Letting Go

 

A single understanding: “I am the One Awareness,”

consumes all suffering in the fire of an instant. Be happy.

-          Ashtavakra

It seems so hard to let go.  We hang onto objects in the world and invest them with the power to make us happy or unhappy.  “Objects in the world” includes our own bodies and the physical presence of other people.  From birth it seems, we are attached to sensory appearances.  It is quite natural, of course.  We are born into these body-mind vehicles of experience in a state of spiritual amnesia.  From this limited perspective we suffer from imaginary things like abandonment, alienation, loneliness, loss and insufficiency.  We forget that the universe is the projection of Self.  A projection of Love distorted through the lens of ego-centricity.

It is the mind rooted in avidya, “ignorance,” that creates our false sense of separation and suffering.  It is our belief in our limitations that makes us feel powerless and alienated.  This world is a projection of our collective psyche but each of us is responsible for waking up.   Nothing is real unless we bring into being through our awareness.  Perception is a creative act not a passive acceptance.  We tend to forget that every act of perception includes our interpretation.  As the French writer Anaiis Nin said, “We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.” 

Ram Das says, “What you meet in another being is the projection of your own level of evolution.”  Letting go means releasing our false beliefs regarding ourselves and the world.  Yoga teaches that mind is the source of bondage but it is also the means of liberation.  In truth all of our beliefs are false because they are only approximations of reality.  Reality is beyond the grasp of our concepts about it – and we are an aspect of that reality. 

Overcoming the World

All over the place, from the
popular culture to the propaganda system, there is constant pressure to make
people feel that they are helpless, that the only role they can have is to
ratify decisions and to consume.

-    Noam Chomsky

Interpretations of quantum mechanics
aside, we experientially live in a world that is mediated by what we generally
refer to as mind.  Mind, of course, tends
to be a somewhat vague concept.  We
really don’t know what mind or consciousness is, however it is the medium
through which we experience this life.  As
Buddha states in the Dhammapada, “Experience originates in our thoughts.  Through our thoughts we create either
pleasant or unpleasant experiences.” 

Now many take exception with this
idea.  After all there is such suffering
in the world that seems to be beyond the control of our minds.  The problem is that it is not quite that easy
for most of us (enlightened yogis excluded.)
It is not that easy because we are subject to a greater field of mind
that is transpersonal.  It is called our
collective consciousness.  It is not so
easy because the seminal idea of who we are is false.

The dominate mind-field that we exist in
is intent on hypnotizing us into believing that we are nothing more than the
biological organisms that support us.  Our
bodies are wonderful things.  However
they are not who we are.  The power of
thought is a wonderful thing, however our thoughts can never define our
essential being. When we let go of all of the self-definitions that we have
created we find that we are beings of peace, love and light. 

When we realize this we tap into a power
beyond thoughts and dreams.  Within your
own being you have and are the power to overcome whatever presents itself to
you.  Changing your thought-field is like
changing the channel on your tv or switching pages on the internet.  Ultimately though our inherent goal is to
awaken: to realize that we are spiritual beings having a material dream.  We are beings of light, love and
consciousness. 

          We don’t have to
overcome the world, we are already above it.