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When I get upset, my husband bears the brunt of my venting. Inevitably, after a while of patient listening, he says:
Let it go.
I always thought this was a copout on his part, but, turns
out, the Bhagavad Gita, a beautiful
ancient Hindu poem, says this…this is the ultimate freedom.
Letting go. Not detachment. Nonattachment.
Subtle is the difference between the two, but it’s there.
Detachment? That’s purposeful. Avoidance. Dropping out of life entirely. Nonattachment,
on the other hand, is a simple… softening. We are still observing. Still
experiencing. Only we’ve loosened our grip.
We've let go of outcome.
Buddha teaches us that existence is suffering and suffering is caused by desire. If you put forth yourself in an effort to desire things, situations, etc., you must hurt when they do not come to fruition. Buddhists believe a detachment from these desires allows us to transcend our current state of humanity into something greater.
ReplyDeleteHowever the Kabbalah teaches us that without desire there can be no fulfillment. Stating that it is desire that propels humanity forward, because without desire there is no action.
So perhaps the best philosophy is somewhere in between. Thomas Jefferson said that "with great risk, comes great reward". Taking chances on desire from time to time in order to live life to the fullest while simultaneously understanding that putting yourself out may cause you pain.