मनो बुद्धि अहंकार चित्त निनाहम
न च स्रोत्र जिह्वे न च घ्राण नेत्रे
न च व्योम भूमिर न तेजो न वायु
चिदानन्दा रूपा शिवोहम शिवोहम
न च प्राण संग्यो न वै पंच वायु
न वा सप्तधातुर न वा पंच कोशः
न वक् पानी पादौ न चोपस्थ पायु
चिदानंदा रूपा शिवोहम शिवोहम

न में द्वेष रागौ न में ळोभ मोहौ
मदो नैव में नैव मत्सर्य भवः
न धर्मो न चार्थो न कामो न मोक्षः
चिदानंदा रूपा शिवोहम शिवोहम

न पुण्यं न पापं न सुख्यं न दुखं
न मंत्रो न तीर्थं न वेदो न यज्ञः
अहं भोजनं नैव भोज्यं न भोक्ता
चिदानंदा रूपा शिवोहम शिवोहम

न में मृत्यु शंका न में जाति भेदः
पिता नैव में नैव माता न जन्मा
न बन्धुर न मित्रं गुरुर नैव शिष्यः
चिदानंदा रूपा शिवोहम शिवोहम

अहं निर्विकल्पो निराकार रूपः
विभुर व्याप्य सर्वत्र सर्वेंद्रियानाम
सदा में समत्वं न मुक्तिर न बन्धः
चिदानंदा रूपा शिवोहम शिवोहम

Explanation:

I am not mind, nor intellect, nor ego,
nor the reflections of inner self (chitta).
I am not the five senses.
I am beyond that.
I am not the ether, nor the earth,
nor the fire, nor the wind (the five elements).
I am indeed,
That eternal knowing and bliss, Shiva,
love and pure consciousness.

Neither can I be termed as energy (prana),
nor five types of breath (vayus),
nor the seven material essences,
nor the five coverings (pancha-kosha).
Neither am I the five instruments of elimination,
procreation, motion, grasping, or speaking.
I am indeed,
That eternal knowing and bliss, Shiva,
love and pure consciousness.

I have no hatred or dislike,
nor affiliation or liking,
nor greed,
nor delusion,
nor pride or haughtiness,
nor feelings of envy or jealousy.
I have no duty (dharma),
nor any money,
nor any desire (kama),
nor even liberation (moksha).
I am indeed,
That eternal knowing and bliss, Shiva,
love and pure consciousness.

I have neither merit (virtue),
nor demerit (vice).
I do not commit sins or good deeds,
nor have happiness or sorrow,
pain or pleasure.
I do not need mantras, holy places,
scriptures (Vedas), rituals or sacrifices (yagnas).
I am none of the triad of
the observer or one who experiences,
the process of observing or experiencing,
or any object being observed or experienced.
I am indeed,
That eternal knowing and bliss, Shiva,
love and pure consciousness.

I do not have fear of death,
as I do not have death.
I have no separation from my true self,
no doubt about my existence,
nor have I discrimination on the basis of birth.
I have no father or mother,
nor did I have a birth.
I am not the relative,
nor the friend,
nor the guru,
nor the disciple.
I am indeed,
That eternal knowing and bliss, Shiva,
love and pure consciousness.

I am all pervasive.
I am without any attributes,
and without any form.
I have neither attachment to the world,
nor to liberation (mukti).
I have no wishes for anything
because I am everything,
everywhere,
every time,
always in equilibrium.
I am indeed,
That eternal knowing and bliss, Shiva,
love and pure consciousness.

- Adi Shankaracharya

P.S.: This is neither a religious post, nor does it say anything about my loyalties to any particular school of thought or philosophy. Posting it just because I liked the essence of the verse.

The leaf had mostly known other leaves who were commensurate with her ways of living. Though leaving home, she never gave a thought to what adjustments and compromises she would have to make in order to survive in the world outside. Giving no thought to any of the so called realities, she plunged into the world. She was very vulnerable to begin with. There were many beasts who looked for leaves to graze. None cared if they trampled the leaf, for it was an insignificant part in the scheme of things and people just did not care. Gradually she adapted herself to the ways of the world, reconciled to the fact that it was not for her to change the world, she was there just to learn and to know. It was her decision to leave the safe sanctuary of the tree and venture into territory unknown. She was not cribbing about this nor did she feel any remorse at her decision. She was thankful that she came out from that protective environment because otherwise she would have withered away before the spring like the rest of them, like the myriad others before her, who fell from the tree and disappeared into the dusty earth below. She was thankful that she would not meet with similar fate. Yes she will go down into the same dust but before going down she would have seen far more than all those others who were too afraid to take the plunge. She smiled to herself at the thought of this.
She thought about her friends back at the tree. How much she longed to describe her experiences to them, to share those numerous new feelings that she had gone through, those beautiful places she had seen. But at the same time she also felt sad about her friends that they could not get to see these wonderful things, and perhaps fate may not be kind enough to let them meet again in this transient existence of theirs, and they will be bereft of all those experiences. With these mixed feelings clouding her imagination she moved on...

to be contd.