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Page Update:
Saturday, February 28th, 2004
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Swans
Click for larger view
David Berry, 2004
Acrylic on canvas, 108" x 72"
Swans pair for life. There is no logic, no vows, no physical bindings and no ultimate realization that joins a pair. As with swans, it is a natural instinct that allows us to become so close to another that they are no less of an extension of who we are than one of our own limbs. The loss of a loved one is sometimes described as having one’s heart ripped out, and in a very real sense it is not far from the truth. The recovery from such a loss has many parallels to the recovery from destructive injury. Life is forever changed, the most basic acts of daily living must be modified simply to survive, and an unrecoverable innocence is lost.
Through the burdened ego those we love can be no more than objects of affection. Even the love between two swans or a mother for a child can sometimes be akin to the affinity we have for a possession. It is only when we realize the autonomy of what we love that we can truly love. True love involves a voluntary amputation and abandonment of some part of the false ego. True love unwinds sanskaras and washes away karma with the effectiveness of a power tool.
In the Bible and other religious text a sacrifice to God never involves a forfeiting of what is easy, it is always the giving freely of what is most valuable. The essence of Christianity is that God paid the ultimate sacrifice, his only child, for our salvation. The price of the gift is valued by the sacrifice of passion or ego fulfillment. It is literally a sacrifice of self in the spiritual body if not the physical one. When we give the gift of true love, it is specifically a gift of sacrifice; transference of what is important and cherished by the lover to that which is most meaningful to the beloved. Most critical, the sacrifice is not difficult; it is joyous and enthusiastic given.
The abandonment of individual ego requires that we love others as we love ourselves. We must first love ourselves as we love God and as God loves us. In this there can be humility, but there can be no modesty, for we must love ourselves absolutely. This is what is hardest of all. We must abandon our embrace of individuality and relinquish all that we find at fault with who we are. The greatest surrender of all is the surrender of personal guilt, sin, regret, uncertainty and loathing. It is not that we should feel deserving or undeserving of God’s love, but we should understand that it is inevitable, constant and a natural conclusion to total surrender. It is as unavoidable as the grace that fills us when we notice glimpses of God.
In a mutual relationship both members are the lover and the beloved. The two swans are transformed from individuals into a couple through mutual love and devotion. They become something that is greater than what they could be individually. In the same way we become more than ourselves when we love God. And, necessarily, God becomes more than the shadow state of God when we are there for God to love
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