Grasping is the
source of all our problems. Since impermanence to us spells anguish, we grasp on
to things desperately, even though all things change. We are terrified of
letting go, terrified, in fact, of living at all, since learning to live is learning
to let go. And this is the tragedy and the irony
of our struggle to hold on: Not only is it impossible, but it brings us the very
pain we are seeking to avoid.
The intention
behind grasping may not in itself be bad; there’s nothing wrong with the desire
to be happy, but what we try to grasp on to is by nature ungraspable.
The Tibetans say
that you cannot wash the same dirty hand twice in the same running river, and
“no matter how much you squeeze a handful of sand, you will never get oil out of
it.” ---Rigpa
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