You wake up on a beautiful Sunday morning. The sun is shinning. The sky is a crisp blue. And the temperature outside is already inviting you to be outdoors. You decide it's going to be a splendid day, one that is not to be wasted indoors. After several moments reflecting on how to spend this wonderful day you finally decide on a picnic at a nearby park.
While you shower you go over menu items in which to bring as well as that novel you've been trying to finish. Today will be a perfect day.
You dress.
You collect the food items you decided on and head out to your car.
As you pass by some friendly neighbors who wish you a good morning your heart stops and your stomach tightens as you gaze to where you're sure you parked yesterday.
Between the lines of your designated parking spot where your car should be is nothing but empty space.
Your car has been stolen.
How will you get to work? How will you go to the grocery store? How will you do anything?
The upwelling of emotions, anger, despair, fear, anxiety, and uncertainty, begin to overwhelm your sense of placidity.
This is an example of your servitude to an inanimate object. A possession this is uncaring and unfeeling.
You are not liberated.
So how may we find the liberation we seek?
Where do we begin to look?
Liberation is not found in a book or written in a document somewhere. Although the path towards liberation may be described in these items, but they too are inanimate objects.
Liberation is achieved from one singular action, or the more appropriate term being 'non-action'. And that is 'letting go'.
Letting go is about learning how to respond instead of react and adjusting our current perspectives into one that is less self-centered.
Consider your stolen car example from above, you initially had the expectation that the car would be there when returned. Although that is a 'reasonable' expectation we know that as mindfulness practitioners that all things are impermanent, including cars in a parking spot.
Next, after a few brief moments had elapsed we reacted to several strong catastrophizing emotions thus moving into the future with untimely concerns about getting to work and food shopping. Again, these are relevant concerns but we reacted instead of responded.
And you reacted, and not responded, in such a manor because you are own by a possession. You are not liberated. A car doesn't care who owns it.
Another example of servitude and not liberation could be a work or political decision, regardless of how it personally applies to you. Most often though most decisions have little to no bearing on you but you chose to react instead of respond.
Holding on to an idea as eternal is servitude and not liberation. Holding on to a concept as eternal is servitude and not liberation. Holding on to a notion as eternal is servitude and not liberation.
When we look at our mindset or daily activities we see them as 'set in stone' or we justify them as us being 'set in our ways'. This too is servitude and not liberation. We hold on to 'our ways' out of comfort mostly and not out of what truly benefits us...learning to let go.
When we find ourself being resistant to something new (including the prospect of a stolen car) it's because we expect things to be static or stationary. That will never be the long-term dynamic. So learning to let go with mindful awareness and accepting that all things must pass. And then letting them pass when the situation presents itself, regardless of our personal views, with gratitude.
And it is with gratitude for being in the present moment with what we do have, not what we don't have, is how we walk a path towards liberation.
And with that my friends I wish you all peace and ease,
Vladimir
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