You Are Free When You Stop Striving | The Radical Wisdom of the Ashtavakra Gita

You Are Free the Moment You Stop Trying to Become Free

There is a teaching so radical it almost sounds irresponsible.

It does not tell you to purify yourself.
It does not tell you to perfect yourself.
It does not tell you to climb toward enlightenment.

It tells you to stop.

The Ashtavakra Gita is not interested in self-improvement. It is interested in dissolving the illusion that there is a self who needs improvement.

It says:

“My son, you may recite or listen to countless scriptures, but until you forget everything you will never know Truth.” (16:1)

Read that carefully.

Forget everything.

Not because knowledge is evil. Not because teachings are useless. But because the mind accumulates knowledge the way it accumulates possessions. It stores it. It identifies with it. It says, I know.

And the ego survives through that knowing.

Knowledge Builds the Person. Truth Dissolves It.

You can read scriptures.
You can memorize philosophies.
You can share spiritual posts.
You can attend retreats and master techniques.

The ego can wear all of that.

The ego is nothing more than accumulated memory claiming ownership. It says, “This is what I know. This is who I am. This is where I stand.”

Knowledge adds to that structure.

Truth empties it.

Truth is not another concept to hold. It is what remains when concepts fall away. When the mind becomes still enough that it is no longer trying to grasp.

That stillness feels like ego death.

Because the one who was trying to become something is suddenly not found.

When the mind is empty of striving, it becomes like a clear mirror. It reflects what is without distortion. And what it reflects is not an improved version of you.

It reflects what has always been here.

Being.

Peace Is Not Achieved. It Is Uncovered.

Ashtavakra continues:

“You can indulge in reasoning or in the performance of actions or in the worship of gods, but you will never find peace until you drop everything.” (16:2)

Reasoning.
Rituals.
Discipline.
Devotion.

All of them can carry a hidden assumption: I am not there yet.

That assumption is the disturbance.

It keeps you oriented toward a future version of yourself. A more enlightened you. A more healed you. A more secure you.

And in that constant aiming, you overlook the fact that what you seek is not in the future.

It is here.

Peace is not the result of practice. Practice can quiet the surface. But peace itself is uncovered when the movement toward becoming slows down.

The restless search is the noise.

When the search relaxes, what remains is silence.

The Effort Is the Bondage

“You have long been bound because you are striving. Stop striving and you are free.” (16:3)

We usually think the opposite.

I am bound.
I must try harder.
I must exert more effort.
Then I will be free.

Ashtavakra flips it.

You feel bound because you are trying.

The very attempt to fix yourself reinforces the belief that something is wrong. That you are incomplete. That you must arrive somewhere else to be whole.

That belief keeps the ego moving toward an imaginary future.

Drop the project of becoming.

And something simple shines.

Completeness.

Not dramatic. Not fireworks. Just quiet sufficiency.

Being shines when becoming stops.

Psychological Effort and the Doer

“You are not bound by anything except your habit of effort. The one who is free of effort is free indeed.” (16:4)

Effort in practical life is not the problem. You still work. You still act. You still show up.

The problem is psychological effort.

The inner tension that says:
I must manufacture enlightenment.
I must secure certainty.
I must achieve purity.

The ego survives through that effort. The “doer” stays alive by striving to become better.

But when effort relaxes, look closely.

Where is the doer?

Without the constant push toward a future state, the one who was pushing dissolves.

That is surrender.

Not giving up on life.
Not becoming passive.

But relaxing the inner tension of becoming.

What remains is effortless being.

Serenity Without Grasping

“He whose mind is free of purpose, free of striving, free of desire to gain or avoid – such a one neither grasps nor rejects. He is serene.” (16:6)

When you no longer chase pleasure and no longer run from discomfort, life moves as it moves.

This does not mean you stop caring. It means you stop clinging.

You stop insisting that reality must conform to your preferences before you allow yourself to be at peace.

When nothing is resisted and nothing is pursued, conflict dissolves.

There is a quiet immensity here.

Untouched. Whole. Effortlessly alive.

In that openness, fear weakens. Presence shines on its own.

Maturity Matters

Without inner maturity, this teaching can sound like fantasy or laziness.

If there is still deep unconscious avoidance, “stop striving” can become a way to hide.

There is a reason other scriptures emphasize discipline and action. The Bhagavad Gita speaks to responsibility, action, duty, alignment. It cleans the window.

Ashtavakra says: look.

One refines the instrument.
The other points beyond the instrument entirely.

Both have their place. But the awakening energy of Ashtavakra is clear: freedom is not earned. It is recognized.

You Are Already Here

The disturbance in most spiritual seeking is subtle.

The belief that freedom is elsewhere.

But what if the only thing standing between you and freedom is the belief that you are not free?

What if the tension of striving is the last veil?

Right now, before you fix anything, before you improve anything, before you become anything else, notice:

Awareness is present.
Being is present.
Life is happening.

Without effort.

The universe is not striving to be the universe.

It simply is.

And so are you.

The moment you stop trying to become free, you may discover you never were bound.

An Invitation to Stop Striving Alone

If something in this message felt like a deep exhale… don’t rush past that.

This teaching is subtle. The mind will try to turn it into another goal, another concept to master, another identity to wear. And that’s exactly why practice in community matters.

The Awakening Collective is not about becoming better versions of ourselves. It is a space where we sit together, breathe together, and gently release the constant project of self-improvement. It is a place to experience what happens when striving softens and presence becomes tangible. When enough of us rest in that stillness together, something shifts. Not because we are forcing change, but because we are no longer resisting what is. Join Here

If you feel called to go deeper, individual sessions are available. These are not sessions about fixing you. They are conversations and guided experiences designed to help you see clearly where psychological effort is still operating, where the “doer” is subtly trying to survive, and how to relax into a more effortless way of being. You can book a single session or choose a multiple-session package at a reduced rate if you’re ready to stay committed to the unfolding. Schedule Here

And if this work supports you in ways you can feel but cannot quite explain, your donations help sustain and expand it. They allow these teachings, gatherings, and conversations to continue reaching those who are quietly ready to stop striving and start resting in what already is. Donate Here

You do not need to become anything.

But if you want to explore that freedom in community, we are here.