The Fable of the Two Birds

"Like two birds of beautiful golden plumage--inseparable companions-- the individual self and the immortal Atman are perched on the branches of the self-same tree. The former tastes the sweet and bitter fruits of the tree. The latter remains motionless, calmly watching."

"The individual self, deluded by forgetfulness of its identity with the Divine Atman, grieves, bewildered by its own helplessness. When it recognizes the Lord--who alone is worthy of our worship--as its own Atman, and beholds its own glory, it becomes free from all grief."

"The fable of the two birds is intended to teach us the truth about Man's real and apparent nature. It teaches that Man suffers only because he is ignorant of his true Being. God is. He is the absolute Reality, "ever-present in the hearts of all." He is the blissful Atman which sits, calmly watching the restlessness of its companion. And the fable goes on to tell us that, at last, the two birds merge into one. The Atman is all that exists."

Two famous passages from the Mundaka Upanishad and an excerpt from an essay by Swami Prabhavananda.