Let it Go

Life is one of the most mysterious creations in the world. Having watchful eye over the people, everyone seems happy on the surface but looks like having hand full of problems. Plato also confirmed the same by saying “be kind for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle”. Unfortunately, more focus is given to health problems rather than mind related problems and hence not much research has been put into this. If whoever lives in this world is suffering from one problem or other, then there must be a solution to this universal problem.

Mind wanders to get an answer for this universal issue. The main focus is to find a solution, if not at least find a fix that relaxes or consoles the mind to proceed our life with these problems. Let’s see some of my insights about certain incidents from the epics.

In ramanayan, lord rama was about to get the kingdom of ayodhya but the situation turned topsy-turvy in one night where he had been asked to go to forest for 14 years. Keeping the story aside, let’s just look at how the characters soaked up this incident and reacted. Being a very loving father, dasardhar couldn’t handle this situation but to leave his body behind for the soul to travel with rama. Lord rama on the other hand, handled it in a very composed manner. Had he foreseen this situation before? How can anyone change their mindset suddenly? What I infer as a secret lesson from this incident is that rama would have practiced his mind to be in semi-detached state always and ready to let go of anything at any point in time. He is ready to accept the kingdom yesterday and ready to accept the forest life today with no regrets, this clearly indicates that he had mastered the art of “letting it go” and therefore handled the situation easily and went ahead in life. In the same way, Lord rama let go of sita just to destroy ravana and his battalion. Rama exhibited this principle of act in many ways in his own life for us to understand and learn.

In mahabharat, Krishna asked draupati to let go of her insults created by gauravas. Krishna even requested her to not to react to this situation and develop vengeance in the heart. But draupati failed to control her mind to practice this principle that resulted in a cruel war.

The same thing has been told in bhagavad gita that whatever you posses have been taken from this universe and when you leave, the same has to be returned to this universe. So, don’t hold onto anything in this world which is not worth enough. Imagine that we are lending a book from a library; we can use it as long as we can but it has to be returned to the library when the date comes. The same concept is applicable to whatever that we have earned here that includes finance, fame, family etc… We can enjoy reading the book similar to how we cherish the relationships but need to register in our mind that we don’t own anything here and hence should be ready enough to let go of anything that we posses.

“Letting it go” principle seems unrealistic but we failed to understand that we are living in a read-only mode lifestyle. We cannot control, undo, and change the incidents, situations, happenings around us. It’s only our illusion even to think that situations are under control. We are only allowed to go through the situations given to us regardless of whether we like it or not. If someone passed away, we have no other choice other than to let go of that person at one point in time. It’s not a new principle or system to be followed but it’s just a realization of what is happening around us and trying to incorporate the same in every aspect of life.

Our arms will be rigid, if we hold on to some items tightly. Similarly, mind becomes rigid when we desperately longing for acquiring something. Rigid mind is like an adamant kid that doesn’t cooperate. As a result of this craving, we put a tight hold on to the person we love, the place we live, the job that gives more money etc… leads to only stress or depression. This acts as a fertilizer for the rigid mind to grow even further to develop possessiveness, arrogance, dominance etc… and “let it go” principle helps our mind to relax a bit. It just pacify our heart and loosens our grip to helps us feel relaxed. The more you let go of yourself, the happier and blissful you will be. Who knows if we practice it regularly, it may be a secret solution for every problem that we face today.