12/11/2022
Asangoham Punah Punah
Adi Shankaracharya says, Asangoham Punah Punah.
What is Asangoham?
A: You are entangled with something or the other in this world... When you relate your identity with some idea, and you are attached to that being 'you', then you say that you are old or young, parent or child, tall or short, rich or poor, etc... It is our habit to take on identities and become attached to them...
Shankaracharya exclaims, 'I am unattached, my pure awareness isn't identified with any labels, it isn't attached to anything- I am not entangled with anything at all... Asangoham. As I dive deeper into my self, I realise that I am neither 'this' nor 'that'. I am essentially nothing.... Punah Punah. Again and again I realise this...
Further he declares, 'Nitya Shuddha Vimuktoham Ayamevaaham Avyayah'- I am eternal, I am purified awareness, and I am completely free of all bo***ge, I am whole, I am eternal - forever undecaying and indestructible...
Asangoham. Make it a mantra for yourself. Remembering this reality during deep meditation, gradually you'll find you start becoming disengaged and separate from all 'identities'. And when you will re-emerge into this world of labels and identity, you'll find yourself becoming detached and disinterested in the illusory world of name and form...
Punah Punah- Again and again...
Then you'll proclaim, 'Nothing touches me, I am not tarnished by any feelings or impulses. I am not attached to anything at all...'
At the end of every meditation session, Guruji (Sri Sri Ravi Shankar) recites the verse above in his soft and lilting voice. During my first Part 2 course, I used to eagerly await this part since it meant a momentary respite from hurting knees and numb feet. But even amidst the throes of pain, this verse struck me as so totally beautiful and empowering. Don’t you think so? It feels so eternally uplifting. Above all, it assures me that I am as boundless and eternal as I could ever imagine. Yes, I am That. That which is unchangeable, immortal and endless.
Go back to the life you left many lives behind..