AVG - Part IV

the vanishing doer — work happens; the claim of a tiny owner fades

What Part IV explores (Chs. 13–16)

• Authorship as a useful fiction and why clarity dissolves it.
• Responsibility that is clean and light—care without self‑story.
• Decision as flow through a tuned instrument, not the push of an ego.
• Speech that lands like rain: true, timely, kind, and brief.

If Part I found the witness, Part II thinned gravity, and Part III lit the quiet fire, Part IV looks straight at doing without a doer—and why that makes life more precise, not sloppy.

Chapter 13 — Action happens (kartṛ‑bhāva examined)

Core pointer: Verbs occur; the “I” that owns them appears only as a thought after the fact.

Dialogue

Janaka: “Who writes, walks, rules?”
Aṣṭāvakra: “Writing, walking, ruling. Show me the owner apart from words.”
Janaka: “But I feel I decide.”
Aṣṭāvakra: “A decision appears—noticed by the same awareness that notices a bird.”

Spot the grammar illusion

• “I wrote the memo” → “Writing happened; this hand was used.”
• “I healed him” → “Care and causes met; healing happened.”

Try this (workday re‑frame): For one hour, narrate in verbs: typing, listening, deciding, resting. Notice how effort untenses and accuracy improves.

Deepen: verbs real / owner imagined / precision rises

Chapter 14 — Responsibility without weight (dharma, minus drama)

Core pointer: Non‑doership is not nihilism. It is the end of self‑drama. Function remains; care sharpens.

Dialogue

Janaka: “If there is no doer, who apologizes?”
Aṣṭāvakra: “The mouth that spoke makes repair; the heart that cares guides it.”
Janaka: “So I keep my duties?”
Aṣṭāvakra: “Yes—without the costume of ‘the great doer’. Duties become clean gestures.”

Clean accountability (3 steps)

1. Name the fact: “I spoke harshly.”
2. Repair: apologize, amend the effect.
3. Release: learn the cue; drop the self‑story.

Tell‑tales of heavy responsibility

• Endless self‑talk; rescue fantasies.
• Guilt after repair (attachment to identity).
• Helping as control, not service.

Deepen: duty kept / identity dropped / repair then release

Chapter 15 — Choice without chooser (how decisions flow)

Core pointer: Choice arises from causes—body state, attention, values. Tuning these makes better choices without inventing an inner controller.

Dialogue

Janaka: “Without an owner, how do I choose swiftly?”
Aṣṭāvakra: “Tune the instrument; let music pick its notes.”
Janaka: “And when the stakes are high?”
Aṣṭāvakra: “Widen the view, shorten the sentence.”

Three clearings (before big calls)

• Body clear: relax jaw/brow/belly; two slow exhales.
• Data clear: list facts vs. stories.
• Value clear: true, kind, timely—what serves the whole?

Then act. After acting, run the debrief without self: What worked? What didn’t? What will I change? No blame; just upgrade.

Signals you’re forcing a chooser

• Over‑optimization after 80% clarity.
• Panic for certainty.
• Decision made, but rumination continues.

Deepen: tune first / act clean / debrief ownerlessly

Chapter 16 — Speech like rain (words without residue)

Core pointer: In the sage, speech is an effect of clarity, not a performance to secure identity.

Dialogue

Janaka: “How do I speak powerfully without hurting?”
Aṣṭāvakra: “Let words pass four gates: true, kind, clear, timely.”
Janaka: “And silence?”
Aṣṭāvakra: “Silence is not refusal; it’s precision when words would spill.”

Micro‑protocols

• One breath rule: inhale once before replies.
• One sentence more: after you’ve said enough—don’t.
• Land the ask: name exactly what you request; drop hints.

Repairing speech: If harm lands, go back—name + mend + learn. Don’t harvest moral credit.

Deepen: rain‑words / precise silence / mend quickly

Parables for the vanishing doer

• Bow & arrow: Draw, aim, release; wind is unknown. Excellence is draw + aim; outcomes belong to wind.
• Row, don’t push the river: Row with skill; stop arguing with current.
• Ink & page: Words appear on page; the pen doesn’t crow.

Life Q&A — Doing without the doer

Will I become passive?
No. Friction drops, not action. Many find they do more with less noise.

What about injustice?
See clearly, act firmly, and cut theatrics. Protect the vulnerable; refuse cruelty—ownerlessly.

Can I still be ambitious?
Be ambitious for excellence + service. Results are shapes; keep the metal same.

Leadership without ego—how?
Make the work the hero. Share credit, name reality early, decide cleanly, rest the team.

Creativity—won’t detachment dull it?
Detachment removes fear of outcome; creativity widens. Try, ship, learn, repeat.

Mistakes?
Acknowledge, repair, and upgrade systems. Don’t build a shrine to failure or success.

Discipline—what’s its place now?
Let discipline be love for clarity: sleep, movement, deep work, real play, honest food. Rigid shows off; rhythm supports.

Spiritual bypassing—danger?
Yes. Non‑doership is not an excuse to avoid feelings or duties. Feel fully, act cleanly.

Protocols (tiny, repeatable moves)

• Ownerless productivity: plan in verbs; calendar the verbs; do the verb.
• Clean apology loop: name → repair → release → learn cue.
• Debrief triad: keep / change / stop—no autobiography.
• Commit & release: commit fully while acting; release fully when done.
• Sabbath hour: one hour/week of device‑free unstructured time.

Deepen: full commit / clean release / rhythm over rigidity

Closing dialogue

Janaka: “If there is no doer here, who moves me?”
Aṣṭāvakra: “The same that moves wind and wheat. Let it move; be the clear space that knows.”
Janaka: “One line?”
Aṣṭāvakra: “Do fully; don’t be the doer.”

What Part V will open

Freedom Always (Chs. 17–20): the taste of effortless freedom in every state—waking, dream, praise, blame—how simplicity flowers when nothing needs adding or removing.

“When the claim of ownership falls, only work and warmth remain.”