Here lately I’ve been spending a lot of time rereading books that have moved me previously. It’s always interesting how in rereading something you see things so differently and on such a deeper, more profound level, if open to it.
In rereading Radical Acceptance by Tara Brach, I have become really fixated and stuck on a passage in which she writes about the white tiger Mohini who spent a good portion of her life at the Washington D.C. Zoo. She resided in a standard 12x12 foot cage. Mohini paced back and forth restlessly most of her days in her small home. Finally, the zoo was able to create a beautiful sanctuary for her that spanned several acres. It had water features, rolling hills and vegetation. It was with great excitement they released Mohini into her new beautiful home. But it was too late. The great creature gravitated to a corner in the sanctuary where she spent the remainder of her life, pacing back in forth wearing the grass out in a 12x12 space.
I find this story devastating. I truly feel immense heartache and pain when I think of this. The pain I feel is that for Mohini being trapped and stuck in her habits as well as how powerfully symbolic this is for our own lives as well. Tara Brach explains my ache well; “Perhaps the biggest tragedy in our lives is that freedom is possible, yet we can pass our years trapped in the same old patterns”.
This is truly the tragedy of a lifetime. And freedom is totally possible for us. We just need to have the courage to step into the sanctuary of life in spite of the fear, shame, uncertainly and powerlessness that we feel. We so often have become deeply entrenched in our thoughts, fears and storylines; we lose sight that there is something bigger and more beautiful just waiting for us. Take the brave first step before it’s too late.