We become the bird we contemplate...

George Feuerstein, a 20^th century mysticism and yoga scholar:

We become, in consciousness, the bird we contemplate; we become the tree in which the sap circulates and which stretches its ramified crown toward the invigorating sun; we become the solar disk whose vivifying energies pour over the planets of our galaxy; we become the universe in its grand immensity and pulsating fullness. We may even become one with the tranquil center in the depth of our own being, or unite with the all-comprising wholeness of the supreme Being. On whatever level such ontic identification takes place, it always presupposes the abolition of the ordinary space-time continuum and the experience of the eternal Now.[i]

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[i] Feuerstein 1996, p. 142-3. Shambhala Guide to Yoga

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"See how trees are completely themselves. Unlike humans, they have not split themselves in two. They do not live through mental images of themselves, so they do not need to be concerned with trying to protect and enhance those images. All things in nature are not only one with themselves but also one with the totality. They haven't removed themselves from the fabric of the whole by claiming a separate existence: 'me' and the rest of the universe. The contemplation of nature can fee you of that 'me,' the great troublemaker."
~Eckhart Tolle, Stillness Speaks

09.10.08 only God I saw

In the market, in the cloister--only God I saw. By Baba Kuhi of Shiraz (980? - 1050) English version by Reynold A. Nicholson In the market, in the cloister--only God I saw. In the valley and on the mountain--only God I saw. Him I have seen beside me oft in tribulation; In favour and in fortune--only God I saw. In prayer and fasting, in praise and contemplation, In the religion of the Prophet--only God I saw. Neither soul nor body, accident nor substance, Qualities nor causes--only God I saw. I oped mine eyes and by the light of His face around me In all the eye discovered--only God I saw. Like a candle I was melting in His fire: Amidst the flames outflashing--only God I saw. Myself with mine own eyes I saw most clearly, But when I looked with God's eyes--only God I saw. I passed away into nothingness, I vanished, And lo, I was the All-living--only God I saw.