Today I am sharing a message which I received from "Glimpse of the Day".
To contemplate impermanence on its own is not enough: You have to work with it in your life. Let’s try an experiment. Pick up a coin. Imagine that it represents the object at which you are grasping. Hold it tightly clutched in your fist and extend your arm, with the palm of your hand facing the ground. Now if you let go or relax your grip, you will lose what you are clinging to. That’s why you hold on.
But there’s another possibility: You can let go and yet keep hold of it. With your arm still outstretched, turn your hand over so that it faces the sky. Release your hand and the coin still rests on your open palm. You let go. And the coin is still yours, even with all this space around it.
So there is a way in which we can accept impermanence and still relish life, at one and the same time, without grasping.
So what is in your mind after reading this?
What if we change the coin to dollar notes and leave them on the palm?
Would the notes stay on the palm?
Would the wind blow them away?
Would someone snatch them away?
I guess I haven't got the point.
I know it is something to ponder about.
Perhaps you could enlighten me.
This is a baby sparrow which I did not grasp at but it rested on my palm.
It was the bird that was grasping, not me.
Is this what it means by letting go and yet holding on?
A baby sparrow has a tendency to grasp.
A baby sparrow has a tendency to grasp.
Nothing is permanent. Time sees to that. As for the coin, I too was perplexed to the point.
ReplyDeleteAle ładne maleństwo. Pięknie wygląda taki maluszek!
ReplyDeleteI think we tend to hold on to things in life, not knowing when to let go. The little bird clung as long as it needed to, but when it was ready, it flew away. In that little bird lies the wisdome that we humans seek. The burdens that we carry with us weigh us down and some times we just need to let things fly way.
ReplyDeleteTrue wisdom comes to each of us when we realize how little we understand about life, ourselves, and the world around us.....Socrates
ReplyDeleteWhat a treat to have the little bird stay with you for so long. I guess that's what the quote means to me. If you hold on to something too tight you'll run the risk of losing it much sooner than if you hadn't. Life itself is impermenant and I guess that's why we should try to make the most of each moment and not cling too tightly to the past or the future.
ReplyDeletewhat a wonderful way to start Monday pondering life and its impermanence...I love the provoking thoughts given so far..we tend to want to hold on to things whether they are emotions, people etc...depending on the situation we need to change our perspective or our actions in order to let go and still know it will all trun out OK...to let life go in the manner it is meant to flow...very difficult for us to do as humans..the sparrow though knows it only needs to grasp for a little while and then it too grows and changes its actions and moves on...thx for getting my philosophical juices flowing today!!
ReplyDeleteAle śliczny maluszek :)
ReplyDeletePozdrawiam.
What a magical experience to hold a bird in your palm. He looks very happy.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful! and the photos are gorgeous too.
ReplyDeleteSo many things in this world are ephemeral.
ReplyDeleteI love the baby sparrow photos!
I prefer your bird-in-the-hand analogy to the coin experiment. I think to stop grasping, you need to find happiness in yourself first, then share it with other people.
ReplyDeleteIn deciding when to grasp and when to let go, it is helpful to be guided by the law of gravity:).
ReplyDeleteThat little sparrow is simply adorable, how lucky you have to get to know this lovely bird from so close. Thank you for the profound thoughts.
I find that if I hold on to something, I lose creativity and flow because I am so consumed with holding on to it. My focus is consumed with that one thing instead of being with the flow...and so I am unable to experience all the other wonderful things life has to offer. I love the quote, "If you love something, set it free; if it comes backs it's yours, if it doesn't, it never was." by Richard Bach. I think that is very true.
ReplyDeleteHmmm... quite a profound thought to grasp.
ReplyDeleteI also had the opportunity to take care of a baby sparrow some decades ago. I kept it in a cage to protect it from rodents. Eventually it grew feathers and learned to fly on its own. Finally I fed it outdoors and afterwards it flew away but came back to me again. It was like that for several days until one day it flew away never to be seen again. I was sad yet happy at the same time.
Maybe it means one can appreciate the value of something without holding on to it too tight.
Life is full of story, be it happy or sad.
ReplyDeleteAnd how positive we are in facing it.
What sweet images of the sparrow One. I think we are in relation with the things close to us...we don't need to hold on with white knuckles. When we release, we are more pleasant and these things in relation with us choose to stay.
ReplyDeleteIt depends on how you see the thing. To me, don't think too much- go gardening :D
ReplyDeleteMilka is rightfully right on! This is something to think when I'm doing my gardening. Grasping is always temporary and borrowed, or you won't be grasping.
ReplyDeleteuhuh that was profound, induced by deep contemplation/meditation perhaps! But i like that bird, did it just rest on you from the wild? If so, that is more profound! BTW, my 7yr old nephew had a pair of 'bato-bato' or zebra dove in the past, he bought it. One day one of them got out, so after some contemplation and crying, he released the other to be with its mate waiting on the tree nearby. Days after that the pair returns daily on the ground near our house, and my mother throw feeds to them. After maybe 2 months like that they did not return on the ground, but we can hear their tweets on top of the tall trees. We dont know if they are them or others from the wild. We dont know also if we're happy for them or not, but we just content ourselves that maybe they eventually learned to feed themselves. From their attachment to us they are now free, actualizing themselves!!!
ReplyDeletehey Onenezz, I have invited you to joinin the Earthh Day Reading project, if you haven't already been invited.
ReplyDeletehttp://thesagebutterfly.blogspot.com/2011/04/earth-day-reading-project-blog-meme.html
deadline 23rd April.
on the contrary, at times letting go is the cop out, the easy road which too many follow. Holding on can reap bigger and more meaningful rewards.
ReplyDelete