Searching for ‘Zen Flesh Zen Bones’ on my bookshelf I spotted ‘Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah’. Written by the author of Jonathan Livingston Seagull, Richard Bach’s story concerns a barnstormer working the rural communities in the Midwest of the United States. Somewhere he describes how this reluctant messiah teaches the narrator to walk on water; it’s all in the mind, of course! But more importantly Bach starts his book with this little story which is worth repeating.
“Once there lived a colony of creatures (Note 1) along the bottom of a great crystal river. The current swept silently over them all, young and old, rich and poor, good and evil, the current knowing its own way. Each creature in their own way clung tightly to the rocks at the bottom of the river, for clinging was their way of life, what they had learned from birth. But one day a young creature said he was tired of clinging, was bored, that he would let go, trust the current and let it take him where it would. The other creatures said he would surely die, smashed against the rocks but, unpersuaded, he let go and the current lifted him up and took him downstream, free. Creatures downstream saw him and cried: ‘See, a miracle! He’s the messiah come to save us.’ ‘I am no more the messiah than you. The river delights to lift us free, if only we dare to let go ……’.
Ah! Yes! If only we dare to let go ……
Then I was reminded of something I wrote over ten years ago about letting go. I had come across a poem attached to the wall of a café in Tasmania, a remote and sparsely populated island state in Australia. It was a list of such lovely exhortations with a positive spin, found in such a bizarre place, it begged to be copied and studied. There are many examples of ‘letting go’ that come to mind and those who read this column may begin to reflect on their own circumstances, their own experiences.
In the jobs we do, roles we undertake, companies we work for, we all make many and varied attachments. Since the 1990s, redundancy has sadly become a normal feature of the working environment; “Sorry, Simon, we’re going to have to ‘let you go’.” After all the emotional turmoil these few words induce has eventually subsided, you understand that ‘letting go’ is not to deny, but to accept; accept that the decision’s been made, look forward and hopefully you begin to feel free – but the key to that freedom is realistically looking at the attachments you made to that role, that job, that company, and letting them go, permanently.
As humans we are naturally driven towards establishing relationships; relationships wax and wane as sure as the phases of the moon. Sometimes ending a relationship is really, really tough. And to ‘let go’ of the relationship requires one not to judge, but to allow the other to be a human being, to allow them to affect their destinies, to face reality. Easy to say, not easy to do; it hurts, letting go, but once you do, a great sense of relief floods the body and mind.
I wanted Tom my Labrador to live forever!! He was so lovely, so gorgeous, but as he grew older and older I had to face reality; that life is finite, and in his case I’d have to decide for him that his pain-free, carefree existence was over. Letting go of the negative memories of making that final decision and agonising over whether it was the right one (the “If only …..”!) have allowed me to be thankful for the life that he had and the love that he gave.
We so often dwell in the past, where are memories are stored, and forget to try and live in the present, like in the savasana position in yoga. And there’s a tendency to sometimes regret decisions we’ve made, paths we’ve taken, – “If only I had ….”. Free yourself by ‘letting go’ and not regretting the past, but to grow and live for the future.
In 2012 Celina and I moved to our current apartment, which has little storage space. I knew I had to ‘let go’ of things. In this case not take them to some half-way stage, a self-storage unit, a sort of ‘left luggage’, but to sell them, give them away, take them to the council tip. How hard was it? In reality, not too bad; if I hadn’t used something for 5 years, it went. Furniture that didn’t fit or was wrong for the apartment got sold, given away, painted. Books I had bought but never read, some I had read and were never going to read again, went to the Charity shop. Clothes went to same way. Gradually light and air began to circulate within the enlarged space.
There are few more important guiding principles to the way we approach our lives than taking on board the exhortations of ‘letting go’. As my daily yoga practice encourages me to ‘let go’ of those attachments I’ve made to a past posture and still the mind, outside of the studio those words found on the wall of the faraway café can bring a positive affect to anyone who cares to read them. Above all try to stop being fearful, be “fear less”, learn to truly relax “and love more.”
And if you want other recommendations to engage your brain, read ‘The Tao of Pooh’ by Benjamin Hoff or ‘Who Moved my Cheese’ by Dr Spencer Johnson. The latter story revolves around four characters searching for some cheese in a maze. As the cheese keeps moving, the characters are forced to confront their fears and adapt to change; happiness and success awaits.
Richard 27th December 2024
Hove
Note 1 Bach doesn’t describe them in any way, just ‘little creatures’. Your imagination will create its own picture ……
postcards 