Letting Go

Letting go is one of the most important and fundamental practices I have engaged in over the years. With my involvement in and study of Buddhism and more recent work with the symbolism of the Ankh, it is clear just how important that practice is to one's development, transcendence and self-realisation. Balancing desires, overcoming anger, rising beyond greed and jealousy, recognising and respecting others, all require that the attachment to one's conceptualisations are released.

It is through letting go of our attachments that one may cultivate a mind of equanimity, tolerance and compassion, and attain the path toward enlightenment. As I reflect on my experiences of 2013, I note that those people who I have most looked up to have demonstrated those capacities. People who have maintained their poise in the midst of trying circumstances, while patiently providing support and encouragement to those around them. It is recognising these types of people in our own lives that can inspire us on our own paths and in some way may even reflect back those qualities that you seek to emulate.

Just as it is impossible to fill a cup that is already full, new transcendent qualities of personality cannot be developed until the contradictory qualities that keep one mired in the delusional world of never ending desires and subjective conceptualisations are released. In fact, as those contradictory qualities are eradicated, the transcendent qualities naturally manifest.

How then is one to eradicate their attachment to subjective conceptualisations that keep us mired in the delusional world of never ending desire? The answer is in formalising a personal process of "letting go" of such concerns and establishing a practice of "letting go". There a many formal approaches to releasing such constraints in the various religious systems, but of the ones I have tried, I have found that without making them personal they become devoid of personal intent and tend to the dogmatic and repetitious.

My process has consolidated around the following recitations before or during periods of meditation, before sleep (if I think of it) and even while I'm riding my bicycle on the way home! It's all personal after all.

Thankfulness, Forgiveness and Repentance

Dear Lord, I give thanks for all your infinite gifts. For the gift of individuated consciousness, of love, of companionship, of tolerance and patience I give thanks. For the ability to sustain myself and my family and to help those about me, I give thanks. I give thanks Lord for all thy virtues and I pray that I may be a clear and undistorted channel for the light, love and healing energies of the one infinite creator and be a source of abundance and happiness for those around me.

Dear Lord, I give thanks for all those sentient beings who have assisted me throughout countless lifetimes I give thanks [and to those ascended masters, spirit guides, guardians and bodhisattvas who have interceded on my behalf I give thanks]. I also give thanks to those who have chosen to share their existence with me in this lifetime, in particular I give thanks to … [those few people that you intimately share your existence with, e.g. wife/husband, children, parents, siblings, friends, relatives, etc]. I dedicate any merits I may have accrued to all those beings, that they may overcome their ignorance, anger and greed and realise the Bodhi mind.

In giving thanks Lord, I also offer my forgiveness to all those sentient being who have trespassed against me, knowingly or unknowingly, by word or by deed, and I 100% release all desire for retribution, retaliation or revenge. I dedicate any merits I may have accrued to these people that they may overcome their ignorance, anger and greed and realise the Bodhi mind.

In offering my forgiveness, Lord, I pray that I may likewise be forgiven for the trespasses I have committed against others, knowingly or unknowingly, by word or by deed, and I 100% repent those incursions and pray for the wisdom to avoid such offenses in the future. May I overcome my ignorance, anger and greed, and attain to the Bodhi mind.

Dear Lord, in giving thanks I also ask Lord that you send forth your Angels of Light, Love and Healing to shine the light, love and healing energies of the one infinite creator over my family [list by name] and myself and to help protect us from the attention and influence of all entities of darkness for our highest good and the greatest good of all, but in all things may your will be done not mine.

Gratitude and Honour for the past contribution of others

Dear Lord, I give thanks for my parents [ names (name/secondname)];

For all the love that they shared with me, the lessons they taught me, the sacrifices they made on my behalf and the legacy they left me. I give thanks and I pray that I may be a wise and effective administrator of their legacy for the highest good of my family and the greatest good of all.

Dear Lord, I give thanks for my grandparents [ names (name/ secondname)];

For all the love that they shared with me, the lessons they taught me, the sacrifices they made on my behalf and the legacy they left me. I give thanks and I pray that I may be a wise and effective administrator of their legacy for the highest good of my family and the greatest good of all.

Dear Lord, I give thanks for my family [ names (name/ secondname)];

For all the love that they shared with me, the lessons they taught me and the sacrifices they made on my behalf I give thanks and I pray that I may be a true and faithful husband to my wife, a loving and helpful father to my children and that I may be a source of love, health, happiness and abundance for my entire family.

Dear Lord, I give thanks for all those sentient beings who have assisted me throughout countless lifetimes;

For all the love that they shared with me, the lessons they taught me and the sacrifices they made on my behalf I give thanks and I pray that they may each overcome their ignorance, anger and greed, find their way to enlightenment and attain to the Bodhi mind.

There is certainly a lot of repetition of the word "Lord" in those recitations, however, the significance of such things is always and everywhere about one's personal intent and not what may be assumed or interpreted by others. As such, it might be worth pointing out that I am not referencing some external entity living on a cloud or something, but am referencing the Lord of Light within me. That connection that exists within me that connects with the unified field, infinite energy, intelligent infinity, creator consciousness or whatever it is that you may refer to it as. It is truly important to understand that we are connected with and at one with the one infinite creator and this process of transcendence is all about stripping away the obstacles that restrict, veil and impede that connection. There is no right or wrong however and each journey back to enlightenment is intensely personal. This is just how I see things at the moment.

Also, it is important to understand that we all have a sense of guilt over some wrong we might have committed, but that sense of guilt is also just another form of subjective conceptualisation that needs to be let go. It is not something that we need to hold on to as a form of self-punishment, so, regardless of what we have done we are all worthy of aspiring to transcendence of this material world. It does require work, however, and the path to enlightenment is one of mastery over all our desires, as well as those desires for self-punishment. So release desires of guilt right along with all the others. That is not to say that one is exonerated from their offenses, transgressions or injury to others, but a recognition that we may ever choose to make amends and change our ways at any time. Maybe you need to create your own specific recitation to reinforce your commitment to progress for every day we have the chance to make ourselves anew!

In concluding our meditation and Sutra classes in the Chan Hall of the monastery, we recite the following Four Great Vows to reinforce our commit to the path. I hope that they may inspire us all to seek and keep to the path.

Four Great Vows

Countless are sentient beings I vow to liberate;
Endless are afflictions I vow to eradicate;
Measureless are the Dharmas I vow to master;
Supreme is the Buddha way I vow to attain.

I for one am always needing reminding that reality is Śūnyatā and that I need to let go of my conceptions, desires and attachments to overcome my ignorance, anger and greed. The number of times I have let my attachments manifest in expressions of anger towards others are too many to count and is an ongoing source of disappointment in myself. For instance, my desire for respect from my children and subsequent anger when they are disrespectful is but one of many recurring sources of frustration in my desire for liberation from these feelings. Ironically, my desire for liberation is the source of frustration in not achieving it, but that is itself an excellent example of just how subtle and numerous our afflictions are while ever there is attachment.

In that light, chapter Sixty-four of the Tao Te Ching is particularly poignant:

That which is at rest is easily kept hold of; before a thing has given indications of its presence, it is easy to take measures against it; that which is brittle is easily broken; that which is very small is easily dispersed. Action should be taken before a thing has made its appearance; order should be secured before disorder has begun.

The tree which fills the arms grew from the tiniest sprout; the tower of nine storeys rose from a (small) heap of earth; the journey of a thousand li commenced with a single step.

He who acts (with an ulterior purpose) does harm; he who takes hold of a thing (in the same way) loses his hold. The sage does not act (so), and therefore does no harm; he does not lay hold (so), and therefore does not lose his hold. (But) people in their conduct of affairs are constantly ruining them when they are on the eve of success. If they were careful at the end, as (they should be) at the beginning, they would not so ruin them.

Therefore the sage desires what (other men) do not desire, and does not prize things difficult to get; he learns what (other men) do not learn, and turns back to what the multitude of men have passed by. Thus he helps the natural development of all things, and does not dare to act (with an ulterior purpose of his own).

May we all eradicate our attachments to let the divine effortlessly manifest within us.

Namaste.