Two Birds in a Tree

2Being Connected

He who knows both doing and knowing,Through doing overcomes death,And through knowing attains immortality.…He who knows both the explicit and the tacit,Through the explicit overcomes death,And through the tacit attains immortality.ISHA UPANISHAD

According to the Upanishads, the lower bird within us is concerned with the world of sense gratification—of pleasure and pain, happiness and sorrow. The behavior, capabilities, and motivations of this bird are relatively easy for us to track and understand because they are identified with our material body. The unity of matter, mind, life-breath, and intelligence comprises the material nature of the living person. This material self is something we are intimately familiar with; it gives ...