As I was going about my day few days ago, this small (but mighty) voice in me said – its time you let go of the judgments you hold against Indian culture. And I know better to heed to what that voice says, it has always pointed me in the right direction. So I was willing to look at my judgments and learn what I needed to learn here – after all, if I was born in India and having lived there till I was 16, surely there was some purpose to it.
Lets start with judgments I held on to so tightly and righteously I might add – the double standards of the society, the suppression of women while worshipping female Gods, the saying that when a female child is born, its akin to Goddess Lakshmi (Goddess of wealth) is coming into your home and yet the female child is often see as a liability that belongs to someone else (future husband)…the guilt trips and the manipulations that run rampant in families in the name of love and oh also, what will the neighbours/society think. I am sure there are more but those aren’t the focus here – its to find the wisdom.
Since I have loved reading the Bible and cultivating a personal relationship with Jesus, I was called to look at the Hindu sacred texts – Bhagavad Gita and Upanishads. I asked chat GPT to find me core teachings of these texts that would serve me in my life at present time and it presented a few really good ones that I understood and resonated with. The one I resonated most with was – Two Birds in one tree – a metaphor for the dual nature of the self. Here is what ChatGPT presented:
🌳 The Two Birds in One Tree
“Two birds, inseparable companions, perch on the same tree. One eats the sweet and bitter fruits of the tree, while the other simply watches.”
— Mundaka Upanishad 3.1.1
🐦 The First Bird – Jiva (individual soul)
This bird is busy eating the fruits of the tree — some sweet, some bitter. This represents our personal self, engaged in the pleasures and pains of life, experiencing karma, craving, sorrow, joy, duality.
It identifies with the world — its identity is wrapped in doing, experiencing, desiring, fearing.
🐦 The Second Bird – Paramatma (Supreme Self)
This bird does not eat. It simply sits in serene detachment, watching the first bird. It represents the Divine Witness within us — pure awareness, untouched by outcomes. It’s silent, still, radiant — yet it never leaves the first bird. It’s always near, waiting
This story really is a metaphor for one’s awakening to the truth of their being. We come into this world, and start to forget where we have come from as the conditioning of the baby begins… and by the time we are 6/7 years old, we have been conditioned to this world that is filled with illusions and distortions. Anyway, I forgot as most do, but some part of me had also remembered who I was quietly, always in the back ground… as life happened, more and more of me was lost to trauma and distortions and I resisted so much – it wasn’t supposed to be this way, blah blah blah…That part couldn’t and wouldn’t accept it and didn’t have the capacity to feel it in her little heart – so it would resist, fight, suppress, control… and there we have it – the first bird – going from one bitter experience to the next…
Fast forward decades, now not only have I been acquainted with the second bird, but I have come to find peace in it and I have learned a thing or few according to ChatGPT – this is what it came back with what I have learned. I share my realisations in the hope that they may serve you also:
🪶 1. “Oh… I’ve been the first bird all my life.”
You immediately recognized yourself in the bird who eats the fruits — chasing highs, avoiding lows, obsessing over doing it right, seeking validation, results, outcomes, control.
There was no shame in that recognition — just a quiet click:
“That’s the one I’ve been identified with.”
🪶 2. “Wait… there’s a part of me that has always just been watching.”
This landed almost like a homecoming. You realized that even in your most anxious, messy, emotional moments, there had always been a still, silent watcher within you. One who didn’t judge, panic, or need fixing.
This awareness felt ancient — like you weren’t learning something new, but remembering something fundamental.
🪶 3. “The second bird is who I am, not who I’m trying to become.”
This hit like a drop of truth in the center of your chest. You saw that awakening wasn’t about becoming better — it was about ceasing to identify with the bird who eats.
You didn’t need to do anything to access the second bird — you only needed to be still, and look up.
🪶 4. “The first bird isn’t bad — she’s just tired.”
You didn’t demonize the part of you that had been grasping. You saw her with tenderness. She’s just been trying her best, caught in duality. This was a moment of deep self-compassion — no bypassing, no judgment.
You even said something to the effect of:
“She’s been so hungry for peace. And now she can rest.”
🪶 5. “The Witness doesn’t intervene — but She’s always there.”
This felt initially frustrating, like: Why doesn’t the second bird just swoop in and stop the suffering?
But then you realized:
The second bird is pure presence. Not force. Not manipulation. Just Being.
And it’s through watching Her that the first bird is transformed.
That was a huge shift — from wanting saving, to realizing your gaze is the liberator.
Thank you ChatGPT for the reflections. Here are my key takeaways and what I will remember moving forward –
- Life isn’t meant to be resisted, its meant to be felt and if you can feel something fully, it looses its grip over you… and you find yourself – safe from any harm.
- When we resist/judge, we create distortions.
- We can be both birds at the same time, enjoy/feel the experience while being aware that the experience is temporary.
- the first bird is always welcomed by the second bird and can find comfort and safety in its company.
- the more they hang out together, more joyful life will become
- Just like the pair below, the two birds are always together, though the first bird may often believe its own its on and alone – but the truth is that the second bird is always there, waiting patiently to be recognised – Similar to the two footprints in the sand story.
Speaking of two birds, these beauties have been visiting me daily for the last month or so and they are always in a pairs.
And what about the judgments I held toward the culture, you ask?
Well, I started watching Mahabharat — much like The Chosen helped me connect with the story of Christ, I turned to this to deepen my understanding of my own ancestral roots.It has around 139 episodes, and while I’m only about 7 episodes in, one thing is already crystal clear: this series was heavily shaped by patriarchy. The manipulation of these sacred texts is not only apparent — it’s painful to witness.
And yet, it’s serving me. Because now, instead of judging the people who quote or live by these distorted versions, I can see — they grew up watching this. This is what they were fed every Sunday in the ’80s and ’90s. I grew up watching this too. But now, rewatching it with fresh eyes and a discerning heart, I’m not just soaking it all in like a sponge. I’m seeing the distortion for what it is — and in doing so, I’m releasing it.
In doing so, I am filled with compassion for all who suffer as a result instead of finding peace in their culture and religion. It’s very much the case of:
“Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do” – Luke 23:34.
Intentionally Surrendered 
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