Excerpts from the Ashtavakra Gita by Guruji H.H. Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji.
अष्टावक्र उवाच ।।मुक्तिम् इच्छसि चेत्तात विषयान् विषवत्त्यज ।क्षमार्जवदयातोषसत्यंपीयूषवद् भज ।। १-२।।
Ashtavakra spoke: muktim ichchasi chet taat vishayaan vishavat tyaja kshamaa aarjava dayaa tosha satyam piyushavad bhaja (1-2)
“The synonym for truth is existence. What exists is truth. The five important points are forgiveness, sincerity, compassion, contentment and truthfulness.
· Kshama (forgiveness)
Forgive yourself. Some vasanas, impressions were responsible for your actions. If you can’t forgive yourself you have tied yourself with the past. Then there is no freedom; no liberation. You have to free yourself from the past and how can you do it if you cannot forgive? Kshama, forgive yourself. Forgiveness, right now!
· Arjava (sincerity)
There are people who go on forgiving themselves but they are not sincere. So they can be where they are and continue doing the same thing. You may have done something wrong; you are also preparing to something wrong today and will continue with something tomorrow. There is no sincerity. Sincerity is a quality. Sincerity is there when you do anything with full awareness….. Kindle the sincerity within you….
· Daya (compassion)
Don’t be hard on yourself or on anyone else. If you are totally non-violent, violence ceases to exist in your presence. There is a maturity of compassion towards everyone and all beings. if you are not compassionate, you are bound to get angry. Daya is your very nature.
· Tosha (contentment)
Contentment follows compassion. A frustrated person cannot be compassionate. If you had only ten days to live on this planet, what would you want to do… we hang on to things as if though they will be forever…. A friend of yours behaved badly with you and hurt you. What actually hurts you is your own foolishness. The whole world needs to understand this; the entire world is burning out for nothing. Every moment put yourself in knowledge. Everybody should be immersed in two or three hours of SEVA.
· Satyam (truth)
Truth is what is right now! This is truth! What is the truth! You are not going to be here all the time! Atleast this body is not!
The body is always changing
The whole world is changing
People are changing; their minds are changing.
Wake up and see that everything is changing.
It makes you so firm, strong and solid inside.
These five principles exist in your life.
Did these five principles come up during the day. Did you forgive yourself or someone else for what happened. Were you sincere in what you were doing? Situations have been created for you to do this… Accepting that you have been insincere is sincerity, not judging, not giving any explanation, not justifying oneself; but acknowledging it.then you have become sincere. Were you compassionate towards yourself and others. Were you contented with what is and what was happenng around you. Did you remember that truth that all things are changing? What is truth? This will all go…..
Piyushavadbhaja..
Take these five principles as the nectar of your life and share them like nectar. Consider them as the essence or ambrosia of your life and nourish them.”
We don’t hold on to big things. We hold on to small things, little things around us. We hold on to straws here and there. But you are given something that is immensely valuable and very precious. In order to take something very precious, our mind has to know that the hands are full of straws, which are good-for-nothing. Letting go is the nectar, the ambrosia. Ambrosia is being offered to you but you are holding onto some poison ivy!
You don’t have to make any effort, just wake up!” ....... :)
