The Sage in the World

Janaka returned from a day of royal duties, his mind still resting in peace.

"Master, today I faced difficult decisions—matters of justice, commerce, diplomacy. Yet throughout, I felt untroubled. How is this possible?"

Ashtavakra nodded knowingly.

"The sage in the world is like an actor on a stage. He plays his role fully—sometimes the king, sometimes the warrior, sometimes the husband—but he never forgets that it is a role. The play continues; the actor remains untouched."

"But my decisions affect real lives. If I judge wrongly, people suffer."

"And you will decide with as much wisdom as this body-mind can offer. But you are not the decider. You are the awareness in which decisions arise. The responsibility belongs to the role; the freedom belongs to you."

"This seems like a way to avoid accountability."

"The opposite. The sage acts with greater care because he is not distracted by personal concerns. He is not trying to look good, not worried about his reputation, not calculating advantage. He responds to what is needed, purely and simply."

"And when others criticize? When they say the king is detached, uncaring?"

"Let them say. Their words are sounds appearing in awareness. The sage does not need approval because he is complete in himself. Praise and blame are weather—sometimes sunny, sometimes stormy. The sky remains unchanged."

"How does one balance action in the world with rest in the Self?"

"There is no balance to find. They are not opposites. The Self is present in all action; action happens within the Self. You do not leave the Self when you act and return to it when you meditate. You are always the Self, whether sitting still or ruling an empire."

"I have noticed that my actions have become more spontaneous. Less deliberation, more flow."

"Because you have stopped interfering. The natural intelligence of life moves through you when you do not block it with personal agenda. The sage is a hollow bamboo through which the wind plays music. The music is beautiful not because the bamboo is doing something, but because it is not."

"And desire? I still want certain outcomes. Is this a problem?"

"Preferences may arise—the body-mind has its inclinations. The difference is that you do not cling. If the desired outcome occurs, well and good. If it does not, well and good. Your happiness is not riding on results."

"What of the suffering I see around me? Can the sage truly be at peace while others struggle?"

"The sage feels compassion more deeply than most, because he does not add a layer of personal distress. He sees suffering clearly and responds effectively. But he knows that suffering is appearance in awareness, not absolute reality. He helps where he can, accepts where he cannot, and rests in the truth that all beings are already free—they simply do not know it."

"So the sage is both active and peaceful?"

"He is neither active nor peaceful as you mean it. He has transcended these categories. What appears as activity is the flow of life; what appears as peace is the unchanging awareness. Both are present simultaneously. He does not alternate between engagement and withdrawal—he is engaged and withdrawn in every moment."

"This is a different kind of life than I imagined."

"It is not a different kind of life—it is life as it is, without the overlay of 'this is me' and 'this is happening to me.' The same events occur; the interpretation changes. The same world exists; the relationship to it transforms. Nothing external shifts, yet everything is different."

Janaka smiled. "I am beginning to live this way. Not perfectly, but naturally."

"Perfection is another concept to release. You are not becoming a perfect sage. You are simply being what you are—awareness appearing as Janaka, playing the role of king, participating in the drama of existence while never forgetting the eternal stillness at your core."