The Durian Story

A trainer told the participants that tomorrow's session would be practical and extreme. He informed them that he would bring a burlap sack and some small-sized durian fruits for each of them. The trainees were excited about this session because they liked and respected their trainer and because durian was known as a "super fruit" for its high antioxidant cancer-fighting content and ability to prevent heart disease and lower cholesterol.

On the second day, the trainer brought the sacks and the durians and asked each participant to take one fruit for every person they hated. After that, he told each of them to carve the name of someone they hated onto each durian. Some got one durian, others got two, and some got even five or more. After that, the trainer told them the terms of the game and said: "Every one of you should put as many durians as the ones he hated in the burlap sack and keep the bag with them wherever they go for the remaining four training days." As the days passed, participants felt the weight and mostly the foul smell coming out of the durian bag—an unbearable odor when the durian ripened. And so, since they accepted the terms, they had to bear the bag's smell and weight. The more durian fruits, the more the smell and the heavier the load. On the last day, the attendees were delighted because their suffering had ended. The trainer asked them how they felt while holding the bag of durians for a week. They started to complain and talk about how hard it was to carry the heavy, smelly bag. Afterward, the trainer told them what this whole thing meant and what they should learn.

The facilitator said, "This situation is what you carry in your heart when you hate someone. Hate will infect your heart, and you will take that infection wherever you go. If you cannot stand the smell of durian for a week, how will you carry hatred in your hearts for the rest of your life?"