The Self: Rising with the Bird of Life

The Promise of the “I Am”

There was a time, long ago, when a Master spoke words that still roll like a river through the ages: “I am the resurrection and the life. He that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die.”

Most people hear those words and think only of the hour after death. But they are just as much about the breath you draw this very moment. They tell us the key to everlasting life rests not in some faraway day, but in the “I Am,” the radiant Self within you.

This is an invitation, tender yet unyielding: to rise above the anxious little self, the one that frets and clings, and awaken into your Higher Self, that eternal spark of the Divine that nothing can diminish.

The Lower Self: A Servant, Never a Master

Many a soul walks this earth looking alive, yet carrying no song, no light. Not dead in body, but in spirit, cut off from the current of true life.

Your personal self, the body, the thoughts, the tender feelings, is no enemy. It is a gift, much like a diver’s suit made heavy to endure the depths. Without it, the weight of this world would press you flat.

Picture a diver who descends into the deep ocean. The suit he wears protects him from the crushing waters. It is not who he is, but without it, he could never reach the treasures hidden on the ocean floor. In the same way, your personal self is the suit that allows your Higher Self to explore the depths of earthly life, to gain knowledge and experience that cannot be found in the heavens alone.

When the diver remembers his lifeline, he receives a steady flow of air from above. He does his work in the depths, then rises again to the upper air, removes the heavy suit, and returns to his true home. So too, when you remain connected to your Higher Self, your personal self becomes a faithful servant. You use it to learn, to love, to grow. And when your work here is done, you rise freely into the light of the Divine.

But if the diver forgets the world above and begins to think the suit is himself, or if he loses the lifeline that connects him to the source of his breath, the suit that once protected him now dooms him. He can no longer rise. Likewise, if you mistake the personal self for your true Self, you risk becoming trapped in its weight. Cut off from the Higher Self, you cannot return to your true home.

The lesson is clear. Wear the suit, but do not confuse it with who you are. Keep the lifeline open, and you will rise again into the light when your work in this world is complete.

The Bird of Life and the Winged Eternity

Old wisdom tells of a Bird of Life, sometimes called the Black Swan, black for it hides the shimmering face of the Divine within.

Life moves as that bird moves, laying down seasons, birthing beginnings from endings, weaving the wheel that turns and turns. Symbols of wings and wheels whisper that time flows ever forward, renewing all it touches.

To ride the Bird of Life is to rise above those endless circles. Imagine a great shining bird lifting you high, your faith the reins in your hands. Hold fast, for while you keep that faith, no power on earth can steal your light. It is your cord back to eternity.

This vision of the Bird of Life shows the soul’s journey through the vast cycles of existence. But how do we understand this great truth within ourselves? For that, we turn to a much simpler symbol, one so small we use it every day without noticing.

The Sacred Letter “I”

Even the alphabet keeps its secrets.

See the capital I, straight as a pillar, a thread between Heaven and Earth. It is the soul’s climb, upward from matter to Spirit, until the two are one.

And the little i? A small line, topped with a dot of promise. The line is the self you know; the dot is the Self you seek. Grow tall enough, and the little one touches the greater, becoming whole.

So you see, even the smallest letter carries the seed of your divinity.

Picture, if you will, a golden I upon a canvas of deep shadow. How the gold gleams against the dark.

The shadow is your little self, not made to shine, but to make the light of the Higher Self blaze all the brighter.

Even the unawakened know they must believe in themselves. But true victory comes when you lift that belief higher, away from the anxious little self, toward the eternal Self that cannot fall.

The art of Mastery lies in wedding the passing self to the Silent Thinker, the Oversoul, the great Self within.

Your personality is but a shadow on the wall, its only purpose to reflect the light behind it. Live from that truth, and much of your burden dissolves. For most of our suffering comes from grasping too tightly at what was never meant to last.

The Beating Into Nothingness

The old teachers spoke of a “soundless sound” and a “beating into nothingness.” They were not warning of death, but of a dissolving, the quiet undoing of the little self so the eternal Spirit might step forth unveiled.

It may mean laying aside pursuits, possessions, even affections that bind too tightly. But know this: the real chains are fear, pride, and the hunger for recognition.

Do not be fooled. Some speak lowly of themselves as though their unworthiness were holy. Yet if the little self holds center stage, even in smallness, it rules still.

Others dress themselves in visions and spiritual airs, gathering followers with tales of their own glory. But true teachers wear no crown of self. They let the Divine speak, needing no applause.

Stumbling Forward: The Path of Mastery

On this path, you will stumble. You may even fall. But wonderful soul, do not waste precious breath staring at the place you tripped. Rise, gather the lesson, and walk on.

Think of a ship anchored too long in some fair harbor, its hull weighted with barnacles. So it is with the little self’s clinging. Painful though it be, scraping them away is the only way to set sail free again.

Each pride loosed, each hurt released, each ambition laid down, another barnacle gone. The soul grows lighter, swifter, freer.

Beware, for the little self will even dress itself in holy robes. It whispers, “If I gain Divine powers, the world will admire me. I shall rise above the rest.”

But ambition, even spiritual, binds like iron. Cast it off, lest you find the gates of heaven locked to a heart too heavy with pride.

The Call to the True Self

You were never meant to crawl like a beggar in the dust. You belong to the great Soul of the Divine. Tear away the wrappings of ignorance that have kept your sight dim.

The Higher Self cares little for slights or praise. It sees only the great weaving of the Plan. It calls you now, not for your own glory, but for the good of all.

Live from that Self, and you will no longer cling to wounds or honors. You will shine as the golden “I Am” that you are.

The little self is a servant. The Higher Self is the master. And when the servant bows in its rightful place, you shall rise with the Bird of Life, soaring beyond time, into eternity.

For the “I Am” is the resurrection and the life. Choose it, live it, and you shall never truly die.

And if your heart stirs with this truth, come sit awhile in the Mystic Library at Celestial Grove Academy. There, the Moon Guides and other treasures wait to walk beside you on your path toward the Divine.