Letting go

Letting go is one of the important quality we need to develop to live with the flow of life. Many times we hold on to past incidents or experiences and struggle through our life. Letting go does not mean getting away from past painful experiences only, it is also letting go of some good experiences and memories. ……

The benefit of letting go, is that we develop the ability to have a fresh perspective towards life. Hinduism teaches this through many festivals and rituals that are practiced even today. For example, the festival of Vinayagar Chaturthi – we create God Vinayaka with great celebration and then let go of our own creation with greater celebration when we immerse the idol in water after the puja. This immersion is meant to make us aware, that we can create, let go of our creation and keep creating new experience. Many of us think that if we lose something we have lost the ability to create something new also. This is not true. We have an innate ability to be creative. Holding on to the past hinders this ability in us. This strength to let go, will also helps us to come in terms with changes in life. We need to be mindful that we are growing and changing, and unless we let go of the old, we cannot experience the new.

Some of us are unable to accept the reality or the challenging situations because of the idea that “this is how my life has to be”. When we let go of such a frame of reference then we can see life for what it is and notice what is being revealed to us at this moment. I have heard about a ritual practiced by the Tibetan monks. You could practice this too. Take two pots or any two vessels. Have water in one and keep the other one empty. Have the pot with water to the left side of you and empty pot before you. You can do this ritual either standing or sitting. This is good practice to do before you sleep. Think of what all happened in a day or a week. As you think of that experience take water in both your palms held together and pour out your experience along with the water into the empty pot. Keep repeating this till you feel you have let go of all the good as well as not ok experiences. Once you have done so, flush out the water in the pot to let go of the all the experiences. You will feel very light after doing this process and you are also seasoning your mind to not to hold on to cravings and aversions towards certain experiences. This attitude helps us to encounter and engage with life to its fullest without the past contaminating the present. When we let go we flow with river of life and when we hold on, we are swimming against the flow of the river and this can create struggle in our river of life.

All of us know which option is wiser.