The Art of Letting Go

The Art of Letting Go  

When you sit and meditate, even if you don't gain any intuitive insights, make sure at least that you know this much: When the breath comes in, you know. When it goes out, you know. 

When it's long, you know. When it's short, you know. Whether it's comfortable or uncomfortable, you know. If you can know this much, you're doing fine. As for the various thoughts and concepts that come into the mind, brush them away — whether they're good or bad, whether they deal with the past or the future. Don't let them interfere with what you're doing — and don't go chasing after them to straighten them out. When a thought of this sort comes passing in, simply let it go passing on. Keep your awareness, unperturbed, in the present.

When we say that the mind goes here or there, it's not really the mind that goes. Only concepts go. 

Concepts are like shadows of the mind. If the body is still, how will its shadow move? The movement of the body is what causes the shadow to move, and when the shadow moves, how will you catch hold of it? 

Shadows are hard to catch, hard to shake off, hard to set still. The awareness that forms the present: That's the true mind. The awareness that goes chasing after concepts is just a shadow. Real awareness — "knowing" — stays in place. It doesn't stand, walk, come, or go. As for the mind — the awareness that doesn't act in any way coming or going, forward or back — it's quiet and unperturbed. And when the mind is thus its normal, even, undistracted self — i.e., when it doesn't have any shadows — we can rest peacefully. 

But if the mind is unstable, uncertain, and wavering, concepts arise and go flashing out — and we go chasing after them, hoping to drag them back in. The chasing after them is where we go wrong. This is what we have to correct. Tell yourself: Nothing is wrong with your mind. Just watch out for the shadows.

You can't improve your shadow. Say your shadow is black. You can scrub it with soap till your dying day, and it'll still be black — because there's no substance to it. So it is with your concepts. You can't straighten them out, because they're just images, deceiving you.

The purpose of training the mind to be still is to simplify things. When things are simplified, the mind can settle down and rest. And when the mind has rested, it'll gradually become bright, in and of itself, and give rise to knowledge. But if we let things get complicated — if we let the mind get mixed up with sights, sounds, smells, tastes, tactile sensations, and ideas — that's darkness. Knowledge won't have a chance to arise.

When intuitive knowledge does arise, it can — if you know how to use it — lead to liberating insight. But if you let yourself get carried away by knowledge of the past or future, you won't get beyond the mundane level. 

In other words, if you dabble too much in knowledge of physical things, without gaining wisdom with regard to the workings of the mind, it can leave you spiritually immature.

Whatever appears, good or bad, true or false, don't let yourself feel pleased, don't let yourself get upset. 

Keep the mind balanced and neutral, and discernment will arise. You'll see that the vision or sign displays the truth of stress: it arises (is born), fades (ages), and disappears (dies).

If you get hooked on your intuitions, you're asking for trouble. Knowledge that proves false can hurt you. 

Knowledge that proves true can really hurt you. If what you know is true, and you go telling other people, you're bragging. If it turns out to be false, it can backfire on you. This is why those who truly know say that knowledge is the essence of stress: It can hurt you. 

Knowledge is part of the flood of views and opinions over which we have to cross. If you hang onto knowledge, you've gone wrong. If you know, simply know, and let it go at that. You don't have to be excited or pleased. You don't have to go telling other people.

So whatever you know, simply be aware of it and let it go. Don't let there be the assumption that "I know." 

When you can do this, your mind can attain the transcendent, free from attachment.

~ Ajahn Lee Dhammadharo