The monkey trap

THERE is a Filipino word for this: kapit-tuko. It is an affliction characterized by a great desire to cling on to power and entitlements being enjoyed.

Our politicians are adept at this. Once they get elected or appointed to a position, they will devise all sorts of ways, legal or illegal, to hold on to their positions. As one columnist puts it, they will “readily renege on agreements, break promises and concoct excuses for refusing to step down.”

Take for example the recent term sharing brouhaha in the House of Representatives. Or the case of one family wanting to gain all political power in their fiefdoms and keeping it all within the family forever. Once the head of the family gets himself entrenched, he never wants to relinquish power. Instead, he consolidates it, and to go around term restrictions, he enlists his wife and other family members to the cause of the dynasty’s rigodon. In turn they too get afflicted with “clingitis.” In one case, family members even run against each other.

But let me warn them of the monkey trap, a cleverly made contraption to catch animals such as monkeys designed by animal hunters.

The monkey trap is actually a bag that’s filled up with fruits that appeal to monkeys. There is a specially designed opening at the top of the bag. The opening allows the insertion of an empty hand to get hold of the succulent fruits inside.

There is a catch though. Once the hand has grasped a fruit, the hand can’t be withdrawn out of the opening because it has become bigger than the hole. As long as the hand is clasping the fruit the monkey cannot get its hand out of the bag. So the only way is to let go of the fruit in the hand. Clever isn’t it?

You know what? Many monkeys refuse to let go of the fruit. Instead they try to forcibly widen the opening to no avail. But the more they force it, the more the noose tightens. So in the process of doing so they become easy prey to animal hunters. Their stubbornness and greed cause their own undoing.

We’re all prone to falling into such attachment trap. We get too easily attached to material things, the pleasure of fame and power, to our pets and to people specially our loved ones that many times we stubbornly cling to them and refuse to let go.

Consider our personal lives. Are there strings we need to let go? Are there possessions that we are too attached to that weigh us down? Are there relationships that we need to cut no matter how painful but which will eventually set us free?

One time, there was a mammoth traffic build up and as I was watching and commiserating with the sullen looking drivers and passengers of the vehicles I was thinking there but for the grace of God go I. Then I noticed a lot of people walking—they must have decided to just walk rather than languish and agonize inside the slow moving public transport.

That gave me an idea. Why not park your car somewhere and just walk? And so that’s what I did. I got ahead of the poor trapped commuters who did not want to alight from their vehicles even if that meant they would be wasting time and emotions. Sometimes it is better to leave behind the comfort and convenience of cars to get to where you want to go faster.

So again letting go lightens the yoke you put on your neck through greed, selfishness, sense of entitlements, and other things that so appeal to the ego but have zero spiritual nourishment.

Let it go, let it go, is the refrain of that Oscar award- winning song, which my young nieces loved to sing sometime last year. It’s not only a catchy little song but it’s one good advice we should heed for a healthier, more fulfilling life and spirit.