AN EXPLANATION FOR THE RHO-PI PUZZLE OF J PSI AND PSI' DECAYS/

We propose a new explanation for the long-standing puzzle of the tiny branching fraction of psi' --> rho pi relative to that for J/psi --> r ho pi. In the case of J/psi, we argue that this decay is dominated by a higher Fock state in which the c (c) over bar pair is in a color-oct et S-3(1) state and decays via the annihilation process c (c) over bar --> q (q) over bar. In the case of the psi', we argue that the probab ility for the c (c) over bar pair in this higher Fock state to be clos e enough to annihilate is suppressed by a dynamical effect related to the small energy gap between the mass of the psi' and the D (D) over b ar, threshold.