Imagine
you're given a parrot. This parrot is just a parrot - it doesn't have any
knowledge, wisdom or insight. It’s bird-brained after all. It recites things
‘parrot fashion’ – without any understanding or comprehension. It’s a parrot.
However, this particular parrot is a poisoned and poisonous parrot. It’s been
specifically trained to be unhelpful to you, continuously commenting on you and
your life, in a way that constantly puts you down, criticising you.
For
example, the bus gets stuck in a traffic jam, and you arrive
at work 5 minutes late. The parrot sits there saying: "There you go again.
Late. You just can’t manage to get there on time can you. So stupid. If you’d
left the house and got the earlier bus you’d have arrived with loads of time to
spare and the boss would be happy. But you? No way. Just can’t do it.
Useless. Waste of space. Absolutely
pathetic!"
How
long would you put up with this abuse before throwing a towel over the cage, or
getting rid of the parrot?
Yet
we can often put up with the thoughts from this internal bully for far too
long. Decades. We hear that ‘parrot’, believe the ‘parrot’, and naturally get
upset. That then affects the way we live our lives – the way be behave towards
others, how we are, what we think about others, what we think about the world,
and how we think and feel about ourselves.
We
can learn to use the antidote: just notice that parrot, and cover the cage!
“There’s that parrot again. I don’t have to listen to it – it’s just a
parrot”. Then go and do something else. Put your focus of attention on
something other than that parrot. This parrot is poison though, and it won’t
give up easily, so you’ll need to keep using that antidote and be persistent in
your practice!
Eventually it will get tired of the towel, tired of you not responding. You’ll
notice it less and less. It might just give up it’s poison as your antidote
overcomes it, or perhaps fly off to wherever poisoned parrots go.
Adapted from “The Malevolent Parrot” – Kristina Ivings
Imagine
you're given a parrot. This parrot is just a parrot - it doesn't have any
knowledge, wisdom or insight. It’s bird-brained after all. It recites things
‘parrot fashion’ – without any understanding or comprehension. It’s a parrot.
ve
at work 5 minutes late. The parrot sits there saying: "There you go again.
Late. You just can’t manage to get there on time can you. So stupid. If you’d
left the house and got the earlier bus you’d have arrived with loads of time to
spare and the boss would be happy. But you? No way. Just can’t do it.
Useless. Waste of space. Absolutely
pathetic!" 
