An art: Letting go.

" Life is a balance between holding on and letting go" Rumi

If you take a walk on the beach, and you like to play with water, sand and shells; you must have noticed that whenever you try to hold the dry sand in your hands it slips through your fingers and so does the water. But seashells you can hold in your hands until you want. Similarly, on your journey of life, you will find few things you can hold on to and few things you must let go of.

Letting go is an act of surrendering and releasing. These two always go hand in hand and is incomplete without each other. Like in prayers, you surrender your desires to the universe, but you release the compulsion to know, how or when it’s going to be fulfilled. You surrender to the process of an action, but you release the need to know the outcome. You surrender to love and release the ego to experience its beauty.

Letting go is opposite to attachment. It does not mean you do not care, but it means you care enough to let go of the control and not attach yourself to anything and anyone. It requires strength of character and a deep sense of knowing that nothing is really yours and still, the entire universe is you. Furthermore, it’s understanding the duality in nature.

Once a disciple asked a renowned monk:“ Do tell master, how do I understand the duality? How do I understand what to let go of and what to hold on to?”

The master picked up his chanting beads and held it between his fingers and waited for it to stop vacillating, and be stable. Once it was steady, the master said;” Let everything in your life be in this state; stable! Neither moving towards you nor away from you. The moment you want something, and you pull it closer, its momentum will take it back twice the original distance. The same is true for the opposite. If you push away something because you don't want it, it will come closer to you in double the distance.”

Life is about balance. Keep things where you do not get too tangled up and where you can see them clearly. Neither too far nor too close. This is the wisdom one gains when you understand that everything exists in duality. One cant exists without the other. You know light because there is dark, you know wealth because poverty exists somewhere, you know strength because you experienced weakness. You are healthy today because someday you had been sick , you are wise today because you made some mistakes before.

So, when one knows both sides of the coin, you understand that they co-exist and not to accept one and shun the other. One who understands this has the power to let go of things where it is required and take action when necessary.

- Let go of anger and be compassionate towards everyone.

- Let go of control and be a support for others.

- Let go of old beliefs and embrace new possibilities.

- Let go of small things, and be a part of bigger things.

- Let go of baggages of expectations and just breathe.

- Let go of yourself and just be in this moment.

When you do let go, you breathe better , you relieve the stress from your body, you are in control of your mind and not the other way around. Moreover, when you let go, you are trusting the universe to do the best for you, and you let nature take its course. There is a certain peace and calm that pervades your system, and you become aware of the Present! And then the real , full of potential and radiant you emerge and does what need to be done and is unaffected by the outcomes.

Isn’t that a more gratifying way of living?

Practice for letting go(preferably in morning or before sleeping):

Sit with your eyes closed and back straight but easy. Focus on your breath by inhaling for the count of 7 and releasing to the count of 5. Repeat this for 3 times. Take any one thing that you want to let go of in the day. For eg, if someone didn't understand you , or angered you , think about that situation and relive the emotions. Now imagine you are being surrounded with beautiful white light, and it keeps getting bigger and encompasses all the surrounding space. Look at that person or people again with whom you had a situation with and pass this light to them and smile. You see them dissolve along with your emotion in the light, and it immerses in the divine. You have let go of it and allowed the divine grace to take care of it. Hold that picture in your imagination for few seconds and now see that light retreating inside you and lighting up all your cells. It leaves your being with compassion and joy. Feel it. Now open your eyes and go about your business carrying that feeling inside you for whatever situation, people, and decisions you come across with. This is your tool and treasure to live life your way.

Last thoughts:

- Every day, pen down the negative thoughts and in front of them change it to positive ones. For, e.g; I am not good enough. Write on the other end of the page ; I am worthy of everything. Then cross the negative thought out. Keep adding as and when you want to the list, and then when one page is full, flush it down the toilette. It is a way of letting go of the thoughts that don’t serve us.

- Practice silence for 20 minutes every day. This would mean that you do not do any activity during this time, but you are just experiencing silence. This will teach you to let go of need to do something, and you will appreciate the art of just being!

- Practice compassion and let go of anger and judgement.