The Parable of the Robin
As I am writing this blog, I can hear my little robin friend downstairs outside my dining room window. He spends all day there. He sits in the branch of my quaking aspen tree next to the deck and peers at the small narrow window two feet away from him. Every 4-10 seconds he takes off from his branch and attacks the window only to be blocked and retreats deftly back onto the branch to do it all over again. What is he doing?
I chased him off once, stood at eye level to the branch, and looked at what he had been so fixed at. I saw my reflection as if I were looking into a mirror. I could barely see the furniture past my reflection in my dining room. I mostly saw myself. My little robin is seeing himself in the window but doesn’t recognize this fact. Instead he thinks he is seeing a competitor, another one of his kind trying to stake his claim on the tree and deck, determined and unflagging. From morning until dusk you can find this robin at my house spending all his time and energy trying to intimidate, fight, and upset or other wise chase off his imaginary rival. He has no thought for his own life now. He has been chased off by the family only to return. He is in proximity to our cat and coexists with it now. Even our cat considers it normal. My daughter in secret went and found our dusty “BB” gun, opened up the backdoor of the garage, gingerly stepped up onto the deck and had a great shot at Mr. Robin. The “BB” hit the bird squarely producing a small “poof” of feathers. He flew off and we all sighed relief. The next morning bright and early he returned to his post. In resignation, I decided that he needed food and stuck a slice of multigrain bread next to his perch. It remains untouched even now as he continues to slam into my dining room window.
Brahmacharya is the fourth yama or restraint in yoga philosophy. It is considered the least understood of the ethical precepts. There are several parts to Brahmacharya, but the underlying message is moderation in all things. Brahmacharya-pratisthayam virya-labhah (11:38) translates to “Vitality appears in one who is firmly set in moderation.” It is putting a stop to the wasting of one’s energies in indulgences and practices that satisfy the senses and body but does not address the moral strength and divinity within us. Just like my misguided robin that foolishly spends his time challenging and attacking himself, so can we find ourselves when we spend our energy in things that do not satisfy or bring balance to our lives.
Brahmacharya calls on us to take inventory of our lives, and assess what is pulling us out of balance. As we consider those areas of our lives and take personal responsibility we find that we will be granted greater freedom when we work vigilantly on addictions and cravings sending them to eventually retreat into the background.
