Dattatreya's Teachings
The Flexible Transmission of Absolute Truth
The teachings of Lord Dattatreya, as they flow through the pure Tradition of Avadhutas, are always based on the ground rules and fundamental operating principles of Sanatana Dharma.
In the words of the contemporary Dattatreya Master and Avadhuta, Brahmarishi Mohanji: ‘Truth is us; Dharma is that truth in action.’ These succinct words aptly summarise the teachings of Lord Dattatreya, which all flow naturally from the direct perception of Truth – of the primordially unified condition of Reality. Because such teachings emerge directly from a perfect establishment within Truth, such teachings necessarily and effortlessly help all those who receive them to flow back to that Truth in a way that aligns with their own natural and unique way of being.
Masters and preceptors within the Dattatreya Tradition rarely create teachings based on static rules and voluntary, repetitive practices. Datta Masters simply deliver, they give exactly what is needed to each being that comes to them. Thus, the teachings of Lord Dattatreya, as they continue to be given through His Avatars and emanations, are simply those that work – that serve to gradually liberate beings and bring them closer to a direct abiding perception of Truth.
Verily, due to the flexible, flowing and organic nature of Dattatreya’s teachings, it is always best to connect to such teachings through the presence of an embodied Datta Master. In the presence of such a Being, we may receive profound teachings without even knowing it. Datta Masters teach through everything that they do or do not do, so just to be in their presence always guarantees learning, growth and transformation.
Principal Tenets of the Dattatreya Tradition
1. Unity
In the fundamental Datta Tradition scripture, Avadhuta Gita, Lord Datta has consistently affirmed that the nature of Reality, and everything that appears within It, is One. This means that all sentient and insentient beings are primordially unified in their essence.
2. Non-Violence
As soon as we accept the first principle, of the primordial unity of all life, we must see how that principle translates into action. The manifestation of unified consciousness in action expresses itself as an attitude of total non-violence. To hurt others is to hurt ourselves. Thus, we cannot start walking the path within the Datta Tradition whilst we are still, consciously or unconsciously, harming ourselves or others.
3. Guru
Because of the flexible, individually tailored nature of Datta Teachings, it is necessary to have a guide who has completed the dissolution process and is totally established in Reality to deliver the precise teachings, guidance and grace that we need to advance on the path. In truth, a real Datta Master contains the entire path within themselves.
4. Selfless Service
Before we come to the point where we are able to see through the illusion of individual embodied selfhood, the best way to purify ourselves is to serve other living beings selflessly. Such service purifies us because it operates in a direction that is opposite to ignorant action; selfless service actually affirms the unity of all life and thereby helps us to gradually align ourselves with the naturally unified essence of life.
Works by Lord Dattatreya
The main work attributed to Lord Dattatreya is the Avadhuta Gita, which can be roughly translated as ‘Song of the Free One’. In this spontaneous song, Lord Datta affirms the all-pervasive, unfathomable-to-the conceptual-mind, primordially free, unlimited and indestructible nature of Reality.
For Datta, there is nothing that exists that stands even a hair’s breadth outside of this Reality. The Avadhuta is the one who, whilst still manifesting a residual karmic body, has realised his own multidimensional nature to be inseparable from Reality Itself. By virtue of this realisation, and the full dissolution of his personal karmic limitations into the realised condition of Reality, the Avadhuta comes to manifest the full power, bliss and knowledge of Reality in Its expanded mode.
Verily, in this sacred tome, Lord Dattatreya has provided us all with a glimpse of the end of the path – the full establishment in Avadhutahood, which is necessarily a condition of perfect freedom, immortality and effortless, unimpeded compassion.
Other works attributed to Lord Dattatreya include the Avadhuta Upanishad, one of the minor Upanishads. This work, like Avadhuta Gita, also describes the nature and characteristics of an Avadhuta. And then there is the Tripura Rahasya (roughly meaning ‘The Mystery beyond the Trinity’), which is an ancient literary work in Sanskrit that is believed to have been narrated by Lord Dattatreya to Parashurama. This text is seen as the root text of the Divine Mother Tradition of Sri Vidya and also a key text within the school of Advaita Vedanta that was often quoted by Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi.
