The Song of the Bird

 

             At the time, I really just wanted to be dead. I sat down with that thought in mind and I opened the book I was about to discover. As if by magic, in less than two hours my entire way of thinking shifted. I had followed the instructions, set the course and consumed the thing. It was like eating awareness. In spite of easy access to the Bible, I had never been so taken with something bound to spirituality rather than Christianity. Every page was a like a flowing river, it carried me far and away.    Sometimes a book or literary piece can change your ideas. Someone else's estimations can help reshape your reality and move you into a new direction. The gazebo was shady and slightly cool despite the 90 degree day. I sat for the longest time, uncomfortable with my new enlightenment. 

"Spirituality means waking up. Most people, even though they don't know it, are asleep. They're born asleep, they live asleep, they marry in their sleep, they breed children in their sleep, they die in their sleep without ever waking up. They never understand the loveliness and the beauty of this thing that we call human existence. You know - all mystics - Catholic, Christian, non-Christian, no matter what their theology, no matter what their religion - are unanimous on one thing: that all is well, all is well. Though everything is a mess, all is well. Strange paradox, to be sure. But, tragically, most people never get to see that all is well because they are asleep. They are having a nightmare."
(Approaching God: How to Pray, Steve Brown 1995)
 

            My then minster recommended the book 'The Song of the Bird,' during one of our grief counselling sessions. About six months after my partner died, I was still deeply depressed and stricken with sorrow. Reverend Derek Shelley allowed me to borrow the book rather than referring me to the closest bookstore to find one on  my own. Long before the internet and Amazon, book exchange was a convenient and frugal approach to information gathering. Devoutly confused, I borrowed the book but then I struggled with the idea of reading something "non-traditional."  I was still scared of the scrutiny I felt from God. I didn't want to screw up any more than I already had. Exposing yourself to alternate theologies was something the Church frowned upon. Expanding one's mind in the Gospels and scripture was one thing but anything beyond that was viewed as nothing but false and evil. New ideas were never even considered. If it didn't come from Jesus it had no merit whatsoever. 

            Occasionally, someone else will affect us through their expression rather than just their person. It is their art, their exertion which can help shape us. While this construction may come from a deep and personal place, it becomes irrelevant once separated from the whole. Sometimes we take notice. We can walk past a person every day, thinking nothing of their entire makeup, but once they hold a "sign" up we take notice, if even for a moment. It is not the painter which inspires, rather, the painting. It is not the sculptor who turns our head, but their sculpture. Even a song may change us deeply while the singer heads home for a brandy and little thought given. More often than not, the extension becomes the messenger but the messenger is not the message. 
 

"The genius of a composer is found in the notes of his music; but analyzing the notes will not reveal his genius. The poet's greatness is contained in his words; yet the study of his words will not disclose his inspiration. God reveals himself in creation; but scrutinize creation as minutely as you wish, you will not find God, any more than you will find the soul through careful examination of your body."
(Awakening : Conversations with the Masters, Anthony De Mello / 2003)
 
            Reading "The Song of the Bird" was  more cathartic than anything else. It was like opening the flood gates or a major breakthrough in therapy. It turned out that I was not alone in my thinking. Someone else was asking the very same questions that I was. This was not some academic exploration of dogma. I had read the books and listened to the sermons. It was like a little crack formed in the sidewalk of who I was at that time. The fact that the author came with authority eased my transition and seem to quell my fears. I found myself somewhat softer when I realized God still loved me and He had all along. The world changed then and there. No longer just all doom and gloom, the crack quickly spread and I began to move forward. This moment, this event, gave me permission. It gave me permission to doubt, permission to examine and to interrogate not only my belief structure but the very concept of God and even the validity of Jesus.. 

"This book has been written for people of every persuasion, religious and non religious. I cannot, however, hide from my readers the fact that I am a priest of the Catholic Church. I have wandered freely in mystical traditions that are not Christian and not religious and I have been profoundly influenced by them. It is to my Church, however, that I keep returning, for she is my spiritual home; and while I am acutely, sometimes embarrassingly, conscious of her limitations and narrowness, I also know that it is she who has formed me and made me what I am today. So it is to her that I gratefully  dedicate this book." 

(The Song of the Bird - Introduction, Anthony De Mello  1984)
 
            Anthony De Mello was born in Bombay, British India in 1931. Raised a Christian, he was a member of the Jesuit province of Bombay. A priest and psychotherapist, De Mello became an "internationally acclaimed spiritual guide, writer and public speaker." His first book, 'The Song of the Bird', was published in 1984. He was the director of the Dadhana Institute of Pastoral Counselling in Poona, India. A friend and follower once claimed that De Mello was all about "waking people up to the reality of their greatness, proclaiming the message of 'awareness'  - seeing the light we are to ourselves and to others, recognizing we are better than we knew." De Mello's bibliography includes 12 books, several published posthumously. He died suddenly at age 55 on June 2, 1987. He suffered a fatal heart attack. His last words, following Communion, were a prayer.

 
"Don't change: Desire to change is the enemy of love.
Don't change yourselves: Love yourselves as you are.
Don't change others: Love all others as they are.
Don't change the world: It is in God's hands and he knows.
And if you do that change will occur
Marvelously in its own way and in its own time
Yield to the current of life unencumbered by baggage."
(Anthony De Mello, June 2, 1987) 

           

            The Song of the Bird contains 124 stories from a variety of traditions, both ancient and modern. Using the art of parable, De Mello illustrates through fable and proverb. Inspiring a journey of sorts, the song is meant to awaken your heart and soul, to kindle who you are meant to be. For me it did just that. As one transcends, the anthology alerts the reader to the constant presence of God in our midst. We should not just observe, we must see. The notion of God surrounding us may change our point of view. When we notice, we can see the wonderment that surrounds us. The message can transform you, if you let it. True knowledge can be shaped by what one knows. Profound realities about our everyday concerns and spiritual matters can be approached from a new perspective if we are willing to allow our mental evaluation of reality to shift into the here and now. To discover God, one only need look.

            De Mello believed that one cannot seek God, one can only find God. Those who seek, are "like the man who travelled all over the world on the back of a buffalo, seeking the definition of 'buffalo', or the fish trying to discover the meaning of the ocean." Spiritual seekers attend conferences, go to retreats and buy book after book looking for the answers. They seldom find any. I know that I didn't. The Song of the Bird revealed to me that the answer is within each of us. It took me on my own journey and revealed to me the God I had been looking for. My unique experience with the divine turned out to be exactly what I was hoping for. Funny how it works that way.  

 "He doesn't just speak about aliveness; he exudes its essence. He wakes us up to the Divine presence in the "ordinary," which becomes extraordinary once we see and taste and feel every moment as God-in-our-midst. His perceptions of a spiritual Master aptly fit his own words: "Take hold of a sentence that he says. Shake it well till all the words drop off. What is left will set your heart on fire."

(Patricia Carlson, American author)
 
            De Mello's concept that good and evil are simply "mental evaluations imposed upon reality" met with condemnation from the Church to which he served. They accused him of "distancing from the essential contents of the Christian faith."  De Mello taught that "religions, including Christianity, are one of the major obstacles to the discovery of truth. The Church, making the word of God in Holy Scripture into an idol, has ended up banishing God from the temple." The Church was not pleased. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (a Catholic institution) gave De Mello's work "Notification." This warning against the writings of Father Anthony De Mello has done little to hinder the spread of his ideas. I suppose one could say they did little to cage the bird from the song.

 
The Elephant and the Rat

 
An elephant was enjoying a dip in a Jungle pool 

when a rat came up to insist that he get out. 

“I won’t,” said the elephant. 

“I insist you get out this minute,” said the rat.
“Why?” 

“I shall tell you that only after you are out of the pool.”
“Then I won’t get out.”
But he finally lumbered out of the pool, stood in front of the rat and said, “Now then, why did you want me to get out of the pool?”
“To check if you were wearing my swimming trunks,” said the rat.
 
An elephant will sooner fit into the trunks of a rat than God into our notions of him.
(The Song of the Bird, Anthony De Mello  1984)
 
             

Photo

https://www.bookdepository.com/Song-Bird-Anthony-de-Mello/9780385196154

 

Sources

The Song of the Bird (full copy)
Anthony De Mello 1984
http://www.arvindguptatoys.com/arvindgupta/songofbird.pdf
 

 
Anthony De Mello
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_de_Mello
 
Review
http://www.gurteen.com/gurteen/gurteen.nsf/id/anthony-de-mello
 
Vatican Notification
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19980624_demello_en.html
 
Wiki Quote
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Anthony_de_Mello
 
Gift People
http://www.gratefulness.org/giftpeople/deMello.htm
 
Awakening : Conversations with the Masters
Anthony De Mello  2003