posted July 10, 2020 11:17 PM            

"There is a holy man named Akasaja (lit: born of space). He is in constant meditation and
has the welfare of all at heart. He had lived for a long time, when death desired to devour
him. When death approached him, it had to struggle with a fierce fire that protected the
holy man. Even after fending this off, death was unable to touch him! Bewildered by this
extraordinary and unprecedented event, death went to lord Yama who presides over the
destinies of mortals and questioned him: "Pray, Lord, tell me why it is that I am unable to
grasp him."
Yama answered:
"In fact, O death, you do not really kill anyone! Death is really caused by one's own
karma (the fruition of one's own action). Hence, discover this man's fatal karma."
Even as no one can find the whereabouts of a barren woman's son, death could not
discover the holy man's karma anywhere in the world. He reported this to Yama.
Yama said:
"O death, this holy man Akasaja was truly born of space and has no karma at all. He is as
pure as space. Hence he has incurred no karma which can help you grasp him or devour
him. Even as a barren woman's son, this holy man is not born. He had no 'previous birth'
karma either; and therefore he has no mind - hence he has not even committed a mental
action which could bring him within your reach. He is nothing but a mass of intelligence.
He appears to be a living being only in our eyes; in him there does not exist any such
notion as can give rise to karma. Consciousness is reflected in consciousness; and the
reflection assumes independence! It is a false assumption, not a real existence; and this
holy man knows this truth.
Even as liquidity is naturally present in water and emptiness in space, this holy man
lives in the supreme spirit. His is a causeless manifestation: and hence he is known as self-
created. He who entertains the foolish notion that ' I am this body made up of earth' is
entangled in matter, and you can overpower him. Since this holy man has no such notion
(and hence he is truly bodiless) he is beyond your reach.
This holy man has never been born. He is pure consciousness that has undergone no
change. In the infinite being at the beginning of an epoch there arises a vibration on
account of latent ignorance: and this manifests as diverse beings, as if in a cosmic dream.
Uninvolved in this, this holy man remains pure consciousness."