STORIES FOR THE SOUL 2

DID YOU HEAR THAT BIRD SINGING?

The disciple was constantly complaining to his Zen Master: "You do nothing but hide the ultimate secret of Zen from me. And he was reluctant to believe the Master's subsequent refusals. One day, the Master took him for a walk with him on the mountain. While they were walking, they heard a bird singing."Did you hear that bird singing?"asked the Master."Yes," answered the disciple."Well, now you know I haven't been keeping anything from you.""Yes," he nodded. the disciple.

The Hindus have created a charming image to describe the relationship between God and His Creation. God "dances" his creation. He is your dancer; his creation is dance. The dance is different from the dancer; and yet it does not exist independently of Him. It's not something you can lock in a box and take home with you. The moment the dancer stops, the dance ceases to exist, and in his search for God, man thinks too much, reflects too much, talks too much. Even when he contemplates this dance that we call Creation, he is always thinking, talking (with himself or with others), reflecting, analyzing, philosophizing. Words, words, words... Noise, noise, noise... Keep quiet and watch the dance. Simply put, look: a star, a flower, a withered leaf, a bird, a stone... Any fragment of the dance will do. Look at this. Listen to this. Smell. Play it. Taste it. And it won't be long before you see him, the Dancer himself. If you've really heard a bird sing, if you've really seen a tree..., you should know (beyond words and concepts). What do you say? That you've heard dozens of birds sing and seen hundreds of trees? I see. But what you saw was the tree or its description? When you look at a tree and you see a tree, you haven't really seen the tree. When you look at a tree and see a miracle, then, at last, you have seen a tree. Has your heart ever been filled with mute admiration when you have heard a bird's song?