Unbending the Hook

L-hook (foreground) and ?-hook (background) They used to be identical.

I'm fascinated by the bent hook that the bird feeder used to hang on. It used to be a question mark, and now it's an L. Wow! It takes a lot of power to straighten out one of those hooks. I've tried manipulating them with pliers and been frustrated.

All the bear had to do was hang on the bird feeder. Amazingly, it's hanger held (though bent from a C to a /\. And the ?-hook bent like butter. That bear has super-human strength. And it is hungry. Really hungry.

Would that our own "hooks" could be unbent so easily.

Which of the main 3 hooks is your biggest? (We all have all of them, so don't worry. You'll get to work on the others later.)

Greedy--desire for the pleasant--for stuff or for pleasant states of mind.
Aversive--pushing away the unpleasant--perhaps critical, impatient, or irritable
Delusional--confused or wishy-washy

Then relax. And practice loving-kindness toward yourself.


Read pages 77-79 of The Meditative Gardener for a fun quiz to figure this out.
Here's an example:

G I always store my trowel in the same place.
A I leave my trowel lying around.
D Hmmm. I don’t remember where I left my trowel.
G My tools are organized.
A My tools are in a jumble.
D Tools?
G My tools are color-coordinated.
G My garden gloves are color-coordinated with my garden boots (or
garden clogs).
A I never wear gloves.
D I can’t find my gloves.