Last week, I wrote a post about letting go — today, I will continue my discussion on the subject.
But how to let go?
Last Friday, the idea was brought up about the ability to detach oneself from the positive things that happen in life (for which we become naturally excited) as well as from the “painful” and “negative” events that may occur. How do you let go of these things?
For one, we can practice “dying to the past each moment” (Eckhart Tolle – Power of Now). Give up thinking about, analyzing, and scraping up emotional baggage about what has already happened. Through this forgiveness, this letting go, we can enjoy things as they happen, delve fully into them, wide-open and fearless without them becoming a burden — a point of contemplation for us to bear later on. We can check in on ourselves with each situation, each event in our lives that occur throughout each day, and make sure that we’re not holding on to anything — good or bad — as we move forward to the next moment. Eckhart Tolle alludes to this when he states:
“You are not pretending anything [in the process of letting go]. You are allowing [each moment] to be as it is, that’s all. This allowing takes you beyond the mind with the resistance patterns that create the positive and negative polarities….If you forgive every moment, allow it to be as it is, then there will be no accumulation of resentment that needs to be forgiven at some later time. Through forgiveness, which essentially means recognizing the insubstantiality of the past and allowing the present moment to be as it is, the miracle of transformation happens, not only within, but also without.”
Another way of practicing releasing and letting go is to work on remaining in a state of meditation throughout our lives. A bit different from prayer — which I believe is our communication with the Divine on behalf of our own desires and our desires for the well-being of others, etc — meditation is our time to be still and to listen to the Divine’s inspiration. Again, Eckhart Tolle states, “to the extent that you feel the presence of the universe in your body (the physical indication of meditation), you are not afraid”. As fear disappears, we become more willing and able to let go.
Lastly, integrating yoga as a universal practice into life strongly aids in the process of learning to let go. What I mean by yoga is a close examination and practice of all branches, not merely Asana, throughout each day. This would help with being able to release oneself from the emotional pull of the world in either direction. For example, the integration of the concept of Ishwara Pranidhana (one of the five niyamas) — the surrender to the divine — would leave us no choice but to practice letting go. If our attitude is one that all of our actions belong to Spirit, or the god-force we identify with, there will be no need to hold onto anything.
So, can we strive towards letting each moment be as it is? Can we let go of past/present reality and live this moment?
You tell me.
In the end, for all of our unanswered questions, Mahatma Gandhi explains perfectly,
“In the attitude of silence the soul finds the path in a clearer light, and what is elusive and deceptive resolves itself into crystal clearness.”
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One question that bothers me about this is — how can we let go, but at the same time continue living energetically?
It’s like with karma yoga — how can we be detached from the fruit of our actions, yet maintain that same level of energy in our work that only goal-seeking seems to inspire?
That said, I have found that letting go of past and present — whether consciously or not — has helped me work more calmly. The conscious case is what you describe in your post, Inon. The unconscious case is more like Csikszentmihalyi’s flow theory.
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