Dedicated to the lotus feet of the divine Guru Shivabalayogi Maharaj

Ashtavakra Gita, Ch.12/13 “Abiding in the Self”/ “Happiness” – Q&A, #238

Recorded on 13 July 2025 with US participants

0:00 Intro
0:06 Ch.12 Verse 5, rejecting objects which are created by the mind.
1:57 Is it a practice to ignore the mental chatter?
3:30 Ch.12, Verse 6 – abstaining from action, and acting to achieve a desired result – both are born out of ignorance.
3:52 Ch.12, Verse 7 – renouncing all thought for awareness of the Self
4:49 By a thought of the mind, you cannot know your real Self. To know the space, you have to be the space.
6:41 The one who’s reached That has reached the final goal, completely fulfilled and blessed.
10:46 Turn off the mind, then you merge with the Self.
12:30 Is that state of peace pure existence?
12:56 Consciousness gets caught up in the creation, thinking it is what it has created, and forgets that it is in a state of freedom.
14:11 Ch. 13, Verse 1 – “having given up both renunciation and acceptance, I am happy.”
15:03 Ch. 13, Verse 3 – “Resting in the Self, realizing no actions are actually being done. I carry out activities in the world simply as they present themselves, truly happy.”
17:23 Becoming aware of the Self it has realized that it’s not the body or the mind and doesn’t identify with being that anymore.
18:26 What makes the body-mind run after Self Realization?
19:49 When you are Self Realized is it true that only the moment exists.
21:03 For a lot of people, missing the past is not the problem. It’s fear of the past, thinking it’s going to come back.
21:48 Mind’s tendency to recognize, analyze, and judge thus acquiring imprints which form habits and attitudes.
25:00 Babaji is detached, in that consciousness, so is not involved in actions – yet You are the most compassionate person.
27:20 So once you are Self Realized, the personality is running on whatever impressions have been formed along the way?
28:29 “This cannot be practiced by reading books or listening to talks, only by experience of the Self this state of mind comes.”
32:50 “The mind needs to become totally quiet, only then the ability to see God everywhere, in everything, as everything, comes.”
34:34 Ch.13, Verse 4 – “Abandoning now both involvement and detachment. I rest truly happy.”
34:56 Ch.13, Verse 5 – “Whether I stay or go or sleep, I live truly happy.”
35:08 Ch.13, Verse 6 – “Giving up thoughts of sad loss or exciting gain, I live happily.”
35:22 Ch.13, Verse 7 – “I have renounced identification with good or evil. I live in true happiness.”
36:38 Whether you undertake action bodily or not, It is important to renounce by mind and not absorb any imprints or doership.
40:36 Giving up any absorption in the mind and becoming quiet in the mind gives Self awareness and Supreme Peace.
41:45 If we depend on the happiness of this world, unhappiness definitely follows. If there is unhappiness, happiness follows.
44:19 Happiness is temporary, generated within the mind, whereas supreme peace is permanent and beyond the mind – so happiness sounds like a step below Supreme Peace?
47:30 These talks are really helpful for focusing in on what you need to be at peace, what you need to be happy.
49:10 Are all actions of the body predetermined once it comes into existence?
54:10 “The director is creating the drama and producing the characters, both good and evil, that play the roles of the drama.”
56:30 How to pray to the Divine, if thinking takes us away from the Self?
59:46 The story of Shikhidvaja and Chudala. The teaching that the King could get enlightenment while living in a kingdom as well.
1:02:41 Is self realization possible just with self knowledge and awareness, without meditation practice — for some rare seekers?
1:04:30 Even though we do our daily duties with without attachment, the mind still holds on to some kind of expectations.
1:06:05 How do we give up the attachments? Sadhana, I think would would help?

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