LETTING GO
For most people the concept of letting go can be hard to
understand and, even worse, to put into practice. Letting go is basically the
art or practice of opening the mind, heart and hands and letting everything go.
It is about unclogging the way you think and live, simplifying life one step at
a time. Simple! It is usually a spiritual (yogic or religious) concept or
practice in which you are subtracting more than adding and where you are shedding
and letting go of ideas, possessions, knowledge, control, fear, the past, etc. as
you go, little by little, day by day. Letting go is a daily, constant
practice of getting rid of and detaching from everything you think you want, need or
own!
It is not necessarily that you do not own anything and live
in poverty. To the contrary, it is the practice of putting space between you and
(distance yourself from) what you own, or think you own, including your body,
mind, knowledge, money, possessions, relationships, fear, control, the past, etc. This concept of
letting go is not easy when we have been educated to add more, to want more,
and to not subtract; when today’s culture is a “me-centric” culture based on
consumption, waste and proliferation where you are at the center of the
universe and everyone and everything is around for you to use; and when we
actually understand little about our complex mental, psychological, and
emotional structures that make us who we are. Following are some of the things
that we should let go of.
Let go of the past. The past does not exist, you went
through it, and it is gone! Let it go! Do not dwell on the past or you will
rob yourself of the present, which is the only time that exists! Use the
past to learn so you can be ready for the present and the future, but do not
dwell on the past. It is like trying to sail on a boat while anchored. You will
not go anywhere, or will go on your journey dragging an unnecessary weight that
will not let you reach your full speed, your full potential and, potentially, your destiny. Let the past
go, make your peace with it, and put your full energy into the present, into
what is meaningful to you now!
Let go of your ideas. Let go of all these ideas you have
about almost everything. Stop thinking that you are better, richer, more famous/handsome/beautiful/intelligent/powerful/capable,
and/or simply that you deserve more; stop using experiences of the past
repeatedly to make a point; stop imposing your ways as the only way; stop forcing
your beliefs on others; and when you think you have let go enough, let go
even more. Finally, let go of the idea of who you think you are. Who you
think you are is a self-created mental structure that has nothing to do with
reality, with who you really are. Just imagine how simpler life would be if you
were able to just let go of all these ideas.
Let go of your control. We are always trying to control
absolutely everything from the weather, to the way other people think or
behave, to what’s happening around us, to how we want things to be, to ... It
never ends! We are unconsciously trying to control everything around us and we
do not even realize it. Until we are able to accept things as they are, as life
presents them to us, we are going to suffer a lot. In other terms, until we
surrender completely and accept and embrace every person, moment and/or
experience for what it is or who they are, we will continue to suffer as we
have been doing all of our lives. Embrace diversity and savor its flavors
and colors. People do not have to think like you, look like you, or believe
what you believe. The more you swim against the current, the harder it is to
swim and the easier it is to drown!
Let go of your fear. Fear is by far the worse thing that
can happen to a human being because it robs him/her of the ability to perform
and exist to the best of his/her ability! And most human beings live on,
and/or act out of, fear. Fear comes from our attachment to our body, from being
afraid of pain, of getting hurt physically, mentally and/or emotionally. Every
time that you are thinking, speaking or acting without love, you
are thinking, speaking or acting out of fear! In other words,
there are only two ways to act, with love or with fear. If you are not acting
with love, if you are not doing what you are doing with love, then you are
doing it with fear.
Let go of your possessions. We spend our lives accumulating
possessions, including money, material things, relationships (spouses, partners,
children, relatives, friends, etc.), knowledge, etc. For what? If we cannot
take these things with us when we die, then why do we spend most of our lives
doing it? It makes no sense! We spend most of our lives doing stuff that has
not much meaning from an existential standpoint. It might make sense from a
cultural or the times in which we live standpoint, but not from an existential
one. If we are aware of this, of our mortality (the fact that life is very
short and we can die at any time), of our existentiality, we would not waste
our time and energy in meaningless pursuits but we would spend all our time and
energy in completely passionate and meaningful ones.
In summary, most of us cannot let go because we are
continuously resisting, because we are unable to accept what is. We are not
accepting who we are but are creating who we think we are. We are also not
accepting our existence but are creating (with the help of education, culture,
propaganda, identifications, etc.) this sometimes not very meaningful life
based on, basically, survival. Unfortunately, the result is a mind-created persona
filled with fear and misunderstanding, who spends the entire life in the
pursuit of sometimes trivial and meaningless goals. The truth is that most
human beings are just living a completely biological life where you are born,
get some education, work, have a family, grow old and die.
There
is nothing wrong with this, but from the existential standpoint, we and our
lives can be tremendously more than this. We can be an infinite life with
boundless possibilities and potential. To do so, we need to stop resisting and
start letting go by embracing inclusiveness without possession and by using
tools like love, gratitude, forgiveness, compassion, empathy and humility.
Bliss, wisdom and freedom
do not come through possession but rather through our capacity to open our
hearts, minds, and hands; to learn to love more fully; to let go; and to be
more humble, kind and compassionate. Remember, we are not staying here forever.
So, let go of as much as you can, as we are merely travelers just passing
through!
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Author: Maurice Correa
Website: pathtoone.com
Blog: p2oblog.blogspot.com
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