Ever feel stuck? Find yourself in a state of distress, grasping onto a person, a place or an experience?
Are you holding on tight - fearing that if you let go all will dissolve - including your notion of who you are? You are not unique! In Buddhism this is known as the 'monkey trap'.
Across Asia, monkey traps are used as a rudimentary means of capturing monkeys. A simple mechanism, monkey traps consist of food placed in a small bamboo cage with bars narrow enough to allow a monkey to just reach his hands in to grasp onto the food. At this point, the monkey perceives himself trapped (sound a familiar experience!?) - 'clinging' onto something he really desires - food. Yet, in reality, the monkey is only trapped by his own craving. If the monkey were able to find a way to exercise choice and ‘let go’ of the food, he would in effect, free himself. Think back to all those times in the past (or perhaps the now!) that you've had the same experience...a suffocation and panic - a sense of ‘clinging’ so tight to someone or something that you feel trapped and unable to act. It sucks!
'Clinging' - a path to peace
Whilst not an easy thing to accomplish, making the time to pause and reflect as a means to free ourselves from 'clinging' is critical to health and well-being - a 'path to peace'. Our 'path to peace' begins only when we are able to make conscious our unconscious behaviour and make a conscious choice to ‘let go’. Means by which to learn to 'let go' may include meditation, engaging with things outside of ourselves (nature, music, exercise, friends) and through acknowledging and accepting that everything changes within the space of a second, an hour or a lifetime. In connecting with ourselves and our place in the wider scheme of life, we begin to see that It is not our attachment to people, places and past experiences that are the cause of our suffering but rather our belief that unless we magically manifest the power to control or hold onto these things we will not achieve happiness.
In acknowledging ‘clinging’ behaviours we can begin to use them as the base from which to learn to see, accept and grieve the transience of our life. Our process of change commences when we can begin to recognise that our attachment to thoughts, feelings and experiences are being continually reinforced through our monkey mind chatter. Monkey mind chatter culminates in a never-ceasing, self perpetuating, cycle of suffering. Learning to observe the monkey mind chatter with acceptance and awareness reduces our suffering and increases the space for peaceful engagement in people, places and experiences.
So go on - Notice when you've got your hand in the monkey trap and loosen your grip!