DO YOU HEAR THAT BIRD SING?

Hindu India developed a lovely image to describe the relationship between God and his Creation. God ‘dances’ his Creation. He is the Dancer, his Creation is the Dance. The dance is different from the dancer, and yet it has no existence apart from Him. You cannot take it home with you in a box, if it pleases you. The moment the dancers stops, the dance ceases to exist.

In his quest for God, man thinks too much, reflects too much, talks too much. Even when he looks at his dance that we call creation , he is the whole time thinking, talking (to himself and others), reflecting , analyzing, philosophizing, Words, words, words. Noise, noise, noise.

Be silent and look at the Dance. Just look: a star ,a flower, a fading leaf, a bird, a stone, ….any fragment of the Dance will do. Look. Listen. Smell. Touch. Taste. And, hopefully it won’t be long before you see Him-the Dancer Himself!


The constant complaint of the disciple to his Zen Master was, ‘You are hiding the final secret of Zen from me. ‘and he refused to believe the Master’s denials.
The Master one day took him for a walk along the hills. While they were walking they heard a bird sing.
‘Did you hear that bird sing?’ said the Master.
‘Yes,’ said the disciple.
‘Well, now you know that I have hidden nothing from you.’
If you really hear a bird sing, if you really saw a tree… you would know –beyond words and concepts.
What was that you said? That you have heard dozens of birds sing and seen hundreds of trees? Ah, was it the tree you saw or the label? When you look at a tree and see a tree, you have really not seen the tree. When you look at a tree and see a miracle- then, at last, you have seen a tree! Did your heart ever fill with wordless wonder when you heard the song of a bird?