I’ve been in a rather intense period of learning and letting go and learning and letting go and there are a couple of things that really stand out for me about that at this point in my life.
First about learning… We all have an amazing inner teacher that is always on hand no matter what (not new news but new and deeper appreciation) and we also have wonderful teachers in other bodies who are powerful resources for reminding us of what we are and redirecting us when we get lost in the phenomenal world. These teachers have lived in every age, and we call many of them mystics. They have shared their experiences and views with us so that we too can experience a more transcendent view of life.
When I say transcendent, I’m not meaning that we see ourselves above the mundane everyday events and experiences of life but that we are able to include all of life and be aware that there is something far greater behind and within it all. It’s not escaping life as we so often seem to want to do, but rather embracing life exactly as it is, which is where the letting go comes in.
In order to have a more transcendent view we have to be able to let go of the hold we have on our current point of view. It may inform us; it may be part of the bigger picture but when we are so caught up in our personal perspective, we cannot see beyond it or include other perspectives. Then we are truly imprisoned by our ideas rather than being supported by them.
So often when we say we want to experience more freedom what we really need is to let go of how we’ve been interpreting life so that we can be present to it rather than what we think about it. We need to free ourselves from our own dramas and what we learned or assumed about life growing up and in earlier stages. Most of the time we don’t even know that what we think we see isn’t really what’s there, it’s our made-up version about it which we’re so accustomed to we think it’s the way it is.
That’s why I’ve grown to love contemplative practices that help me to let go, to open to more transcendent views and to love more whole heartedly. Practices like meditation, journaling, reading, especially what the mystics have to say about life, being present to nature and to the moment, being mindful as well as other embodiment practices that help me to go beyond the mental/intellectual level of awareness. There are far more contemplative practices than I ever imagined, and I appreciate them all because they offer something for everyone. We don’t all respond to the same practices and sometimes it takes a fair bit of trial and error to find the ones that really resonate and are transformative for us but it’s well worth the price of admission if you ask me.
Namaste
