1

It is the Self alone which acts.

Although it is by nature self-luminous and detached,

the Self through its power of MAYA

assumes many varied forms,

like the creative dreamer in sleep.

2

"I think, I speak, I grasp, I hear."

All such forms of action are done by the Supreme Self,

acting through the agency of the individuated self

with its intelligence, its organs of perception,

and its organs of action.

3

Before action, the Self alone exists.

There is not a trace of any "other."

Therefore, all action is accomplished by the Self alone,

through its own power of MAYA.

4

The Self has, inherent in its nature,

a certain power that is difficult to define.

By this power, the appearance of action

is projected in the actionless Self.

5

The Self is always completely unattached.

It is through lack of awareness that action

is done as though attached.

Where the Seer is aware, "It is not I who am acting,"

he remains unattached, even in action.

6

It is the One Self alone which burns as fire,

blows as the wind, supports as the earth,

and flows as the river.

7

It is the One Self alone, itself remaining actionless,

which moves upward as Prana and downward as Apana.

It is the One Self alone which

beats, murmurs and pulsates in the nerves.

8

The six changing aspects of this world

-- existence, birth, growth, transformation,

deterioriation, and extinction --

all proceed from the unchanging

Self alone, and not another.

9

In spite of actions always being self-accomplished

by mental and sensory functions,

the wise one knows,

"I am the unattached one, the rock-steady."

10

Because it is an object of experience,

even the personality-"I" is an illusory projection,

like the illusion of silver seen in mother-of-pearl.

Today and tomorrow, firmly established

above all else, One alone is.