Two Birds of Beautiful Plumage

[Asuri]

This topic deserves its own thread.

[QUOTE=TonyTamer;23045]There is a poem about two birds-one that eats the fruit of the tree and one who just observes the other bird eating. Time is organized space. Why organize ? The Greeks said in the beginning was Chaos-then Eros ( Love ) showed up and Love creates attraction of one thing for another, thus making patterns out of Chaos-if we could see all the patterns at once-Love-then we would be Timeless and at the heart of God. To get there we almost always need the controlled accident of a higher consciousness. It isn’t the doing itself but where the doing brings us, to the summit , to see the stars, to see the patterns in space. You can see all this in a grain of sand- it’s just easier to climb the Mountain. Jesus said It is harder for a rich man to get to heaven than to get a camel through the eye of a needle. The baggage in life weighs our eyes down, yoga helps us to become unattached, to live in the moment and to see clearer- then we will see Love, then we won’t need Yoga. Awareness is handmaiden to Love. Love is all there is. Namaste[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Asuri;23107]This is not a poem but is taken from the Svetasvatara Upanishad:

IV-5: There is a single Female of red, white and black colours, who is unoriginated, and who produces numerous offsprings resembling herself. By her side lies one unborn Male out of attachment for her, while another Male, also unoriginated, forsakes her after having enjoyed her.
IV-6: Two birds of beautiful plumage, who are inseparable friends, reside on the self-same tree. Of these, one eats the fruits of the tree with relish while the other looks on without eating.
IV-7: Sitting on the same tree the individual soul gets entangled and feels miserable, being deluded on account of his forgetting his divine nature. When he sees the other, the Lord of all, whom all devotees worship, and realizes that all greatness is His, then he is relieved of his misery.
[/QUOTE]

For me, it was pertinent to this post, substitute the bird that watches for awareness and the one who eats for love and you have my belief that Bentinho Massaro’s awareness leads to a union that yoga , and everything else, has as it’s goal. It seems cold and nihilistic when viewed alone-like Spock without Kirk, but like the birds they are on the same tree and become unified. It was a poem, derived from the original, when I read it 30 some years ago. The image and it’s import to me was all I remember, Thanks for the original-it helps expand my image. Namaste

Though this doesn’t seem to have anything to do with this thread I remembered something else of interest: Red,Black and White ( colors of the female bird ) have a special place in Anthropology and appear universally in Cave paintings and primitive tribes, ( apparently, not for want of other colors ), I remember red was for blood ; I believe Joseph Campbell identifies them as iconic colors of the human experience of the Divine- of course, this also is a memory from many years ago, and it may’ve been a different author. Namaste

[Asuri]

Actually, the quote from the Upanishad is a sort of poetic rendering of a few basic Samkhya concepts. I will explain when I have a little more time.

[Asuri]

Annapurna Upanishad IV.32-33

In this body are the birds, called the Jiva and the Lord, dwelling together. Of them, the Jiva eats the fruit of action, not the great lord. Alone as the witness, without participation, the great Lord shines by himself. Through Maya is set up the difference between them…