Freedom!

Do not be enslaved by freedom
Like slaves who sing panegyrics to tyrants!
Some people enjoy freedom taking as a yoke;

Free, you are free to work
Free, you are free to sweat
Free, you are free to plough
Free, you become free to suffer
Free, you are free to be jubilant
Free, you are free to share;

Free, you are no more imprisoned
By suffering, need, craving or laziness;
If you can become a lotus
Despite hardships, you are free!
If you want to abolish tyrannical laws
In order you to be free,
See that they are written on your forehead
Not by a cruel king but by yourself!
If you are to dethrone a tyrannical monarch
First you should destroy his throne erected
In your head!
The fear that dwells you is nowhere else
But in your own heart!

(Inspired by Khalil Gibran)

by Bhikkhu Mandawala Pannawansa

(February 01, Paris, Sri Lanka Guardian)