Is it possible to be in the world, not of the world and still enjoy the earthly beauty of family, friends and simple pleasures? How do we let go of the attachments we have to the sunrise and sunset, moon rays, loved ones and family?
When my uncle was dying and knew he was dying, he said to Tomaso and I, “How can I leave my family?” Then as we all have to do, he surrendered to the next journey. My aunt joined him when she was 102 young. She took up painting when she was 98.
The only way to surrender each of our wants and desires must be done with honesty and humor. Spiritual teachings say that once you stop wanting everything, you have it all. If you pretend you don’t have any more wants, that’s cheating. And “the Universe knows.”
You can’t “try to surrender.” That is fake surrender. We must embrace our humanity and be real.
We talk about attachments in the Ram Dass immersion course all the time. Ram Dass mentions the strange Western predilection of holding on to material possessions, owning more and more and not finding happiness in the process, in many of his lectures.
The word to apply as we let go of attachments is surrender. A good practice is to notice the attachment as it arises, then let it go.
A house my family frequented often as I was growing up was sold to a local funeral director. Pearl and I went to see it today and it is disturbingly uncared for, torn apart, grown up with tall weeds and in essence vulnerable to influences beyond anyone’s control.
I had to inwardly say, “Let Go Let God.”
In the end, that’s all any of us can do with all arising attractions, aversions and everything else we are caught by. OM
