Birds as a Spiritual PracticeBirds as a Spiritual PracticeRev. LoraKim Joyner, D.V.M.
UFETA President
To appear in Parrot Life 1(2): 2005
The disciple was always complaining to his master,
"You are hiding the final secret of Zen from me."
And he would not accept the master's denials.
One day they were walking in the hills when they heard bird a bird sing.
"Did you hear the bird sing?" asked the Master?
"Yes," said the disciple.
"Well, now you know that I have hidden nothing from you."
"Yes."
-- Anthony de Mello, Song of the Bird
To be human is to seek. We seek fulfillment in our daily routines and in the overall arc of our life's journey. We seek authentic living, playing out our deepest values in all we do. We seek connection, awareness, and relationships rooted in love and trust. Yet what we seek often remains elusive, happiness hidden deep within our often busy and consumptive schedules. To liberate oneself to a life of joy, people turn to spiritual practices.
Spiritual practices are those activities that help us connect to wholeness beyond our ego and its daily concerns. Some call this God/Goddess, others call it the Cosmic Consciousness, and others call it the web of life or the universe. Whatever the name, the urge is the same--to live every moment in open awareness to all that is, without our projections drawing stormy clouds upon us and obscuring our chance for vibrant and compassionate living.
Birds are a spiritual practice; they help us discover wholeness in our lives. They are such strong symbols of freedom, beauty, rebirth, and joy. By being with them in an intentional manner, we open our subconscious to the archetypal power they present, and open ourselves to transformation.
If you have birds in your home, you might meditate before you go through your care routines. There are many forms of meditation, and one in particular I like is a meta meditation: loving-kindness. It is a way to imagine yourself held in love and compassion and then to extend this out to the beings in your lives.
If you need to do a fair amount of walking while caring for your birds or if you are outside enjoying the wild birds, you might try a walking meditation. Again, there are many ways to do this, and one I like is based on a count of four. You count to four while breathing in and then count to four while breathing out. I especially like the number four when meditating on birds because of their four count respiratory cycle. On the first count, birds breathe air in which goes into distal airsacs. On two the air goes through the lungs. On three it goes into proximal airsacs. On four, birds breathe out that original air.
Perhaps you are more verbal in the ways you connect to the web of life. If so, you might try repeating a phrase, chant, or a song. One that I frequently use is a Zuni Pueblo Indian prayer adapted by Mary Grigolia and later by myself: I add my breath to your breath, that our days may be long upon this earth. That the days of all beings may be long. The sense of connection comes from knowing that the molecules you take in each breath not only were once inside the birds in your home and yard, but were in extinct feathered wonders and their reptilian ancestors, the dinosaurs.
Spiritual practices aren't just to mend your life, but all of life. When we connect to all, we are called to justice and to flourishing for all species. Whatever it takes for you to hear the call of birds, to hear the call of life will counteract the objectification that can sneak into any relationship. Objectification--that is, treating others as objects for our gratification, rather than as beautiful ends onto themselves--is especially a threat with those less powerful than we are, including birds.
A spiritual practice therefore calls us to open our lives to the cries of birds, as they tell us of their complex social lives adapted to particular ecological niches. They embody the freedom for which we yearn. We need to feel with their wild hearts and think with their foreign avian brains, and understand what we can of their suffering. Most of all we need to celebrate their form of intelligence and beauty, and let the abundance of life flow over us whenever we are in the presence of birds. When a bird calls, there is nothing of life that remains hidden--all we have to do is find our own way of listening to life, and to love.
The spiritual quest has led some to build avian sanctuaries, others to join conservation groups, others no longer to keep birds captive in their homes or yards, and others to abandon veterinary practice on birds. Whenever we fly free with life, there will come waves of changes, and in the peaks and valleys enduring peace and joy.
Those who bind themselves to a joy
Do the winged life destroy
But they who kiss the joy as it flies
Live in eternity's sunrise.
--William Blake
There is a statue in Hiroshima Peace Park commemorating the hope for peace following the devastating results of the atomic bomb dropped on this city near the end of World War Two. One girl, Sadako, developed leukemia as a result of the bomb's radiation, and began to fold paper cranes. According to a Japanese custom, if you folded 1000 cranes, you would get your wish. She folded cranes in the hopes that they would augur good health, but had only folded 644 when she died. This statue is of her and in her hands there is a golden crane. The inscription reads:
This is our cry. This is our prayer. Peace in the world.
Whenever you hold a bird in your hand or in your heart, may you hear the cry of life and so find, and build, peace in the world, for all beings.
