the disciple cannot learn it.
Note: "If that is so, then why this song at all?" asked a mirthful lad.
Next
The Avadhut said:
1. Do not hold the immature, the credulous, the foolish, the slow, the layman and the fallen to have nothing good in them. They all teach something. Learn from them. Surely we do not give up a game although we have mastered it?
2. Think not lightly of your Guru should he lack letters and learning. Take the Truth he teaches and ignore the rest. Know well that a boat, painted and adorned, will carry you across the river; so also will one that is plain and simple.
3. The higher intelligence which without effort pervades the movable and the immovable, and which by nature is all peace and consciousness, that I am.
4. How can the one supreme consciousness which without effort rules the living and the inert and is all-pervasive, be other than I?
5. I am subtler than primordial substance, beyond elements and compounds, free from birth and death, above duality and unity.
6. The modifications of the inner organ (antahkarana) have no part in me. Like bubbles rising and falling in a river, thoughts and volitions rise and disappear in the inner organ.
7. As softness is not perceived apart from soft objects, as sweetness is not known apart from honey, as bitterness is not known apart from the [very bitter-tasting] Neem tree [leaves], as fluidity and coolness are the nature of water, so the primordial form of matter called mahat ['giant'] is no other than the Self (Atman). As the rays of the sun differ not from the sun, so matter does not differ from God.
8. How can "I" or "you" be said of Brahman which is more subtle than mahat, free from all attributes, greater than all, above the range of mind and emotion, without medium or limitation, lord of the universe? It can neither be called static or dynamic.
9. As space cannot be compared with another space, so Brahman being above duality, cannot be compared with any object. Brahman alone is perfection, taintless, all knowledge.
10. It walks not on the earth, the wind cannot move It, the water cannot cover It, It stands in the middle of [inner, subtle] Light.
11. It pervades space-time. Nothing pervades It. From limitations ever free, eternally the same, with nothing outside It and nothing within, It abides.
12. Atman, of which the high yogis speak, most subtle, beyond perception, without attributes, must be realized step by step, and not by sudden violence.
13. Ever practicing yoga, not depending on any object, the yogi merges his consciousness in Brahman, and becomes Brahman.
14. There is but one antidote to the poison of highly dangerous passions, which beget infatuation, and that is to return to the state of Atman. Atman is unapproachable by the emotions, is ever formless and independent.
15. Hidden in the realm of eternal consciousness lies the world's cause, which is prakriti. Within this cause is Brahman. The husk of a coconut is the world, the pulp is prakriti, and the sweet cool water encased in the pulp is Brahman.
16. Like the full moon is Atman. See It in all. Duality is the product of defective vision. As there is only one moon so there is only one Atman in all.
17. No duality can touch the conception of Brahman, because It is all-pervasive. The wise who teach this acquire boundless patience, and their disciples can never be too thankful to them.
18. The talented as well as the witless attain the state of desirelessness by knowing the mystery of Atman, through the grace of their spiritual teacher.
19. This transcendent ['beyondic'] state of consciousness is reached by those who are free from attachment and aversion, ever engaged in doing good to all living beings, whose knowledge is firmly rooted, and who are patient.
20. The yogi is merged in the divine after leaving the body, as the jar-space is merged in cosmic space on the destruction of the jar.
21. The statement that the future condition is determined by the state of the thoughts at death is made of the uninitiated, not the initiated.
22. The knower of Brahman may leave his body in a holy place, or in the house of an untouchable, he is absorbed into Brahman.
23. When a yogi has realized Atman, which is his true Self, birthless and beyond the range of the mind and emotions, then the karmas [actions and their retributions] no longer touch him. He may perform the rituals or leave them. To him it is all one.
24. Atman realized is the master of creation, eternal, indestructible, formless, without dimensions, absolutely independent, without pleasure or pain, full of all powers.
25. The wise discover that Atman is not seen either by the study of the Vedas, by initiations, by shaving the head, or by being a Guru or chela [dear, intimate follower or disciple]. Nor is it seen through postures.
26. That God, Atman, by whose power the whole universe is born, in which it abides and to which it finally returns like bubbles and waves in the sea, is realized by the wise.
27. Atman, which the wise realize, is not the aim of control of breath (pranayama) or hatha yoga [of physical postures and the like]. In It there is neither knowledge nor ignorance.
28. There is neither unity nor duality in Atman, nor unity-duality, neither smallness nor greatness, neither emptiness nor fullness. All these exist in the mind, and the mind is not Atman.
29. The teacher cannot teach Atman [note]; the disciple cannot learn it.
Note: "If that is so, then why this song at all?" asked a mirthful lad.
Next
