Leonard Cohen’s song Treaty is a powerful one. I have listened to it many times and tried to glean its meaning. Here is what I have so far. When he says, “Only one of us was real, and that was me,” he is referring to the principle of “I am.” This is the essential Self given to each person born into this world.

Here is how I put it.

“I have been reflecting on Treaty again as I listen to it many times over. I have been on the path for most of my life and this is how it is resonating with me for the moment. He could be talking about any relationship between 2 human beings. When he says “Only one of us was real,” he is speaking of the “I am” awareness. In this sense, his “I am” is real, so the other is merely a projection he is making onto the beloved. He is saying that projections are not real.

Each of us is the “I am”, of course and so human relationships have this built-in dilemma of there being only one who is real. Each person could say the same thing about the other.

Two people can love each other, but the unreality of the personality will never permit a true treaty.”

When we say “I am,” that is a complete sentence and a deep profession of truth. Any adjectives we attach to it are unnecessary. “I am” stands alone as the greatest teaching of all times. It is generic; i.e., it requires no religion, only consciousness. And consciousness is protected. You cannot say it mechanically and have it mean anything to you. It must be focussed on and respected, as it carries divine protection.

Vick Woodyard