This is a curated selection of quotes from The Heart of Awareness: A Translation of the Ashtavakra Gita by Thomas Byrom (personally curated by me on my own lifelong learning journey).
This page is intended as a learning resource for educational purposes and only meant to offer an overview/introduction. Short quotes aren’t a substitute for source material, so if this page sparks your interest, explore more deeply by checking out the book (Amazon).
Quick Housekeeping:
- All content in “quotation marks” is from the author (otherwise it’s minimally paraphrased).
- All content is organized into my own themes (not the author’s chapters).
Page Contents:
- About the Book
- Ignorance & Knowledge Quotes
- Bondage & Freedom Quotes
- Doing & Not Doing Quotes
- The Self & Self-Realization Quotes
25 Top Quotes from The Heart of Awareness by Thomas Byrom
About the Book (from Thomas Byrom)
“Awareness is the single mystery of life, that it enfolds all other mysteries, even the secret of the separate self.”
“We are all one Self. The Self is pure awareness. This Self, this flawless awareness is God. There is only God.”
“Our true nature is pure and choiceless awareness.”
“Even the ugliest form is filled with God’s radiance.”
“Ashtavakra’s whole point is that individual identity is an illusion.”
Ignorance & Knowledge Quotes
“Two from one!
This is the root of suffering.”
“Thinking
Of what is beyond thinking
Is still thinking.”
“I am not the knower,
Nor the known,
Nor the knowing.
These three are not real.”
“The fool is busy
Even when he is still.
Even when he is busy
The master gathers the fruits of stillness.”
“Because the fool wants to become God,
He never finds him.
The master is already God,
Without ever wishing to be.”
Bondage & Freedom Quotes
“If you wish to be free,
Know you are the Self,
The witness of all these,
The heart of awareness.”
“Where there is no I,
You are free.
Where there is I,
You are bound.”
“The master is free of his mind,
And his mind is free.
In this freedom he plays.”
“He is free,
Tumbling like a leaf in the wind,
From life to life.”
“You are everywhere,
Forever free. Forever and truly free,
The single witness of all things.”
“What do I care for freedom?
For I have known God,
The infinite Self,
The witness of all things.”
Doing & Not Doing Quotes
“You are not the doer.
You are not the enjoyer.
You are pure awareness,
The witness of all things.”
“Doing, or not doing,
Both come from not knowing.”
“When a man realizes
He is neither the doer nor the enjoyer,
The ripples of his mind are stilled.”
“‘I do nothing.’
This is the nectar of faith,
So drink and be happy!”
“It is not really you
Who acts or enjoys.
You are everywhere,
Forever free.”
“Pure of heart,
He watches his own actions
As if they were another’s.
How can praise or blame disturb him?”
“Knowing I do nothing,
I do whatever comes my way,
And I am happy.”
“Whatever he does,
He does nothing.”
The Self & Self-Realization Quotes
“The wise man knows the Self,
And he plays the game of life.”
“Knowing yourself as That
In which the worlds rise and fall
Like waves in the ocean,
Why do you run about so wretchedly?”
“All creation,
Streaming out of the Self,
Is only the Self.”
“The Self is in all beings,
And all beings are in the Self.”
“He who is truly wise
Always sees the absolute Self.”
“You are the Self.
You are God.”
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