Advaita Vedanta · attributed to Shankaracharya
Nirvana Shatakam, stanza 6
Beyond form and thought; neither bound nor liberated
अहं निर्विकल्पो निराकाररूपो विभुत्वाच्च सर्वत्र सर्वेन्द्रियाणाम्। न चासङ्गतं नैव मुक्तिर्न बन्धः चिदानन्दरूपः शिवोऽहं शिवोऽहम्॥
I am beyond thought, without form. I am all-pervading, present in all senses, in all directions. Neither liberation nor bondage applies to me. I am Consciousness-Bliss. I am Shiva. I am Shiva.
What this verse points to
The final stanza denies bondage and liberation together. If there was never binding, then liberation is not an event that could happen — the whole frame of the problem is withdrawn.
The hymn ends where it has ended five times already, with the same refrain. Nothing new is arrived at, because the position was never actually left.
Sit with it
Sit without the premise that you are working toward something. See what practice becomes.
About the Nirvana Shatakam
Also called Atma Shatakam — six stanzas, each stripping away another layer of what one takes oneself to be (mind, breath, emotion, virtue, relationship, form) and each closing with the same refrain: chidananda rupah shivoham, "I am consciousness and bliss; I am Shiva." It is a negation practice in the form of a hymn.
References to this text are given as stanza — here, 6.