Bondage and Liberation are Illusions

Janaka: "Master, you have shown me that I am not the body, that I am pure awareness. Now teach me how to become permanently liberated."

Ashtavakra: "Permanently liberated? From what would you be liberated?"

Janaka: "From bondage, from suffering, from the cycle of birth and death."

Ashtavakra: "But who is bound? Look carefully - can you find a bound self anywhere? Bondage exists only in the imagination. And if bondage is imaginary, what then is liberation?"

Janaka: "Then liberation is also... imaginary?"

Ashtavakra: "Both bondage and liberation are concepts appearing in the mind. You, the Self, were never in bondage, so you cannot become liberated. These are words for seekers still playing in the realm of duality. For you who have heard the truth, even liberation is a chain to be dropped."

Janaka: "This is difficult to grasp. If there is no bondage and no liberation, what is the point of spiritual seeking?"

Ashtavakra: "Precisely! There is no point. The Self is not improved by seeking and not diminished by ignorance. All this drama of spiritual progress is for the ego, not for you. You are always already what you seek to become. Even calling you 'liberated' is going too far - you are simply what is, prior to all concepts."

Janaka: "So I should abandon all spiritual pursuits?"

Ashtavakra: "Abandon the pursuer! When the one who seeks liberation is seen to be fictional, what remains? Not bondage, not liberation - just this boundless presence that was never touched by either."