During the animal liberation,
he seemed particularly angry
in the box of many crabs.
Using a pair of tongs to hold him
while snipping off the strings on his claws,
I managed to free one of them.
With the free claw,
he waved it around dangerously,
making it hard to free the other claw.
I put him back into the box,
to let him cool down,
as I picked up another to free.
In the middle of the box,
he continued to wave his claw furiously,
as if saying ‘Me! Me! Me!’
I tried to pick him up again,
but he clung to another crab.
Does he want freedom or think he is going to die?
I put him back into the box again,
to let him cool down,
as I picked up another to free.
When I picked him up later.
He clung to the tongs with the claw,
even after the other claw is freed.
Throughout,
I chanted to sooth him…
‘Amituofo, Amituofo, Amituofo’
He didn’t let go,
though he could let himself go
and go to freedom.
Not wanting to hurt him,
I didn’t shake him off,
but brought him to the water.
Just when he had barely touched the water,
to my shock and probably his,
his clinging claw came off.
But it came off…
not the tongs
but his body!
He had clung so tightly
that his body weight tore it off.
What a lesson on the horror of attachment!
Because he didn’t free himself from attachment,
it didn’t free him from suffering,
and he hurt himself.
Attachment to senseless fear
is senseless, to be feared!
Let go what you should before it is too late!
Lending one’s ears to their woes is all that they want from the listener:
A says, ‘If it is to be, it is up to me’.
B says, ‘Mistakes are opportunities to learn’.
C reflects, ‘If only these people have the Dharma in them to let go’ realising that they are not going to change at all.
Sometimes,
our own Fear leads us to do more harm to ourselves.
No wonder, it is said that,
it is not because we saw something,
that makes us so fearful;
it is because we are so fearful,
that we think we saw something.
Though it is often/always easier said than done,
but having a constant/timely reminder,
is still better than none.
Right? 😎
Another query would be:
when the time comes,
how do we know which to let go of?
The “tongs” come in so many different forms… :-S
You are right. Habituation formed from our own deep seated fears can make us a victim of our own destruction when we cannot perceive the “tongs” present in many different forms.
How do we know what to let go of? How about just letting go of greed, hate and delusion? The problem is when we are too deluded to know how we are deluded!
The solution? Just become wiser and wiser, as the light of wisdom will dispel the darkness of delusion.
The primordial tongs are the tongs of delusion that we cling to, that we allow to cling to us! Amituofo
:oo: