The Tiger and The Strawberry

The following is an old Taoist parable, here translated by Paul Reps (Zen Flesh, Zen Bones, New York: Anchor/Doubleday, 1958, pages 22–23). 

~

A man travelling across a field encountered a tiger. 

He fled, the tiger after him. 

Coming to a precipice, he caught hold of the root of a wild vine and swung himself down over the edge. 

The tiger sniffed at him from above. 

Trembling, the man looked down to where, far below, another tiger was waiting to eat him. 

Only the vine sustained him. 

Two mice, one white and one black, little by little started to gnaw away at the vine. 

The man saw a luscious strawberry near him. 

Grasping the vine with one hand, he plucked the strawberry with the other. 

How sweet it tasted!

~


Strawberry by Justus Menke


Enso circle brushstroke symbol


Content Policy |  Accessibility | Homepage | Blog | Contact

CC BY-NC 4.0

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Meet Me Beyond the Labels

Image
So, I'm Kes. My full name is Kesley, and I like that, but Kes is for the dyslexics among us who might otherwise call me Kelsey. I'm certainly not a Kelsey. When I'm not pottering in the garden, being idle with a book, or following some creative pursuit, I spend a lot of time being a therapist. In one form or another, I've been a therapist for the best part of my adult life. As a child, it was my grandmother who taught me to be an excellent listener—and also instilled in me a penchant for teapots. I took my first classes in becoming a holistic therapist in my early twenties. I'm now in my mid-thirties, and have worked with many people of various ages and social positions. Let's start with the power and privilege stuff. Although it's clunky, it's important to name because it affects how you and I relate through our identities and social status. If we don't talk about these things, we’re likely to conform to predefined (and sometimes damaging) roles, pr...
Read more

Self-care

Image
Sometimes we humans get lost when we focus on externals, however there's a whole world within us that benefits from our own love and care. Our most reliable source of love and care is within ourselves. As adult human beings, we mature when we depend on ourselves, and ask for help when needed. Self-care is a way of showing yourself some love, and building up your inner worth and trust in your own relationship with your inner self. Here are some possibilities and suggestions for self-care, to nudge you toward a stronger and more solid relationship with yourself: Breathing Our breathing affects our entire nervous system, and even our heart rate. If you're feeling tense or emotional, your breath naturally changes as your body begins to prepare a response to meet your needs, however this can be problematic if your body is reacting to something in the past. We'll come back to this in a moment. First just to say, that our breath is usually an automatic, unconscious process. Simply...
Read more

Why Therapy?

Image
Navigating a Changing World We live in a time of global crisis. Capitalism, patriarchy, ecological destruction, social oppression, consumerism and constant pressure to “just keep going” generates trauma, shame, apathy, rage, violence and sorrow. But this is also a moment of deep reckoning and the possibility for transformation. Your relationship with your therapist may empower and liberate you to tap into inner vitality, and restore joy, peace and wisdom as you move forwards. Who Benefits from Therapy Good therapy that meets you where you are. Many therapy clients feel that they don't fit into mainstream moulds, and suffer with feeling disconnected from others around them. Counselling supports individuals with sensitive nervous systems, those who are struggling with their thoughts, and anyone whose culture, identity, gender, sexuality, or relationships have been marginalised or misunderstood. Good therapy is rooted in anti-marginalisation and anti-oppression, creating a space where...
Read more