1.
First I gave up action,
Then idle words,
And lastly, thought itself.
Now I am here.
2.
Ridding my mind of distraction,
Single-pointed,
I shut out sound and all the senses,
And I am here.
3.
Meditation is needed
Only when the mind is distracted
By false imagining.
Knowing this,
I am here.
4.
Without joy or sorrow,
Grasping nothing, spurning nothing,
O Master, I am here.
5.
What do I care
If I observe or neglect
The four stages of life?
Meditation,
Controlling the mind,
These are mere distractions!
Now I am here.
6.
Doing, or not doing,
Both come from not knowing.
Knowing this fully,
I am here.
7.
Thinking
Of what is beyond thinking
Is still thinking.
I gave up thinking,
And I am here.
8.
Whoever fulfills this
Fulfills his own nature,
And is indeed fulfilled.