05/11/2026
This is an amazing answer to the age old question of how to truly let go of a past that continues to haunt or bother you!!!
Worth the read….
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 her:
“If you were carrying a heavy bag of stones for many years…
what would happen?”
The woman replied,
“My body would become tired 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 carrying.”
The woman asked,
“But how do I stop carrying it?”
The monk picked up a glass of water and held it in front of her.
“If I hold this for one minute, it feels light.
If I hold it for one hour, it becomes painful.
If I hold it all day, my arm becomes numb.
The weight never changed.
Only the length of time I kept holding it.”
Then he looked at her and said:
“Your past is the same.
The pain is real…
but much of your suffering comes from continuously holding onto it.”
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.
By understanding that pain taught you what comfort never could.
And by finally realizing that you do not have to keep punishing yourself to prove that you learned the lesson.”
Then he smiled and said:
“The past is a place of reference, not residence.
Visit it only to learn…not to live there forever.”
My advice - read it again!!!!
