You Are Already Liberated..

            You are already liberated…….

There was a washerman. He used to collect clothes from the  people at nearby town, load it on the back of his donkey and bring them to the river for washing . Donkey used to get tired because of the heavy load. But he couldn’t do anything.

After reaching the river bank, washerman used to tie the donkey to a tent bolt in the ground with a rope so that the donkey would not run away.

One day, the washerman forgot to carry the rope and the bolt. So he was worried and anxious about the donkey, thinking that he would run away if not tied. But as he had to complete his work in time, he took off the clothes bundle from the donkey’s back and went to the river for washing the clothes.

When he returned,  he saw his donkey at the same place. He was surprised and relaxed. He thought that his donkey liked to stay at that place and he won’t run away. That’s why, from the next day, he didn’t carry the rope and the bolt to tie his donkey.
There was a dog, living on the same river bank and used to watch the donkey and his owner and their activities.

Dog was observing that the owner stopped tying his donkey. He was thinking that why the donkey was not running away even if left free by his owner. Why didn’t the donkey get tired of carrying heavy load of laundry daily from a long distance.

One day, he ( dog) approached the donkey and said; ” Dear friend ! I have been watching you since long time; carrying a heavy laundry load on your back daily and that too from a long distance.  I am very sorry for your condition. Few days back;  you didnt have a chance for running away from this tiresome work because your owner used to tie up you to the bolt with rope . But now a days  he is not tying you to anything. I am surprised,  why are you not running away from this place now? “
At first, donkey didn’t understand the dog’s words. But then he paid more attention to what the dog was speaking. He started realizing his points.
Dog said again;” You are not tied with anything..can’t you see? There is no rope around your neck , there is no bolt in the ground to tie up you to…You are free now….why are not you aware of these facts?…just run away from this hell my dear. You are free…..”
After listening to the words of the dog, donkey started reflecting and introspecting upon those words. Slowly he started seeing the facts. He contemplated upon it again and again and then spontaneously uttered, ” How foolish I was! There was neither a rope nor a bolt in reality.  I was just thinking and imagining that I was tied with the rope to the bolt. They were in my mind only and didnt really exist..! I was free….now also I am free….I was never bound….!”

Dog said; ” Exactly…!  Rope and the bolt were in your mind. You were feeling bounded by  the illusory / imaginary rope and bolt. Now you got the real knowledge. You have woken up from a dream…dream rope and bolt  have given you enough sufferings.  You are free….and remember you were free then also….you were never bound..”
For the Donkey,  bondage was not external, not imposed by the owner…it was of his own thinking,  making.

Now consider you are in a dream state. In a dream ,  you are tied with the rope. You want to run but you can’t even move a little. So you start worrying and crying like anything because of your limitedness, helplessness.

But suddenly you wake up and see yourself no more tied with a rope. You realise that you are free and were never tied. That rope was imaginary and tie was also imaginary.
Waking state discards the dream state experiences and you feel freedom from the dream bondage.

For the awakened masters, this waking state experiences also are imaginary like in a dream as for them;  waking state also is a long dream. 

Truth is- We are the Existence Consciousness Bliss/ Sat Chit Anand,  neither limited, nor bound by time, place and person but The Infinite and Absolute Bliss.
Then why do we feel bound/ tied and thus miserable and limited?
Because we are dreaming..imagining.. Yes, although it is waking state, it is as if a long dream. We are in bondage because we are in a dream.
What is this bondage?
The bolt is the mind and rope is our chain of thoughts, emotions,  ideas that ” I am the body mind complex,  limited by the time, place and person. “
This is the reason we feel the limitedness just like the donkey considers himself tied even if untied. We feel as limited jiva even if we are Infinite Brahman. This is our bondage – the rope and the bolt.
This bondage is not external.  It is not imposed by anyone. It is of our own making. It is only in our mind and we are again and again strengthening this bondage by pampering our Body Mind Intellect, by excess of body care, adding more degrees…one more zero in the salary..one more relationship…one more bungalow, etc.
These upadhis are strengthening the rope of our bondage.

Work towards eliminating these imaginary bondage,  try to remove the ignorance- the very cause of the bondage with the Self-knowledge,….you will know you were never in bondage…you are already liberated for sure.

Just contemplate upon your free nature Nitya,Shuddha, Buddha, Mukta….you will experience for sure. In fact you are experiencing It….but the bondage is compelling you to ignore it.
No one makes anyone liberated. Everone is liberated already. Guru can help you to just remove the illusion of the bondage, the ignorance; so that you will remain in your own TRUE NATURE…..MUKTA.
        Jai Sri Hari!