What Happens When We Do Not Let Go?What happens when we do not let go? Asians have a very clever trap for catching monkeys. People hollow out a coconut, put something sweet in it, and make a hole at the bottom of the coconut just big enough for the monkey to slide its open hand in, but not big enough for the monkey to withdraw its hand as a fist. They attach the coconut to the tree, and the monkey comes along and gets trapped. What keeps the monkey trapped? Only the force of desire, of clinging, of attachment. All the monkey has to do is let go of the sweet, open its hand, slip it out, and be free. But only a very rare monkey will do that.
~ Joseph Goldstein, Transforming the Mind, Healing the World; from Everyday Mind, edited by Jean Smith, a Tricycle book.
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Nice parable, Bill. I must remember to relax the fist! Blessings, PaL
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