Thoughts on letting go.
Letting go is a mantra we hear all the time.
When our minds are filled with overwhelming thoughts,
We often tell ourselves to let go.
When our mind is in this anxious state,
Telling ourselves to let go can often add fuel to the fire.
The more we try to let go,
The deeper we find ourselves stuck in the chaos of our own mind.
I believe letting go is the most rewarding spiritual practice available to us all.
When we truly let go,
Everything seems to work out favorably.
The problems our minds tend to get so worked up over often aren't even problems at all and instead are what-if scenarios that never come true.
So with all of this desire to let go,
But trouble actually putting it into practice,
What's the way through?
How do we free ourselves from a mind that often can't seem to stop freaking out about everything that could go wrong?
We are truly seeking liberation from our mind.
When we say to ourselves we want to let go,
What we are desiring is liberation from a mind that won't seem to stop.
There are two apparent solutions that come up in the quest to liberate ourselves from our own mind.
The first is to try and quiet the mind with the ideal solution being to stop it altogether.
Many people think and believe meditation is about trying to stop or quiet the mind,
But any veteran meditator will tell you that trying to control your mind in this way is impossible.
Similar to how trying to let go of a situation only adds fuel to the fire,
Trying to stop or quiet our mind only makes it louder.
A quiet mind is something that can happen only by not making it your goal.
A quiet mind is the result of watching your mind without attaching yourself to what it has to say.
This brings us to the second and only true way to find liberation from our mind.
We must watch it without judgement and let it burn through all of the fuel present without adding any more.
Whenever we battle the mind,
No matter how clever the techniques,
We only feed it and make its hold on us stronger.
The only path to liberation is to let it burn out on its own.
To me,
This is what letting go means.
Letting go isn't an action,
It's a response.
It's not something we do and instead it's something we choose not to do.
By letting go,
We are choosing not to add fuel to the temporary fire of chaos in our minds.
When something triggers us and a fire is ignited,
We watch the fire burn and don't do anything about it.
Your inner intelligence is far greater than you realize and will always keep you safe,
Regardless of what your mind is saying.
If you keep doing this,
You will naturally and effortlessly become less attracted to your mind and will be triggered less and less.
Eventually,
You will be left with a quiet,
Still and peaceful mind that is unaffected by anything that occurs in your outer world.
