He is the Universal Self seated in the heart of all beings; so He alone is the beginning and middle and also the end of all beings. The Spirit dwelling in this body is really the same as the Supreme. He has been spoken of as the Witness, the true Guide, the Sustainer of all, the Experiencer (as the embodied soul), the Overlord and the Absolute as well. Some by meditation behold the supreme Spirit in the heart with the help of their refined and sharp intellect; others realize it through the discipline of Knowledge and others again through the discipline of Action. Other dull witted persons, however, not knowing thus, worship even as they have heard from others; and even those who are thus devoted to hearing, are able to cross the ocean of mundane existence in the shape of death. He alone truly sees who sees the supreme Lord as imperishable and abiding equally in all perishable beings, both animate and inanimate. And he alone really sees, who sees all actions being performed in every way by Nature alone and the self as the non-doer. The moment man perceives the diversified existence of beings as rooted in the one supreme Spirit, and the spreading forth of all beings from the same, that very moment, he attains Brahma who is Truth, Consciousness and Bliss solidified. Being without beginning and without attributes, this indestructible supreme Spirit, though dwelling in the body, in fact does nothing, nor gets contaminated. As the all-pervading ether is not tainted by reason of its subtlety, so seated everywhere in the body, the Self is not affected by the attributes of the body due to its attributeless character.
