The thirteenth-century poet Rumi once said, “Life is a balance of holding on and letting go.” It seems that universally we are much better at holding on than the letting go part. Letting go of our desires (or attachments, cravings) is a central tenet in Buddhism and many other wisdom traditions.
In a recent conversation with Kevin Griffin (a longtime meditation teacher and author of Living Kindness), we discussed the Buddha’s Four Noble Truths. Griffin explained that once the Buddha lays down the Truth of Suffering, he says its cause, the Second Noble Truth, is craving.
As we sit and try to follow the breath, we’re bombarded with thoughts and feelings that continuously pull us away from the present moment. When examined, we see that these distractions all have the common attribute of craving: craving for the future; craving for pleasure, success, or comfort; craving simply to be entertained; craving to avoid pain…
In the new book The Art of Self Improvement, author Anna Katherine Shaffner explains that if we learn to let go of our sensual and worldly wants, we also learn how to let go of our attachment to our ego, the root cause of our suffering. This process helps us to gradually see ourselves as part of a larger whole instead of as distinct and separate entities.
Shaffner writes,
The most prominent advocate of letting go as a self-improvement strategy was Lao-tzu. In the Tao te ching (ca. fourth century BCE), Lao-tzu advocates a mindset based on acceptance and yielding, and on an absence of striving and conscious effort. In Daoism, letting go centers on the idea of offering no resistance to the natural order of things. It promotes a sophisticated form of submitting our will to cosmic forces, by accepting what is and loosening our attachments to specific outcomes.
Lao Tzu advises us to adopt a mindset of radical acceptance of whatever life throws at us — not least because everything is in flux. Because what we judge to be bad one moment, observes Shaffner, fate might soon turn into its opposite.
The notion of letting go is also central in The Bhagavad Gita (an ancient Hindu scripture). The Gita provides a narrative dialogue between Arjuna (a warrior) and Krishna (his charioteer). One of the critical lessons in the text comes from Krishna to Arjuna:
You have a right to your actions, but never to your actions’ fruits. Act for the action’s sake. And do not be attached to inaction.
Although the concept of letting go applies to several aspects of life. Letting go (or at least holding loosely) of the past and future is relatively straightforward. Lao Tzu says, “If you are depressed, you are living in the past. If you are anxious, you are living in the future. If you are at peace, you are living in the present.”
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Thank you for reading; I hope you found something useful.
Until next time, be wise and be well,
You've touched on two of my favorite books of all time. Each time I return to re-read them, the life experience gained between reads broadens my perspective and new lessons reveal themselves. I appreciate how you bridged the gap between the Gita and Tao Te Ching. Concise piece.
I recently wrote an article about letting go as well. May I drop a link here for you if you are interested in reading it?