Dear Friends,
Thank you for reading and listening this week. Below, you’ll find a short contemplation on letting go of the outcome, along with links to this week’s podcasts and meditations.
📿 Letting Go of the Outcome
This week’s contemplation comes from the classic Zen and the Art of Archery by Eugen Herrigel. Herrigel writes about the notion of letting go of the outcome,
Obediently we practiced letting off our shots without taking aim. At first, I remained completely unmoved by where my arrows went. Even occasional hits did not excite me, for I knew that so far as I was concerned, they were only flukes. But in the end, this shooting into the blue was too much for me. I fell back into the temptation to worry. The Master pretended not to notice my disquiet until, one day, I confessed to him that I was at the end of my tether.
“You worry yourself unnecessarily,” the Master comforted me. “Put the thought of hitting right out of your mind! You can be a Master even if every shot does not hit. The hits on the target are only the outward proof and confirmation of your purposelessness at its highest, your egolessness, your self-abandonment, or whatever you like to call this state.”
Contemplation Questions (Pick one or create your own!):
What stands in the way of letting go of the outcome?
Is there anything more important than the outcome?
This Week’s Meditations…
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Thank you for reading/listening this week; I hope you found something useful.
Until next time, be wise and be well,
J.W.
P.S. Feel free to comment, ask questions, or make suggestions!