Avadhut

“By the grace of God Brahmins above all are inspired with the disposition to non-duality which relieves them of great fear...

The one Self is all, free from differentiation and nondifferentiation. Neither can it be said, "It is" nor "It is not." What a great mystery!...

The Avadhut is one who realizes this mystery of mysteries and has risen to the state of unceasing and perfect bliss. He moves about in the world radiating bliss and higher knowledge.

His clothes are old and worn. He walks a path free of merit and sin. He lives in a temple of emptiness. His soul is free of impurity and the modifications of the mind.

The Avadhut has no ideals. He has lost his small identity in the Self. He is free of the limitations of ignorance and free of the promised perfections of spiritual practice. He does not argue and does not care what anyone thinks.

He is free of expectations and hope and has cast off the threadbare garments of purity and righteousness. He is purity itself, far above the clouds of Self ignorance.

He does not think, "I am the body," nor does he think "I am not the body." He has no aversion, attachment or infatuation toward any object or person. Pure as space he walks, immersed in the immaculate bliss of his natural state.

The Avadhut may be compared to immeasurable space. He is eternity. In him is neither purity nor impurity. There is no variety or unity in him; no bondage nor absence of bondage.

Free from separation and contact, free from enjoyment or absence of enjoyment, he moves calmly through the world. No longer identified with the modifications of the mine, he is in the natural state of bliss.

The Avadhut has discovered his identity with the limitless and inconceivable Self. The Self is not known by the mind. It is neither a part of something nor can it be divided. You cannot say that it ends here. It is as hard to describe as it is to obtain.

The Avadhut is not concerned with the things of the world, because the natural state of Self-realization renders everything in it meaningless. Death and birth have no meaning to him. He doesn’t meditate nor does he worship.

All this world is a magic show, like a mirage in the desert. The Avadhut is bliss alone, one without a second.

The wise strive not. They are not interested in dharma or liberation. They are free from doing actions and moving here and there. They are even free of desire and renunciation.

What do intellectuals know of Avadhuts? Even the Vedas don’t speak correctly about them. That absolute indestructible bliss is the Avadhut…

The holy Avadhut patiently bears heat and cold and sees the Self illumining all bodies. He walks alone like a rhinoceros. He is an ocean of Truth and mercy. He is free of birth and death...

This is the song of the great Dattatreya Avadhut. Those who read it and hear it with respectful attention are not reborn.

OM TAT SAT!"

~ "AVADHUTA GITA is a Sanskrit text of Hinduism whose title means "Song of the free". The text's poetry is based on the principles of Advaita Vedanta, one of the subschools of Hindu philosophy...

The Brahmanirvantantra describes how to identify the avadhuts of the following types:

1.Bramhavadhūta : An avadhuta from birth who appears in any class of society. Completely indifferent to the world or worldly matters.

2.Shaivavadhūta : Avadhutas who have taken to the renounced order of life (sannyasa), often with unkempt long hair (jata), or who dress in the manner of Shaivites and spend almost all of their time in trance (samadhi), or meditation.

3.Viravadhūta : This person looks like a sadhu who has put red colored sandal paste on his body and wears saffron clothes. His hair are very well grown and are normally furling in the wind. They wear in their neck Hindu prayer beads made of Rudraksha or a string with bones. They hold a wooden stick in their hand and additionally they always have a parashu (ritual ax) or damaru (small drum) with them.

4.Kulavadhūta : These people are supposed to have taken initiation from the Kaula sampradaya. It is very difficult to recognize these people as they do not wear any signs outside which can identify them from others. The speciality of these people is that they remain and live like usual people do. They can show themselves in the form of Kings or a family man." ~ Wikipedia