Hymn of Aham Prakasha

III. The Hymn of Aham Prakāśa The unblemished mirror and the self-luminous nature of awareness Verse I Before the first of thoughts arose, Before the world began to show, Before the names of things were made, Or time had cast its fleeting shade, There shone a light without a name, That neither needed praise nor fame, And all that ever came to be, Appeared within its mystery. Verse II I thought the mirror must be judged, By every image it had touched, And when it held a sunset bright, I claimed that it possessed the light, But when the darkened alley came, I bore its darkness as my shame, Until I saw the glass was whole, Beyond the stories of the soul. Verse III For thoughts may rise and disappear, And every mask may feed a fear, The body changes, years depart, And grief may cross the open heart, Yet none of these can truly say, What I am beneath their play, For every image fades from sight, While awareness gives it light. Verse IV The eye through which I gaze on God, Is not a road that I have trod, For in the gaze through which I see, The seeing looks itself through me, And when the walls of separation fall, There is no distant throne at all, No hidden world beyond the flame, No final boundary left to name. Verse V Not I think, therefore I am, Nor I possess, therefore I stand, But I shine, and worlds appear, In the luminous and living here, And when I whisper through the night, Aham Prakāśa, I am Light, I do not crown a separate name, But recognize the source of flame. Final Refrain O Light that never sought to shine, Yet makes the stars and worlds divine, No passing image can define, The glass in which all things align, And when the final veils depart, The light remains within the heart, There is no further truth to find, Beyond the light that makes us blind.