Loyalty of the Birds

A long time ago, in the times when animals and man and plants still spoke the same language, there was a large fire that threatened to burn down many, many acres of forest. Flames whipped through the ground, devouring small shrubs, bushes, flowers and grass lands. All the animals scampered for safety. Squirrels climbed high in the trees, frogs hopped quickly to lily pads in the middle of ponds, deer ran briskly to higher ground, birds flew to safety. As the fire raged, the billowing flames became more and more ominous, engulfing more and more of the forest. The waters of the pond began to boil, and the frogs hopped desperately from lily pad to pod.

Soon the rising flames began to envelop even the oldest, sturdiest, densest trees, consuming them from the inside out. Squirrels hopped and monkeys swung from branch to branch, tree to tree, trying feverishly to escape the fury and momentum of the fire.

High in one tree sat two birds, and they neither cried with fear nor attempted to fly to safety. When the forest ranger, clothed in a fire proof suit and attempting to ensure the safety of as many animals as possible, saw them he become frantic. "Fly away," he cried. "Go ... shoo ... fly." He yelled as loudly as he could, hoping to startle them into flight. Yet they remained still, unwavering, complacent. The ranger picked up branches and began to throw them into the tree, "Fly away ... Go! Go!" He beseeched them. But the birds would not budge. Finally, the ranger looked up and cried, 'The forest is burning. This tree will be nothing but ashes in a few hours. You will die for sure. Why in the world won't you fly away?"

After many moments of silence one of the birds spoke.

"We have lived our lives in this tree. She has given us branches on which to build our nests and raise our young. She has given us fruit to eat and worms to feed to our babies. Her leaves capture the moisture each night, and in the morning she has let us suck on them for water. In the summer, she has blocked the sun and provided us with shade. In the winter, she has caught the snow herself, so it would not fall on us. As the wind blows through her leaves, she has sung to us. She has let us fly quickly to her highest branches to escape the tigers or other animals who would eat us. We know she will burn. If there were anything we could do to save her, we would do it. But, as much as we have tried to think of something, we realize we are helpless. There is nothing we can do. However, we will not leave her now. Our whole lives, and our parents lives and our grandparents lives, she has stood beside us, never flinching, never failing to provide us with anything we could need. How, in this most dire moment, could we abandon her? We may not be able to save her, but we will not let her die alone. That is why we stay. She will die, and we will die, but she will not leave us and we will not leave her.

We are so quick in life to switch loyalties - from one teacher to another, from one spouse to another, from one way of being to another. Our hearts are fickle. We will remain loyal as long as it serves us to do so, as long as we, too, benefit from the loyalty. But, is that really devotion? There is a reason that wedding vows include the phrase "for richer and for poorer, in sickness and in health." It is very easy to be attached to someone who is healthy, happy and prosperous. It is more difficult to remain with someone who is sick, de- pressed and indigent. It is even more difficult to maintain the devotion when it may bring what look s like harm to you. I say "looks like harm" because the loss of your faith actually is much more damaging to your soul than any of these other, superficial "catastrophes."

Pure, single-minded devotion is one of the most beautiful things on Earth. It is, in fact, the path of Bhakti. Yet, how many of us are really able to maintain this? Usually, we love God and have faith in Him when all is wonderful. It is more difficult to believe in a Divine Plan when that Plan causes agony. Please know, though, that it is at this time that your faith is most important. For, these are really the lessons of life. This is real spirituality. Spirituality is not about being where and with whom you are most comfortable. It is keeping the fire of your loyalty burning regardless of how much water is being poured on the flames.

This is the beauty of the birds. They realized there was nothing they could do to keep the fire away from their tree. So, they calmly and faithfully waited out God's plan. This sort of devotion may be seen as blind; it may be viewed as childish. Yet, those views are from a modem, Western standpoint which can only see devotion and loyalty as means to another end. However, they are ends in and of themselves. Their simple and pure loyalty is going to carry these birds' souls to Heaven more than anything they would be able to accomplish with their remaining years, if they had forsaken their "mother" tree.