Monkey Business

The Indian myth Ramayana tells a story of prince named Rama's journey to enlightenment. It's an amazing epic, full of subtle application, the way most myths are, to modern life.

At a point in the story, Rama has become king and holds daily court. Pressing issues, judgments and measures come rolling in with the waves of his subject's concerns du jour. Rama bears his role solemnly and with great responsibility. But every morning also, a monkey jumps in through the court window and hands Rama a piece of fruit. It's become such a routine that he hardly acknowledges it, he thanks the monkey and tosses the fruit behind him and gets on with business.

As you might imagine, the pile of fruit grows pretty substantial; finally one day they decide to clean up. As they are picking through it, they discover that each fruit contains a jewel. Rama, wrapped in his duties of dispensing wisdom and managing daily affairs, had been tossing these precious gifts without thought.

In the course of the mundane rituals that make up our days, we all have this monkey bouncing through the window. Our inner kings (or queens), consumed with their responsibilities, toss these unlived potentials, little gems of radiance, creativity and lifeforce behind us to get back to tasks at hand. Ultimately, what was really of value in the day can be easily lost while we replay our decisions and actions. But our monkeys will be back the next day, offering us another opportunity to peel away the superficial and find those things of substance that are placed directly in our hands, awaiting recognition. Perhaps in stuff we've seen before, never recognizing its true value. And like teasing out the meaning of a dream, thinking about the nature of "windows" and "monkeys" makes for interesting food for thought :-)