Let go of the rice

Reading from Tuesday, July 16, 2013 yoga class

The following is from "The book of awakening" by Mark Nepo

"So much more can happen with our hands open.  In fact, closing and stubbornly maintaining our grip is often what keeps us stuck, though we want to blame everything and everyone else, especially what we're holding on to.

There is an ancient story from China that makes all this very clear.  It stems from 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 its hand in.  But once fisting the rice, its hand could no longer fit back out through the opening.  The monkeys that were caught 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.  The lesson for us is profound.  We need to always ask ourselves, what is OUR rice and what is keeping us from opening our grip and letting it go?

The truth is that food is everywhere.  Though the stubborn monkey believes in its moment of hunger that there is no other food, it only has to let go for its life to unfold...our journey is no different...we only have to let go of what we want so badly and our life will unfold.  For love is everywhere."


Letting go...it is hard...no matter what... small things, big things, old things, yet to be things.  So... what is your rice and what are you holding on to that needs to be let go?