I really loved Chuang-Tzu’s story of the monkeys. I think that there are a lot of instances in my life where I act like the monkeys. Things that seem so important and I’m fighting to control often don’t really matter that much. I know that there have been time where like the monkeys I really fought and experienced all of these emotions trying to get my way. But later after some reflection I realized that the very thing that I thought matter so much, was not that important and I used effort stressing over it that could have been used some other way.
I think that it ties in well with the story of the man of ancient times who seemed to just live life and stress over the amount of nuts he received. I need to try to live where I don't stress so much about the future and just focus on the gifts that I have.
I also enjoyed the part where Chuang-Tze askes "How do I know that the dead do not wonder why they ever longed for life?" I think that there are a lot of people that are fearful of death, but there may not be any reason to be afraid. Sometimes the thing that we are most afraid of turns out to be a pretty good thing afterall. Why fear something you can't really control?
1 comment:
That was pretty funny what you said about acting like the monkeys. I am pretty sure I have done that too! And your last paragraph about death and fear. Yes, I agree that we should not fear death as it is out of our control. Maybe that is one time where we should be like a monkey and not worry about when we will die.
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