09/09/2026
HOW TO LET GO OF THE PAST?
A WONDERFUL ANSWER BY A BUDDHIST MONK
A woman once asked an old Buddhist monk:
“How do I let go of my past?
The memories still hurt me.
The regrets still follow me.
No matter how hard I try, I cannot seem to move on.”
The old monk smiled gently and asked:
“If you carried a heavy bag of stones on your back for many years, what would happen?”
The woman replied, “My body would become exhausted and weak.”
The monk nodded.
“Your mind works the same way. Every regret, betrayal, heartbreak, guilt, and painful memory you refuse to release becomes another stone you continue to carry.”
The woman asked, “But how do I stop carrying it?”
The monk picked up a glass of water and held it before her.
“If I hold this glass for one minute, it feels light. If I hold it for one hour, my arm begins to hurt. If I hold it all day, my arm becomes numb and useless.
The weight of the glass never changed.
Only the length of time I chose to hold it.”
Then he looked at her and said:
“Your past is much the same. The pain may be real, but much of your suffering comes from holding onto it long after the moment has passed.”
The woman lowered her head quietly.
“But I don't know how to let go,” she whispered.
The monk replied:
“You let go by accepting that the past cannot be changed.
By forgiving yourself for who you were when you knew less than you know today.
By understanding that pain can teach lessons that comfort never could.
And by realizing that you do not have to keep punishing yourself to prove that you have learned those lessons.”
Then he smiled and said:
“The past is a place of reference, not a place of residence.
Visit it only to learn.
Never live there forever.”
Sometimes healing is not about forgetting what happened.
It is about accepting what cannot be changed, learning what must be learned, and finally putting down the weight you were never meant to carry for the rest of your life.
