I am a free bird...

I have no duties to perform or obligations to fulfill.

Name and form do not belong to me. I have forgotten the limitations imposed by knowledge. The eyes see, the ears hear, but there is no one who is looking, no one who is listening. The body and the brain are alive and alert, but there is no mind, no thinker. Thoughts come and go, but they never disturb the peace that is always present.

Like an actor on the stage, I perform whatever actions are required of me. Still I know that it is all a play. Who can say what life is? The body breathing, the senses responding—what could be more miraculous than this?

In this liberation, there has never been any bondage. I understand that there is nothing to understand. In this completeness, there has never been any incompleteness. I know that I am the One. There are no words to express what I am. Thought cannot encompass it. Reality cannot be broken into parts. Therefore, notions of this and that, I and you, are illusion.

This world appearance is like a ripple on the surface of the ocean. I feel the depth of that ocean, but I cannot describe it. The world of form appears, but has no substance. I see no separation anywhere. I do not know myself or experience myself as a separate person. I do not know or experience others as separate persons. I am friendly with everyone, because I do not feel that others are different from me. I invite everyone into my own happiness. There is only Oneness there, so how can you call it love? I do not want anything, nor do I not want anything. All seems good to me as it is.

My true nature is silence. I sit quietly in my Self. Those who need me will find me. I know that I will also receive whatever I need. I have no thoughts about the future. I know that there is never any moment other than this one.

This life around me is my Self. I meditate on that Self with devotion. The flame of life is always lit. I am the devotee and the object of devotion as well. I am both full and empty, foolish and wise, asleep and awake. I do not understand myself! I cannot locate myself anywhere in space. I cannot experience myself at any point in time. I do not exist in any shape or form, and yet I am. My being is a mystery to me!

I perceive beauty, but it is not projected by me, nor does it come to me from outside. Beauty and goodness are in the nature of existence itself. That is the conclusion I come to.

This human form has its weaknesses and strengths, but I know that I am not that. Therefore I am not constrained by the body. I do not conceive of myself as being like this or like that. Therefore I am not constrained by thought. I never experience a state in which I am not aware. Therefore I am not constrained by ignorance. I know that one day this body will fall away and all knowledge of the world will end. Therefore I am not constrained by knowledge.

Like a flag flying in the wind that shows that the wind is there, this world reveals my existence, but I remain unknown.

Is there anything I need to satisfy me? No, I am content with my Self.

‘I’ am not enlightened, awakened, or Self-realized. There is no one to whom those words can be applied.

May all those who seek the Self come to this understanding—that there is no path that leads to the one who is seeking. May all those who practice spiritual disciplines come to this understanding—that there is nothing you can do to become what you already are. May all seekers everywhere come to the end of their seeking and live freely in peace and happiness.

I am a free bird. I have no duties to perform or obligations to fulfill.

- Andrew Vernon, A Free Bird