The Bulbul in the above series of photos adopted different body postures while perched. From a crouched position, it positioned itself for its next flight path during those few minutes. The incremental alertness and awareness of the environment is an inner response, which was reflected in the body movements of the Bulbul.
In the Book, Human being and Becoming, Living the adventure of life and love, Dr David G. Benner devotes a chapter on 'Love at the Heart of Life'. In that chapter under the subtitle, 'Love and Transformation' (p104), he wrote: " We each awaken in ways that are unique to us, and transformation starts with awakening. Both great love and great suffering offer enormous potential for transformation-quite possibly, the greatest potential of any experiences available to us. But as potentially powerful as the experiences are, most of us sleep through them and avoid invitations that they offer to awaken us from our self-preoccupation so that we can leave our minds and come to our senses".
I was fascinated to review about fifty photos of the bird above during its seven minutes of perch to notice this 'awakening' presence to the environment. It was a bird call of another Bulbul at a distance which made the Bulbul appear becoming flight ready from its 'slumbering posture' in the first photo! It was the love instinct which awakened this Bulbul, while hearing the bird call.
It was a time to have an internal conversation with myself! What is the inner instinct that draws me to listen to others! Does what I hear in a conversation awaken me to feel the experience that I am listening to me ?
I remember a 12 year old girl telling me on phone a few days ago, after her surgery, how she still suffered from pain even after one week of the surgery! Her voice choked and her mother had to step in to continue the conversation! But the girl returned to the phone to close the conversation saying, 'I feel better than before, because my mother is always with me'! Her mother is her companion in her pain!
The Phrase Dr Benner used, 'to leave our minds and come to our senses' was well demonstrated in the engagement between the mother and her daughter at a critical time. A mother's wakeful state arising from her awareness of pain of her daughter!
A father who called from overseas yesterday talked about his six years old son, whom he wants to see using his interest in drawing and story telling! He too was awakened to sense the interest of his son and pursue it to let it evolve into fruitful expressions.
A mother who homeschools her two children wrote about the 'aliveness the children brings to her life by their enthusiastic learning of history', which did not interest her when she was learning history at school. For that mother, her children bring an awakening of love that feeds into her soul!
I found these conversations creating within me a longing to move beyond the twilight of living to more fuller experiences of awakening and awareness !
It was the bird call from a distance that awakened a Bulbul and made it fly away searching for the caller!
Human awakening is a journey towards human becoming!
M.C. Mathew (text and photo)
