Beloved one, listen with a tranquil heart as the sage speaks of the essence of liberation, a truth beyond all dualities. For him, there is neither mortality nor immortality, neither poison nor nectar—nothing arises or ceases to be. How, then, could he speak of purity or impurity, when he himself is the very embodiment of freedom, untouched by any affliction? In this state, there is no dreaming or waking, no yogic posture to adopt, no day or night to pass through. There is not even a question of the fourth state or something other than that, for he abides as the essence of liberation, forever free from disease. Know him, then, as pure consciousness, beyond all things, never touched by illusion or its absence. What need has he for rituals, for the worship performed at twilight, when he is the very essence of liberation, untouched by any taint? He is consciousness itself, united with all samadhis, yet free from any mark or distinction. For such a one, there is neither union nor separation—he is the essence of liberation, forever free from all suffering. He is neither ignorant nor learned, and silence or speech have no hold on him. Why should he speak of reasoning or debate, when he abides as the very core of freedom, untouched by all affliction? He has no father or mother, no lineage or caste, no birth nor death at any time. How could he speak of attachment or delusion, when he is the essence of liberation, free from all disease? He neither sets nor rises; radiance and its absence do not pertain to him. Why should he speak of rituals or worship, when he is the pure essence of freedom, untouched and ever-liberated? Without doubt, know him as undisturbed, uninterrupted, and stainless—he is the essence of liberation, ever free from affliction. The wise, seeing this truth, abandon all meditations, all actions whether good or bad. They drink the nectar of renunciation, for they know themselves as the essence of liberation, untouched by any disease. Such a one attains the highest, where desire leaves no trace, absorbed in perfect sameness, purified by contemplation. There, the supreme avadhūta speaks only truth. Thus ends the fourth chapter. Om. This teaching, vast as the sky and beyond all inquiry into higher or lower, has been spoken. When all play and non-play are negated, how could even the imperishable syllable be uttered? Through teachings beginning with “That Thou Art,” the truth has been established within the Self. You are that, free from all limitation, equal to all. Why then, O mind, do you grieve, when all is equal? Free from above and below, inside and outside, singularity and separation—you are equal to all. Why do you grieve, O mind, when all is equal? There is no inquiry into imagined concepts, nor into cause and effect. All is equal, beyond the reach of words. Why do you grieve, O mind, when all is equal? There is no samadhi of knowledge or ignorance, no samadhi of place or non-place, time or non-time. Why do you grieve, O mind, when all is equal? There is no pot-space, nor any pot; no embodied soul, nor any soul; no division of cause and effect. Why do you grieve, O mind, when all is equal? Here, liberation is ever-present, free from all distinctions of short and long, circle or angle. Why do you grieve, O mind, when all is equal? Here, there is neither emptiness nor non-emptiness, neither purity nor impurity, neither all nor not-all. Why do you grieve, O mind, when all is equal? There is no consideration of difference or non-difference, no inquiry into inner or outer connections. Free from enemy and friend, all is equal. Why do you grieve, O mind, when all is equal? There is no essence of disciple or teacher, no inquiry into the distinction between moving and unmoving. Here, liberation is uninterrupted everywhere. Why do you grieve, O mind, when all is equal? Indeed, there is neither form nor formlessness, neither difference nor non-difference, neither creation nor dissolution. Why do you grieve, O mind, when all is equal? There is no bondage by virtue or vice; how could one perform actions of the living or the dead? Thus, pure and stainless, all is equal. Why do you grieve, O mind, when all is equal? Here, there is neither state nor non-state, neither desire nor absence of desire; here, consciousness and darkness are equally liberation. Why do you grieve, O mind, when all is equal? Here, the essence is uninterrupted, without absence of connection or disconnection. All is free from everything and all is equal. Why do you grieve, O mind, when all is equal? Whether homeless or in a hut, all companions are equal. Here, the highest is free from attachment and non-attachment, from knowledge and ignorance. Why do you grieve, O mind, when all is equal? There is neither change nor changelessness, for both are unreal; neither distinction nor non-distinction, for both are unreal. If truth is only in the Self, why do you grieve, O mind, when all is equal? Here, all beings are truly equal, uninterrupted, and unmoving. Why do you grieve, O mind, when all is equal? There is neither discrimination nor non-discrimination, which is ignorance; neither imagination nor non-imagination, which is ignorance. If only uninterrupted knowledge remains, why do you grieve, O mind, when all is equal? There is no state of liberation or bondage, no state of merit or sin, no state of fullness or emptiness. Why do you grieve, O mind, when all is equal? If there is equality free from color and non-color, from cause and effect, from difference and non-difference, why do you grieve, O mind, when all is equal? Here, all consciousness is uninterrupted and unmoving everywhere, free from duality and its like. Why do you grieve, O mind, when all is equal? Utterly uninterrupted, all-pervading, pure, unmoving, and beyond day and night—why do you grieve, O mind, when all is equal? There is no meeting of bondage and liberation, no meeting of union and separation, no meeting of reasoning and non-reasoning. Why do you grieve, O mind, when all is equal? Here, time and timelessness are negated; the smallest and the subtlest are negated; only pure truth remains. Why do you grieve, O mind, when all is equal? Here, there is neither body nor bodilessness; the highest is free from dream and deep sleep, from expression and non-expression. Why do you grieve, O mind, when all is equal? Like the sky—pure, vast, equal to all, utterly free from every distinction, the same in all; devoid of essence, expansion, or change—why do you grieve, O mind, when all is equal? Here, virtue and vice are transcended; substance and non-substance are surpassed; desire and absence of desire are left behind. Why do you grieve, O mind, when all is equal? Here, pleasure and pain are absent, all is equal; sorrow and absence of sorrow are surpassed; teacher and disciple are transcended—the truth is supreme. Why do you grieve, O mind, when all is equal? There is neither sprout nor essence nor expansion; neither movement nor stillness, neither sameness nor difference; neither inquiry nor absence of inquiry. Why do you grieve, O mind, when all is equal? Thus, O dear one, in the heart of such wisdom, all distinctions dissolve, and only the pure, stainless essence of liberation remains. In this vast equality, why should the mind ever grieve?