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May 2009 
Good Day,
There once was a monkey living in the jungle. The little monkey ate fruit when hungry, and rested when tired. One day the monkey came upon a house, where he saw a bowl of the most beautiful apples. He quietly took one in each hand and ran back into the forest.
He sniffed the apples and smelled nothing. He tried to eat them, but they hurt his teeth. These apples were made of wood, but they were beautiful, and he held onto them even tighter. His admiration for the shiny new apples grew as wandered the jungle. They glistened red in the sun, and seemed beautiful in his eyes.
He was so enamored with the beautiful wooden apples, that he failed to notice his hunger. He smelled and saw the fruit in the trees, but he felt the apples in his hands. The little monkey couldn’t bear to set them down to gather the fruit. In fact, he couldn’t relax, either, for he feared the other monkeys would take his apples. Proud, but hungry and a little less happy the monkey continued to wander the forest.
The apples became heavier, and the poor little monkey thought about leaving them behind. He was tired, hungry, and he couldn’t climb trees or collect fruit with his hands full. What if he just let go? Letting go of such valuable things seemed crazy, but what else could he do? He was so tired and hungry. Seeing the next fruit tree, and smelling it’s fruit was enough. He let go of the wooden apples and reached up for his nourishment. The monkey was fulfilled.
Like the little monkey, we sometimes carry things that seem too valuable to let go. We carry an image of being important, intelligent, beautiful or any number of other things. We carry them like shiny wooden apples. In reality, our constant efforts to hold onto those apples leave us tired, and hungry for a better life. Still, letting go seems crazy.
Even our worries become sacred apples. This is a hard thing to see. We identify so strongly with our identify and beliefs, that we are often mislead by them. We become tired of defending them. How else could the story end? Our story ends with the little monkey waking up to his suffering, but so many of us refuse to open our hearts and eyes to the truth of our own predicaments. By realizing we simply need to let go, our hands are open to receive.
Have a beautiful day and consider this - It is amazing how complete is the delusion that beauty is goodness.
Peace and Love, Jim
Access: Public
Dear Jim
How true, and it seems that everytime we put down an apple or two, another one seems to appear - which needs to be put down again. How deep, how long before there are no more apples??
Tashi delek
Katerina
Hello Katerina,
Well put. But how less beautiful the world would be without a few shiny wooden apples. The trick is to recognize them for what they are and not become so enamored that we lose our balance. Seeing the world this way allows us to recognize the apples for what they are - reminders that we have a choice.
We must use every opportunity to understand our choices, therefore the apples become more like gifts that give us an opportunity to practice our skills.
Inner Peace and Love, Jim
Namaste
Exactly, last night I just read in Eckhart Tolles book ''Stilness speaks'' and he was talking about the same thing, he said we should be gratefull, for all the nice people but also for the not so nice ones (mildly said) as they are the ones that bring us to our limits and make us grow. They are like the shiny apples, confronting us to our own inner ''demons'' - which very often we would rather not see.
Have a nice day
Katerina
Very well put and beautifully understood my friend. Thank you.
Tashi delek
Jim