The bird is often used as a metaphor for spiritual liberation. Birds are not earthbound like humans and Most animals. They can land on the earth, but their true home is the sky. With spiritual liberation we realize that this our true home is not of the earth but of a higher dimension that cannot be seen through earthly eyes.
The wings of the bird are often used as a metaphor for the Dharma practice. Just as the movement of the wings give rise to the bird’s ability to lie so the practice of the Dharma gives rise to the human’s ability to become free. One wing labeled as awareness. The other wing is labeled as the wing of equanimity. Let’s now take a look at each of these wings.
“Awareness” refers to a certain type of awareness that is engaged in Dharma practice. This particular practice called bare attention. Bare attention means that we pay close attention to each experience in the body, in the mind, and in the senses. We experience sensations in the body, thoughts, emotions and desires in the mind, seeing, hearing, etc. through the sense organs. Bare attention means being aware of each of the experiences clearly and precisely, and without adding any interpretation, judgment, or thought to the primary awareness. We seek to experience things as they are, not his we interpret them through our minds.
A second element on the wing of awareness is practicing bare attention as continuously as possible. The Dharma practice is not limited to formal meditation practice, such as our daily sitting on the cushion or attendance at a retreat. rather it is intended to be used all-day long, moment by moment, in every life circumstance. The wings of the Dharma must be engaged as continuously as possible.
Equanimity is often described as acceptance, allowance or nonresistance. This means that every experience, large or small, pleasant or unpleasant, is to be accepted equally. If the experience is very pleasant, we acceptance and allow it, but we do not grasp it, grasp and hold onto in order to recruit hold onto it or try to re-create it.
If an experience is unpleasant, then we allow it just as if it were a pleasant experience. We do not push away or resist any experience either. Resistance can take many subtle forms such as sleepiness, denial, body tension, daydreaming, compulsive behavior and many other forms that can show up in our practice.
In this description of the Dharma practice, we are describing the ideal – or intention – for practice. We know for sure that we will not live up to this intention or ideal hundred percent of the time. When we do fall short of this ideal it’s very important to do nothing but come back to the primary intention, as described. We do not judge or evaluate ourselves in any way. Patience and self-kindness are extremely important in this practice.
The fruit of awareness is wisdom. The fruit of equanimity is compassion. When these two work together like the white wings of a bird then we are moving in the direction of liberation.
Like the wings of a bird, the wings of equanimity and awareness must work together in concert for the bird to fly. If we are overtly inclined toward awareness to the exclusion the wing of equanimity, then we may still reap wisdom, but it may be a dry – almost intellectual – understanding that his little heart embedded in it.
If we engage in equanimity with little awareness, then we may feel good and be relaxed but there is little wisdom gained. We may start to meditate and then drift off into some type of dreamland that may feel very good but there may not be not much awareness in this is awareness in this nor is there much wisdom gained.
Dharma practice is more of an art than a science. We may have a particular formula, but it may be applied differently to each individual. Having a teacher available can be very important. The role of the teacher is to observe and advise us according to what she hears and sees.
There may be times when external factors are affecting the meditation process. Some examples are: physical pain or illness, emotional agitation, noisy or invasive environment or sleepiness. Just as the bird may be cruising along on an updraft, flying with very little effort and then suddenly hits a headwind. The bird may have to work much harder just to maintain minimal progress.
As we meditate over a period of time, unconscious conflicts, stresses, unresolved issues may come to the surface of our awareness. Just prior to their emergence there may be some unconscious resistance against this. We may find that it is very difficult to maintain mindfulness when there are no identifiable closes. It’s important to not judge or evaluate but to simply keep doing the practice on the wings of awareness and equanimity.