Good Reason

When we want to do something, or to have something, we like to find reasons to support it: "I want to do, or have this because of x,y or z". If we do this in our life a lot, it will become a habit; a bad habit which is supported by many good reasons. This reminds me of a story which I recently read in a book of stories by Ajahn Jayasaro. It is a good story, actually, so I would like to share it with you. Here is the story:

There was a big group of monkeys who wanted to accumulate merit, or wholesomeness by following eight precepts. The leader of the group called every monkey for a meeting so everyone could do, or follow the same precepts. All of them agreed to follow the eight precepts. However, their only worry was that sixth of the eight precepts which was ‘no dinner’, meant ‘no bananas in the evening’. The leader encouraged them to go ahead with the project saying, "We have to stop eating bananas in the evening in order to accumulate merit, or wholesomeness".

One monkey said, "That is OK, but don’t you think in the morning, we will be so weak that we won’t be able to climb up the banana tree to collect the banana fruits?" He offered another suggestion, saying, "Now we could collect all the bananas and keep them in the barn!". All the monkeys agreed, ‘Good reason, good reason!’. And so they all climbed up the banana trees and collected the banana fruits and put them in the barn in the middle of the village.

Another monkey said, "Well! It’s a good idea having the banana fruits in the barn. But don’t you think if we stop eating in the evening, in the morning we will be so tired that we will not be able to go to the barn. We should share the bananas now and keep them with us". All the monkeys agreed and said, "That is a better argument. That is a better argument". And then they shared out the bananas with one another.

Another monkey said, "It is a good idea having the banana fruits with us. But don’t you think tomorrow we will be so tired that we cannot peel the bananas. Why don’t we peel them now? In the morning we will be able to eat them more easily." All monkeys agreed and said, "That is an even better reason, that’s an even better reason!".

Another monkey interrupted and said with worry, "I worry that if the bananas are peeled now, ants, or rats will eat our bananas. Why don’t we put them in our mouth so that ants, or rats cannot eat them and in the morning we can chew them. That is much easier". All the monkeys agreed with this and said, "It is the best reason ever! It is best reason ever!". And they all peeled the bananas and put them in their mouths. They all went separate way and meditated with the bananas in their mouth. But it was not long before they had swallowed all of them.

The moral of the story: if the first intention is good, ‘just do it’. But if we find reasons to support it, we may be distracted, like the group of monkeys. "Just do it!" is the best advice. What do you think?