THE SONG OF THE BIRD

New Zealand 'Tui'

THE SONG OF THE BIRD

- From 'SONG OF THE BIRD' - Collected Stories by Anthony De Mello

The disciples were full of questions about God.

Said the master, "God is the unknown and the Unknowable. Every statement about him, every answer to your questions, is a distortion of the truth."

The disciples were bewildered. "Then why do you speak about him at all?"

"Why does the bird sing? said the master.

[ "Not because it has a statement, but because it has a song. The words of the scholar are to be understood. The words of the master are not to be understood. They are to be listened to as one listens to the wind in the trees and the sound of the river and the song of the bird. They will awaken something within the heart that is beyond all knowledge.

In our quest for God, we think too much, reflect too much, talk too much. Even when we look at this dance that we call creation, we are the whole time thinking, talking (to ourselves and others), reflecting, analyzing, philosophizing. Words. Noise. ----- Be silent and contemplate 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!

What was that you said? You have heard dozens of birds sing and seen hundreds of trees? Ah, was it the tree you saw or the label? If you look at a tree and see a tree, you have really not seen the tree. When you look at the tree and see a miracle - then, at last, you have seen! Did your heart never fill with wordless wonder when you heard a bird in song? " ] - Anthony De Mello