How To Catch A Monkey

A popular parable talks about how in ancient times people used to catch monkeys. The trick was not to catch the monkeys by chasing them but by allowing the monkeys to catch themselves. What they did was to cut a small hole in a coconut, just large enough for a monkey to put its hand in. Next they would tie the coconut to a tree and fill it with nuts and sweet treats.

The monkey would smell the treat, squeeze its hands into the coconut and grab the treat. Unfortunately the hole was not large enough for the monkey to pull out with his fist clenched. Of course the monkey could easily release itself from the trap by letting go of the treat and pulling its hand out but it simply cannot bring itself to do so.

We may smile at the foolishness of the monkey and clearly see how its inability to let go leads to its downfall. But does this not apply to us too?

We hold on to things and ideas for too long and many times we are trapped, simply unable to let go. The universe is deep, loving, and joyful. Every day the universe invites us to its joyful dance but we find ourselves stuck in our very quaint notions of reality. While the joyful dance of deeper reality continues we miss the opportunity to participate by remaining in the traps of our own making.