~Rock~

The teaching the people least understand and which conflict most with their opinions is the teaching of letting go or working with empty mind...

when we conceive this in worldly terms, we get confused and think that we can do watever we want..

it juz like;

we are carrying a heavy rock


after a while we begin feel the weight,
but we dont know how to let go
so, we endure this heavy burden all the time.

If someone tells us to throw it away,
we say, " if i throw away, i won't have anything left!"
If told of all the benefits gained by throwing it away,
we would not believe it,
but would keep on thinking,
"if i throw my rock away, i will have nothing"

So, we keep on carrying this heavy rock until it becomes so unbearably heavy,
and we become so weak
and exhausted,
that we just have to drop it
.
.
.


Having dropped it,
we suddenly experience the benefits of letting go...
we feel better and lighter
we know ourselves how much the burden carrying a rock can be...

before we let go of the rock,
we couldn't possibly know the benefits of letting go...
Later on
we may start carrying burdens again,
but now we know what the results will be,
so we can let go more easily...

This understanding- it is useless carrying burdens around and letting go brings ease and lightness - is an example of knowing ourselves...

OUR PRIDE
OUR SENSE OF SELF THAT WE DEPEND ON..
is the same as the HEAVY ROCK...

like the rock~
if we think about letting go of self,
we are afraid that without it there will nothing left..

but,
when it is time we can finally let it go,
we realize for ourselves the ease and comfort of not clinging....

~Ajahn Chah~