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How does the Avadhuta Gita address the concept of liberation (moksha)?
Liberation, according to the Avadhuta Gita, isn’t a distant goal or a posthumous reward—it’s the ever-present reality waiting behind every thought. The text lifts the veil on the Self, declaring that the one who “dwells as pure awareness” is already beyond chains of karma and cycles of birth and death. Bondage, from this vantage point, proves to be nothing more than a dream spun by the mind’s restless chatter.
Rather than laying out lengthy rituals or devotional formulas, the Avadhuta Gita cuts through illusion like a hot knife through butter. It urges the seeker to recognize the unchanging witness within, untouched by pleasure or pain. Liberation here means resting as that witness, knowing that “all this universe is Brahman” and that individual identity is a fleeting wave on an infinite ocean. Thoughts, emotions, even the body become mere ripples—beautiful, but not the truth of one’s being.
In a world where mindfulness apps attract millions and neuroscientists at places like the Max Planck Institute explore states of non-dual awareness, the Gita’s message still rings fresh. It speaks directly to today’s craving for authenticity, reminding that self-realization isn’t a complicated roadmap but a simple shift: drop the storyline that “I am separate,” and what remains shines of its own accord. Striving evaporates, much like mist under the morning sun, revealing that liberation isn’t something to obtain—it’s the natural posture of what’s always been present.