The senses are tigers. 45

When a timid man catches sight of them,
He runs for safety to the nearest cave,
To practice control and meditation.

But a man without desires is a lion. 46

When the senses see him,
It is they who take flight!

They run away like elephants,
As quietly as they can.

And if they cannot escape,
They serve him like slaves.

A man who has no doubts 47
And whose mind is one with the Self
No longer looks for ways to find freedom.

He lives happily in the world,
Seeing and hearing,
Touching and smelling and tasting.

Just by hearing the truth 48
He becomes spacious
And his awareness pure.

He is indifferent
To striving or stillness.

He is indifferent
To his own indifference.

The master is like a child. 49
He does freely whatever comes his way,
Good or bad.

By standing on his own 50
A man finds happiness.

By standing on his own
A man finds freedom.

By standing on his own
He goes beyond the world.

By standing on his own
He finds the end of the way.

When a man realizes 51
He is neither the doer nor the enjoyer,
The ripples of his mind are stilled.

The master's way is unfettered 52
And free of guile.
He shines.

But for the fool
There is no peace.
His thoughts are full of desire.

The master is free of his mind, 53
And his mind is free.

In this freedom he plays.
He has a wonderful time!

Or he withdraws
And lives in a mountain cave.

If the master encounters 54
A king or a woman
Or someone he dearly loves,
He is without desire.

And when he honors
A god or a holy place
Or a man versed in the scriptures,
There is no longing in his heart.

None at all!

He is unperturbed 55
Even when his servants despise him,
Or his wives, sons, and grandsons mock him.

Even when his whole family makes fun of him,
He is undismayed.

For him there is no pain in pain, 56
No pleasure in pleasure.

Only those who are like him
Can know his exaltation.

He has no form. 57
His form is emptiness.

He is constant and pure.

He has no sense of duty,
Which only binds men to the world.

The master fulfills his duties 58
And is always untroubled.

The fool does nothing
And is always troubled and distracted.

The master goes about his business 59
With perfect equanimity.

He is happy when he sits,
Happy when he talks and eats,
Happy asleep,
Happy coming and going.

Because he knows his own nature, 60
He does what he has to without feeling ruffled
Like ordinary people.

Smooth and shining,
Like the surface of a vast lake.

His sorrows are at an end.

The fool is busy 61
Even when he is still.

Even when he is busy
The master gathers the fruits of stillness.

The fool often spurns his possessions. 62

The master is no longer attached to his body.
So how can he feel attraction or aversion?

The awareness of the fool is always limited 63
By thinking, or by trying not to think.

The awareness of the man who lives within,
Though he may be busy thinking,
Is beyond even awareness itself.

The master is like a child. 64
All his actions are without motive.

He is pure.
Whatever he does, he is detached.

He is blessed. 65
He understands the nature of the Self.
His mind is no longer thirsty.

He is the same under all conditions,
Whatever he sees or hears,
Or smells or touches or tastes.

The master is like the sky. 66
He never changes.

What does the world matter to him,
Or its reflection?

What does he care about seeking,
Or the end of seeking?

He is ever the same. 67
The victory is his.
He has conquered the world.

He is the embodiment
Of his own perfect essence,
By nature one with the infinite.

What more is there to say? 68

He knows the truth.
He has no desire for pleasure or liberation.

At all times, in all places,
He is free from passion.

He has given up the duality of the world 69
Which arises with the mind
And is nothing more than a name.

He is pure awareness.
What is there left for him to do?

The man who is pure knows for certain 70
That nothing really exists;
It is all the work of illusion.

He sees what cannot be seen.
His nature is peace.

He does not see the world of appearances. 71

So what do rules matter to him,
Or dispassion, renunciation, and self-control?

His form is pure and shining light.

He does not see the world. 72

So what does he care for joy or sorrow,
Bondage or liberation?

He is infinite and shining.

Before the awakening of understanding 73
The illusion of the world prevails.
But the master is free of passion.

He has no "I,"
He has no "mine,"
And he shines!

He sees that the Self never suffers or dies. 74

So what does he care for knowledge
Or the world?

Or the feeling "I am the body,"
"The body is mine"?

The moment a fool gives up concentration 75
And his other spiritual practices,
He falls prey to fancies and desires.

Even after hearing the truth, 76
The fool clings to his folly.

He tries hard to look calm and composed,
But inside he is full of cravings.

When the truth is understood, 77
Work falls away.

Though in the eyes of others
The master may seem to work,
In reality he has no occasion
To say or to do anything.

He has no fear. 78
He is always the same.

He has nothing to lose.

For him there is no darkness,
There is no light.

There is nothing at all.

He has no being of his own. 79
His nature cannot be described.

What is patience to him,
Or discrimination or fearlessness?

In the eyes of the master 80
There is nothing at all.

There is no heaven.
There is no hell.

There is no such thing as liberation in life.

What more is there to say?

Nothing he hopes to win, 81
Nothing he fears to lose.

His mind is cool and drenched with nectar.

Free from desire, 82
He neither praises the peaceful
Nor blames the wicked.

The same in joy and sorrow,
He is always happy.

He sees there is nothing to do.

He does not hate the world. 83
He does not seek the Self.

He is free from joy and sorrow.

He is not alive,
And he is not dead.

He is not attached to his family. 84

Free from the desire of the senses,
He does not care about his body.

The master expects nothing,
And he shines.

Whatever befalls him, 85
He is always happy.

He wanders where he will.

And wherever he finds himself
When the sun sets,
There he lies down to rest.