IT’S ALL MONKEY BUSINESS

At a local Buddhist temple, the theme of a monk’s talk was ‘non attachment’. He illustrated the flaws to our attachment to cherished ideas with a story of how Thai farmers used to catch rogue monkeys.

The farmer would cut a slot in the coconut big enough for the monkey to slip his hand inside. He would then put a firm but juicy mixture of banana, coconut pulp and leaves inside the coconut and tether it to a stake. The monkey would smell the delicious cocktail, find the coconut on the ground, slip his hand inside and grab the mixture. But there was a catch; the monkey’s clasped fist wouldn’t come back out through the slot!

The monkey had a choice – let go of the goodies, slip his hand out and be free or hang on and get caught. It seems amazing that the monkey would give up his freedom for the thought of instant gratification, but he did just that.

I wondered, which fearful ideas do we cling to and that we refuse to release in order to be free to make those elusive cold calls?