Stay in Contact with the Great
By SWami Chidananda
Two birds on a tree is a well-known metaphor1 from the Upanishads, providing a lot of scope for creative visualization. A dimension of this uplifting and thought-provoking illustration is that it hints at deep transformation within us by meditation on the divine. We are individual souls, caught in various troubles of worldly life. When we lift our gaze to look at God and appreciate the marvel that He is, things begin to change for us.
Taken literally, the mantra is tantamount to saying, “See Him and you can no more be the old self!”
“When the first bird beholds the second one, it is freed from sorrow!”
| justam yadā pashyati anyam-eesham |
| asya mahimānam-iti veeta-shokah |
Mundaka Upanishad, 3.1.2
The metamorphosis comes about by keeping God in our thoughts incessantly.
Notes: 1 dvā suparnā sayujā sakhāyā.. Mu. Up. 3.1.1 [Seated on the same tree, there are these two birds (jeeva and ishwara). The first bird, the individualized being is deluded and grieves over his helplessness. But when he beholds the other – the worshipful Lord – as also His glory, he becomes free from all grief.]