Chapter 30 Let go

Most human suffering occurs because we don't know how to let go. For example, we hold on to unpleasant thoughts and experiences when we should let them pass. Or we try to solve emotional problems by replaying the episode that triggered the emotion over and over. But in our efforts we end up perpetuating the suffering instead of making things better. What we need to do is learn to let go and allow the bad feelings to dissipate naturally, because eventually they will.

Allow the bad feelings to dissipate naturally, because eventually they will.

It's like riding a stationary bike in a gym. If you stop peddling, the wheels will eventually come to a stop. Holding onto a thought is like adding to the spin. We keep peddling. We go over and over the same thoughts  in our head. We get wound up. We're not getting anywhere, but our bodies feel like they've just completed the Tour de France.

You see, often we create our own struggles and slow down our progress in life. There is a story that illustrates the point well. three men set out on a journey. Each carried two sacks around his neck - one in front and on his back. Which one of them finished first?

The first man was asked what was in his sacks. 'In this one on my back,' he said, 'I carry all the kind deeds of my friends. In that way they're out of sight and out of mind and I don't have to do anything about them. They're soon forgotten. This sack in front carries all the unkind things people do to me. I pause on my journey every day and take these out to study. It slows me down, but nobody gets away with anything.'


The second man said he kept his own good deeds in his front sack. 'I constantly keep them before me,' he said. 'It gives me pleasure to take them out and air them.' 'The sack on your back seems heavy,' someone remarked. 'What 's in it?' 'Merely my little mistakes,' said the second man. 'I always keep them on my back.'


The third man was asked what he kept in his sacks. 'I carry my friends' kind deeds in this front sack,' he said. 'It looks full. It must be heavy,' said an observer. 'No,' said the third man, 'it's big, but not heavy. Far from being a burden, it's like the sails of a ship. It helps me move ahead.' 'I notice the sack behind you has a hole in the bottom,' said the observer. 'It seems empty and of very little use.' 'That's where I put all the evil I hear from others,' said the third man. 'It just falls out and is lost, so I have no weight to hinder me.'