Catching monkeys

A method used to catch monkeys is: Bury a round earthen pot with a small mouth in the ground. Put pieces of tasty food inside the pot. When the monkeys smell them, they come close and put their hands inside and grab the food, and then they cannot pull them out. The monkey doesn’t know he can be free. He doesn’t want to release the piece of food, and yet he wants to be free, so he cries, and can’t run away. At that moment the man appears from his hiding place and catches the monkey. (I believe I originally read this story in a book called Good Company)

• Do you ever feel trapped like the monkey?

• Do you ever wish you could be free/freer in some way?

• Do you ever feel stuck in habitual behaviours that are not helpful to you?

• Could you be acting like the monkeys?

• Could you be clinging onto thoughts/ideas about who you are and how you are that may be trapping you?

• Could you be free?

• Are you in fact already free?