AVG 12.7

Chapter 12 (The Seekers Understanding of Abiding in Awareness): Verse 7
अचिन्त्यं चिन्त्यमानोऽपिचिन्तारूपं भजत्यसौ ।
त्यक्त्वा तद्भावनं तस्मादेवमेवाहमास्थितः ॥ १२-७॥

PURPORT:
Even in thinking of what is purportedly designated
as ‘the unthinkable one’, one nevertheless
participates in some variety, shape or form
of thought. Therefore, I understand that
I must extinguish even that last vestige of
thought. Thus, truly, do I abide in still tranquility.

TRANSLITERATION:
अचिन्त्यम् चिन्त्यमानः अपि चिन्तारूपम् भजति असौ ।
acintyam cintyamānaḥ api cintārūpam bhajati asau ।
त्यक्त्वा तद्भावनम् तस्मात् एवम् एव अहम् आस्थितः ॥ १२-७॥
tyaktvā tadbhāvanam tasmāt evam eva aham āsthitaḥ ॥ 12-7॥

MEANING:
acintyam (अचिन्त्यम्) = the unthinkable*
cintyamānaḥ (चिन्त्यमानः) = thinking of
api (अपि) = even
cintārūpam (चिन्तारूपम्) = a form of thought (compound of cintā (चिन्ता) meaning ‘thought’ and rūpam (रूपम्) meaning ’shape/form’)
bhajati (भजति) = take part in
asau (असौ) = that one (as in ‘even in thinking of something purportedly designated as the ‘unthinkable’, one is nevertheless participating in the shape or a form of thought) ।
tyaktvā (त्यक्त्वा) = giving up
tadbhāvanam (तद्भावनम्) = that thought (compound of tat (तत्) meaning ‘that’ and bhāvanam (भावनम्) meaning ‘mode of thought’)
tasmāt (तस्मात्) = from there
evam (एवम्) = thus
eva (एव) = indeed
aham (अहम्) = I
āsthitaḥ (आस्थितः) = abide/exist ॥ 12-7॥

COMMENT:
This beautiful verse has a subversive message that is relevant for the ages - the basic import being that even when the seeker is thinking about that 'one' which is purportedly unthinkable (as a lot of the religious traditions make it out to seem), at the end of the day, the mind is still engaged in the process of thinking. The aspect of conscious awareness that one is striving to attain still remains elusive when one is exhorted to think about supernatural beings or concepts that are supposedly 'unthinkable'. Therefore Janaka rightly points out that it may foster additional confusion to engage in the contemplation of ‘the unthinkable’ and he would rather abide in awareness as he presently is - in still tranquility.

The more general message is that abiding within a state of conscious awareness has very little to do with remembering or meditating or chanting or becoming an expert on doctrine, rites or rituals. All of these are forms of either remembering or thinking or thinking to remember or remembering to think - in total, a fairly insipid mental activity in recollecting the artifacts of culture that one as accumulated.
Being aware on the contrary is construed as focusing our attentional agency within the present moment - without the intrusion of the incessant back and forth of the play of thoughts that flit across ones past actions and ones future unanchored scenarios without any grounding within what is happening in the present moment. Awareness in the current activity allows for you to be watchful and paves a way for the choiceless witnessing of those thoughts that occupy your mind. It allows for the understanding of the emotions that they engender and a better appreciation for the underlying conditioned belief systems might have given rise to such emotions.

Over the course of time, this form of conscious awareness transcends remembering and thinking - one either abides within such awareness or one does not - there is little middle ground here. Within that state, one has stopped searching and looking and paring down, one does not need to engage in the 'how' or the 'why' or the 'what', one only engages in the 'now' - like the way one breathes.
In these lines and within this chapter in general, we see Janaka starting to see that awareness of the present moment is really an appreciation of the essentially changing structure and patterns of our lives and developing the composure, discipline and rigor to still oneself in the midst of such change. The wisdom that life and the constant metamorphosis thereof happens on its own volition. One is not working to make ones heart ‘beat’, one is not consciously impelling oneself to take in lungfuls of air and expel the same, one does not will to make ones hair to grow... these are the movements and changes inherent that happen as life happens. All of these activities are experiencing itself and none of them are willed into being. The body operates and life moves. Understanding this becomes essential to the idea and concept of awareness.


*The form of the 'unthinkable' as espoused by many of the religious traditions has had many meanings. Many use it to as a designation for the ultimate reality; somehow understood to be the life blood of the entire universe as it were. The 'unthinkable' purportedly as being composed of everything there is to contain. Elsewhere, the 'unthinkable' becomes a synonym for the unfathomable - a mysterious entity or a construct attributed with the qualities of a creator, preserver and destroyer. At other times, construed as a supreme entity with numerous divine qualities that does not seem to identify with activities nor with qualities. The exhortation within these verses is to transcend even such thinking and just be.