OPEN YOUR HANDS
Do you have a stubborn grip or an open hand?
There is an ancient story from China that tells of the way traps were set for monkeys.
” A coconut was hollowed out through an opening that was cut to the size of a monkey’s open hand. Rice was then placed in the carved-out fruit which was left in the path of the monkeys. Sooner or later, a hungry monkey would smell the rice and reach his hand in. But once fisting the rice, its hand could no longer fit back out through the opening. The monkeys that were caught were were those who would not let go of the rice.
As long as the monkey maintained its grip on the rice, it was a prisoner of its own making. The trap worked because the monkey’s hunger was the master of its reach.”
FROM: BOOK OF AWAKENING Having the Life You Want by Being Present to the Life you Have by Mark Nep0
REFLECTION:
- What is your rice? Is there something you are gripping and fisting that you need to let go of? What is it?
- What is preventing you from letting go?
- What step can you take to open your hand (and heart)?
