Metamorphosis

I seem to have planted unknowingly a couple of bushes in my backyard which bloom profusely and humming birds and bees are constant visitors for their nectar. I do see some butterflies too in my backyard including the occasional monarchs in their migration which will now and then land on these blooms and go on with their journey after a fill. 

A few years ago when I saw a passion flower vine (passiflora vitifolia) at the local nursery, described as 'butterfly attractor', I had to get it and plant it in my backyard. For about four years it grew steadily putting out foliage but it did not bloom, testing my patience. Needless to say no butterflies approached it. And then finally one summer day, a brilliant scarlet flower about 4 inches across appeared. 
Almost simultaneously a pair of orange winged butterflies appeared out of nowhere. How did they know? 

After a few days I noticed a couple of caterpillars feeding on the leaves of the plant but that seemed to be it. I think that year we got maybe a two or three flowers and just a little activity from the butterflies. We probably missed the rest of the life cycle of the butterfly. The following year we had more flowers and more activity from the passion butterflies. These live just for a few weeks yet the descendants of the previous visitors somehow managed to find their way into our yard a year later! 

The orange butterflies (which I found out were known as Passion Butterflies) were new to the yard and they came specifically for the passion flower vine. While I was expecting that the passion flowers attracted the creatures for the nectar, I had no idea that the passiflora vine is the host plant for the Gulf Fritillary aka passion butterflies which means that they lay their eggs on the vine. Once the eggs hatch, the black and orange caterpillars that emerge feed exclusively on the leaves of the vine. So soon after the appearance of the butterflies a few caterpillars emerged and started nipping away at the leaves. They fed voraciously and decimated the plant. A few days later I started noticing that they were hanging upside down from the pergola and slowly entered the pupae. 

The pupae were unremarkable and easy to mistake as dried leaves. They looked small and fragile but they hung on even in strong winds. We became fascinated by them wondering when the mature butterflies would emerge. For days we waited but we invariably missed the actual moment when they emerged. It was a long wait but we finally managed to see one that was just half way out. This was very exciting indeed.

As you might know (or not - I did not and  had to look it up) when it emerges from the chrysalis the butterfly pumps fluid into its folded wings to expand and dry them before it can fly. It is this process that we managed to witness. The butterfly finally opened its wings and took its maiden flight. The colours were simply magnificent. What had entered the chrysalis was a somewhat scary looking hairy caterpillar. What emerged was an elegant beauty. What a transformation!

I had followed the whole process with thrill - the caterpillar consuming the leaves and rapidly growing, then entering a phase of quiet meditation as it were and finally emerging transformed into a beautiful and free being. Throughout this period, the butterflies would appear mid-mornings when the sun was just beginning to feel warm and stay till mid-afternoon. Unlike the other butterflies which briefly paused to feed on the flowers, these sometimes as many as four would fly around the bush constantly providing a visual delight. I wondered where they rested for the night as butterflies do not seem to build nests. Apparently they just find a safe place in a tree, bush or crevice and simply doze. They are solar powered and need the warmth of the sun to move around so they become inactive at night. Life does not get simpler than that!

So for a few days, the butterflies danced around in the yard hovering over the now leafless vine or settling for a drink on one of the other bushes. Then one day they just left I know not where to. Since the vine did not survive the onslaught of the caterpillars, I do not expect they will return this year. I may also have contributed to the demise of the plant by neglecting to check the water line. Sigh. 

As I ponder the fascinating life of the butterfly, I think we too have the ability to enter the cocoon of withdrawal and contemplation and the potential to transform ourselves. Our scriptures actually prescribe four stages of life - student, householder, retiree, and renunciate*. That is, acquire life skills, lead a productive life earning wealth and contributing to society, then withdraw from active life, and finally renounce everything to pursue enlightenment. The Buddha is probably the most well-known example of one who entered a prolonged state of meditation and then emerged enlightened but there are plenty of stories of kings and commoners who followed this. Judging by the lifestyle around us it would seem that most of us are still in the stage of consumption but each one of us has the power to take the leap to the next stages. Something for us to munch on?

(*bramhacharya, grihastha, vanaprastha, and sannyasa are the four stages of life)