The True Seeker
1. The wise man knows the Self,
And he plays the game of life.
But the fool lives in the world
Like a beast of burden.
2. The true seeker feels no elation,
Even in that exalted state
Which Indra and all the gods
Unhappily long for.
3. He understands the nature of things.
His heart is not smudged
By right or wrong,
As the sky is not smudged by smoke.
4. He is pure of heart,
He knows the whole world is only the Self.
So who can stop him
From doing as he wishes?
5. Of the four kinds of being,
From Brahma to a blade of grass,
Only the wise man is strong enough
To give up desire and aversion.
6. How rare he is!
Knowing he is the Self,
He acts accordingly
And is never fearful.
For he knows he is the Self,
One without two,
The Lord of all creation.
Dissolving
1. You are pure.
Nothing touches you.
What is there to renounce?
Let it all go,
The body and the mind.
Let yourself dissolve.
2. Like bubbles in the sea,
All the worlds arise in you.
Know you are the Self.
Know you are one.
Let yourself dissolve.
3. You see the world.
But like the snake in the rope,
It is not really there.
You are pure.
Let yourself dissolve.
4. You are one and the same
In joy and sorrow,
Hope and despair,
Life and death.
You are already fulfilled.
Let yourself dissolve.
– – – – – – – – – – –
Thomas Byrom, PhD., was born in England and educated at Oxford and Harvard. He was formerly a fellow of St. Catherines College and Exeter College, Oxord, where he taught Old English and modern literature. He also published a translation of the Dhammapada. He was a poet, scholar, and seeker, who met his teacher Ma Jaya and followed her for the rest of his life, spending years in her center, Kashi Ashram.
From The Heart of Awareness: A Translation of the Ashtavakra Gita. By Thomas Byrom. Copyright 2001 by Shambhala Publications.