CEASE THAT NOW

The Ashtavakra Gita (10.8) pronounces "Now at last stop," or "Cease that now," specifically in the context of external thought projection of mind to relish in the world of objects. The inner spirit, or Atman, remains a mute witness to all these activities of mind. The Srimad Bhagavad Gita (3.38) aptly explains it in this way:

dhūmenāvriyate vahnir yathādarśho malena cha

yatholbenāvṛito garbhas tathā tenedam āvṛitam

The Bhagavad Gita (3.38) says that just as a fire is covered by smoke, a mirror is masked by dust, and an embryo is concealed by the womb, similarly one’s knowledge is shrouded by desire. Insatiable desire clouds our perception of reality, i.e. One, indivisible, eternal, and infinite, and impedes our ability to realise reality unobscured. The Ashtavakra Gita equally teaches to imbibe the virtues of equanimity, endurance, detachment, dispassion, and dispossession in the transient phenomenal world ingrained with sensual desires, attachments, passion, ignorance, and pairs of opposites (love and hatred, hope and despair, attachment and aversion, hot and cold, birth and death, etc.). It encourages the removal of the veil of ignorance by renouncing the insatiable desire to indulge in sensual pleasures derived from the fleeting world of opposing objects, attachments, and suffering. It urges the practitioners to find liberation by realising their true and pure nature. Abandonment of desires is foremost, which is seen as the root cause of suffering and bondage in the Samsara Chakra, or cycle of birth and death. The goal is to reach a state of equanimity, where one is free from the pairs of opposites and is established in a state of tranquillity, inner peace, and liberation. "Cease that now," or "Now at last stop," the clarion call by the Ashtavakra Gita (10.8), urging the individuals to cease their endless pursuit of sensual desires and become imbibed by their true nature, or effulgent Self. The Ashtavakra Gita emphasises that the true self is pure, conscious, eternal, infinite, unchanging, and distinct from the phenomenally illusionary world of appearances and desires. It is a call to cease striving for worldly desires and recognise one's true, unchanging self, or "Atman", by embracing a state of self-realisation.

1. Outline 

The Ashtavakra Gita urges the practitioners to cease that now, particularly the mental activity involving thoughts, desires and attachments, which are seen as the root of suffering and bondage in the Samsara chakra, or cycle of birth and death. It is to stop the endless cycle of thoughts, desires, and attachments that keep one trapped in the illusionary world. By quietening the mind and realising the true nature of Atman, or Self, one can break free from this cycle. It's a call to realise Atman, or Self, which is pure consciousness—eternal, effulgent, unattached, and unaffected by the transience of the world's illusions, delusions, and fluctuations. This realisation leads to liberation from the Samsara chakra, or wheel of birth and death, and the attainment of lasting peace. The Ashtavakra Gita (12.3) describes Atman, or Self, as eternal, unchanging, and the source of all existence. It is pure awareness, unaffected by the changing world of appearances. 'Cease that now' is a concise way of urging the individual to stop identifying with the ego cascading from the body-mind-intellect complex, the transient world and its desires, and instead, turn inward to realise the eternal, infinite, omnipotent, imperishable and unchanging Self. Sage Ashtavakra, during his discourses with Sage King Janaka, explains the vulnerability of the mind's outward drive to relish the objective dimensions of the world by being oblivious of the eternal bliss that remains within, Atman, or Self. This has been going on, according to the Ashtavakra Gita (15.10-11), for life cycles for ages without being aware that one's self is pure consciousness. One gains nothing, nor does one lose, as one is of pure consciousness only. The highlight is that you should recognise that it's only pure awareness. He says it is highly imperative to say, "Now at last stop," or "Cease that now," and realise one is pure consciousness only and nothing else.

 kṛtaṃ na kati janmāni kāyena manasā girā .

duḥkhamāyāsadaṃ karma tadadyāpyuparamyatām .. 10-8..

In how many of your past lives, the Ashtavakra Gita (10.8) articulates, have you performed actions with your body, mind, and speech that resulted only in sorrow and effort? Cease that now.

2. Scriptures 

Scriptures mention aboundingly the futile search for happiness, pleasure, wealth, and security in the mundane world, which is inert, insentient, and bereft of Sat-Chit-Anand (Existence-Consciousness-Bliss), serving only to showcase the illusionary experiences as the mirage of life. Instead, all the scriptures urge experiencing Sat-Chit-Anand through Self-realisation. It is an inward movement to unveil the Avidya, or ignorance, to experience and realise Atman, or Self. If one wishes to be free, know that one's self is Atman, or Self, the infinity of infinitude, imperishable, free, complete, desireless, dispassionate, detached, all-pervading, self-effulgent, and the witness of all these, the heart of awareness, declares the Ashtavakra Gita (1.3–12). Sage Ashtavakra teaches (AG 6.1) that you are infinite like space, and the natural world is like a jar. To know this is knowledge, and then there is neither renunciation, acceptance nor cessation of it; it contends that as one thinks, so he is. Set the ego emanating from the body-mind-intellect complex aside. Sit in one's own awareness, experiencing at once forever unlimited bliss, happiness, stillness, and freedom. This is because one must understand that he exists in complete solitude, remains unattached, is witness-conscious, and embodies pure awareness. The Ashtavakra Gita (16.2) explains that you may, as a learnt man, indulge in wealth, activity, and meditation, but your mind will still long for that, which is the cessation of desire and beyond all goals. The thrust of the Ashtavakra Gita (2.1-3, 1.9, 2.22) is that you are pure awareness. Your nature is light, nothing but light. When the world arises, you alone are shining (Ashtavakra Gita, 2.8). You are not the body. Nor is the body yours. You are not separate. You are awareness itself, bound only by your thirst for life (Ashtavakra Gita, 2.22). When the mind is attracted to anything it senses, you are bound. When there is no attraction, you are free. (Ashtavakra Gita, 8.3).

The Upanishads also posit that desire (attachment, aversion, craving, dreaming, etc.) is the root cause of suffering, anguish and restlessness. When desires are not fulfilled, they lead to frustration, despair, anger, and sadness.  The central theme of Ishopanishad (verse-1) is that detachment and renunciation are means to achieve happiness, enjoyment, and overall bliss. Brahman, or Supreme Self, or Absolute Existence, should cover everything that moves on earth, according to this verse. That was renounced. Enjoy. Covet not anybody’s wealth. All this universe, movable and immovable, unreal in Paramatman, or Supreme Self, or Absolute Truth, should be covered by his self, Paramatman, or Supreme Self, with the idea, “I alone am all this as being the inner self of all.” All this on this earth, differentiated as name, form, and action, this bundle of modifications, superimposed upon the Atman, or Self, by ignorance, and consisting in this seeming duality with its distinctions of doer, enjoyer, etc., will be abandoned by the contemplation of Atman. The Katha Upanishad (2.3.14) states that when all desires clinging to the heart of one fall off, then the mortal becomes immortal and here attains Brahman. When one of the persons thus seeing the truth, Adi Shankaracharya in his commentary explains, all desires, which were clinging to the intellect of the knower before he attained the knowledge, fall off from want of anything else to be desired; then the mortal, subsequent to the acquisition of knowledge, becomes immortal, death consisting in ignorance, desire and Karma, or duties, being destroyed, and becomes Brahman even here (there being no necessity of going, death resulting in a going having been destroyed) like fire extinguished, all bondage being destroyed.

 3. Remarks  

 Atman is the unattached essence of Brahman, or Cosmic Self. Unattachment cannot lead to attachment. It signifies dispossession, dispassion and discipline. One should not see anything in the universe as a necessary possession, as owned by another, or as an object of greed. The Ashtavakra Gita teaches that we must cease our attachment to external thoughts and objects. By doing so, we allow the inner spirit, or Atman, to emerge as the true witness of our experiences. This practice encourages detachment from the distractions of the world. It emphasises that our essence is not defined by our thoughts or external circumstances. Stopping the projection of thoughts leads to a more profound understanding of the self. In this silence, we can connect with our true nature, which is beyond the mind's activities. Embracing this stillness can transform our perception and bring peace. Ultimately, the journey is about realising our inherent identity as the Atman.

 -Asutosh Satpathy