Letting go does not mean we will end up
having nothing. On the contrary, only by letting go
can one be at ease and liberated.
— “Letting Go”
Buddha-Dharma: Pure and Simple
Letting Go
It is human nature to desire gain. For those who are used to having,
they will certainly be resistant when told to let go. Just imagine, what
is left once we let go of fame, money, love, gains, and everything
else?
Letting go does not mean we will end up having nothing. On the
contrary, only by letting go can one be at ease and liberated. Like a
suitcase, pick it up when needed, and let go when not—this is the way
to ease one’s burden.
Once, there was an old villager who visited his family in the city.
To welcome him, his family gave the old man a jar of candy. However,
when the old man put his hand into the jar, it got stuck. Anxious, the
family tried all means to help the old man pull his hand out of the jar
but to no avail. In the end, they had no choice but to smash the jar. It
was then they realized that the old man had been too greedy and had
his hand full of candies. This is why he could not pull out his hand. It
was his unwillingness to let go that led him to be stuck.
Truly, life can be very tough for all. When one refuses to let go of
a person, to let go of a matter, to let go of a comment, or to let go of
anything, one bears a heavy burden, and therefore feels stressed and
unable to breathe.
62 Letting Go
Once, a brahmin came to the Buddha with two pots of flowers. As
soon as the Buddha saw him at the door, he immediately said, “Let
go!”
The brahmin put one of the pots down.
The Buddha repeated, “Let go!”
The brahmin reluctantly put the other pot down as well.
“Let go!” the Buddha said once again.
“Oh, Buddha!” the brahmin asked, “I’ve let go of both pots of
flowers. What else is there to let go of?”
The Buddha answered, “There is much to let go of! Your arrogance,
wrong view, attachments, suspicions, and ignorance; all of these have
to be let go of.”
Without letting go, no matter the amount or value of fame, wealth,
money, and love that one possesses, they will become a source of
pressure and affliction.
For most people, it is already difficult to let go of fame and
wealth—let alone joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness—but this is
what life is about. One must cultivate the ability to be both great and
insignificant, to know when to yield and when not to, to have and not
have, to be superior and inferior. It is a pity that people nowadays find
it hard to let go of even a comment, a matter, or a person—all due to a
lack of inner strength. If one’s mind is magnanimous that one lets go
and picks up with ease, then one can achieve great things.
Every day, Master Budai carried a sack around and often said,
“I walk with my sack, I sit with my sack; if I let go of the sack, how
carefree would that be?” The sack refers to all the burdens we carry
in our hearts. How carefree would it be to just let go of the sack! We
must learn to let go of our sack to truly experience a carefree life.
