Halt, all you who will draw near;
beware of what lies before you,
for surely it is different to what you would leave behind.
Listen, then, to these words
that you may choose the path you wish to tread.
With full understanding or unwittingly, you would flee your fetters;
in place of bondage, you desire freedom.
Know this, therefore, for it is wisdom:
There is no bondage, no flight, no freedom,
nor binding in fetters nor loosing therefrom.
The one remains always the shadow of the other,
a reflection as of the moon on the water,
an echo of a footfall in the dark wood.
Listen again and learn.
Just as your shadow is forever joined to your heel,
as your face looks back at you from the sacred pool,
and your footstep disturbs the silence of the grove,
know with equal certainty that you are yoked to your master,
for you are both your own master and slave.
Will you call yourself master or slave of your life?
Listen one final time. I tell you a mystery:
In the service of the gods lies perfect freedom,
a freedom born of love without compulsion.
You have fled to this place.
You stand at the edge of the sacred grove shrouded in darkness.
Choose now whether you will set out
on the path that leads from darkness to light
and to perfect freedom in service.
Choose! Choose now!
If it be your will,
follow me now between the worlds
to the hidden place wherein the gods await.
