Compassion in Action – The Parrot Man Part I
Entering the Parrot Path
Kunzang Palyul Choling is also home of the Garuda Aviary, a sanctuary for abused and abandoned parrots. This is a very special place with a caretaker that truly lives his Buddhist vows to care for sentient beings. This is the first in a series of posts about Rigzin, known fondly as the Parrot Man.
Christopher “Rigdzin” Zeoli was first introduced to the wonderful and sometimes wacky world of exotic birds when his mother, Jetsunma Ahkon Lhamo, founder of a Tibetan Buddhist Temple, got a Moluccan Cockatoo parrot named Tashi. Christopher was about 20 years old at the time and did not realize that he had just entered the Parrot Path.
Poor Tashi Bird had a problem ─ a big problem ─ she pulled out her own feathers; something parrots do when under stress. Tashi didn’t pull out just any feathers, either. She was pulling out what is called “blood feathers.” Yikes! Blood feathers are shafts full of blood, and when they are broken, they can bleed profusely and endanger the bird. In order to help Tashi, Jetsunma would restrain the bird while Christopher, using a pair of needle nose pliers, would pull the rest of the feather shaft out so that the bleeding would stop.
Christopher recalls that stressful initiation into the Parrot Path: “Now Moluccan Cockatoos are not small, they can exert enough power with their beaks to really mangle your finger. Tashi was screaming and screaming and shrieking at the top of her lungs. As I was helping Jetsunma with this every few days, I was thinking, “Boy, parrots are not for me. I’m just not into this whole parrot thing.” And who could blame him?
To find out more about parrots or to make a donation, please visit the Garuda Aviary website.
The story continues tomorrow….
Tags: abused animals, Bodhicitta, Buddhism and Animals, Garuda Aviary, Jetsunma Akhon Lhamo, KPC, Kunzang Palyul Choling, parrot man, parrot sanctuary, parrots, Tibetan Buddhist Temple
