“We come to the profound realization that the true path to liberation is to let go of everything.” Jack Kornfield
As we grow and change and evolve it is natural that our needs and our environment should change and evolve along with us, otherwise we are like a rose trying to bloom in the desert of the past. Our life is a reflection of what we value and, as what we value transforms, so does our life transform: our environment, our friends, and our activities. Sometimes these changes require a decision be made that says, “This doesn’t fit me anymore; it doesn’t describe me. I’m going to let it go and replace it with something better, something higher.”
It very often requires courage to let go, to detach. In fact, Sunburst teaches that detachment is one of the important words describing the virtue of courage. One of its opposites is grasping.
It takes courage to go into battle, but it also takes courage to walk away from the battlefield when we are called to stop fighting. An example is to let go of a relationship or an activity that no longer serves you. We grasp, clutching onto the hope that someone else or something else will change. We hold onto key people, places, and things because we are attached (sometimes addicted), and feel that we need them, that we won’t be happy without them, even if we are miserable with them.
Detachment is key on the spiritual path. It is difficult to go far without it—like trying to reach the top of Mount Everest but forgetting your water or your oxygen, or like trying to sail into outer space without dropping your booster rockets. Detachment is the ability to let go of every person, place, or thing that holds us back from progressing along the way. There are activities and people that, although they bring some pleasure or comfort in the moment, it is more destructive than constructive to have them in our lives. How can we detach so that we can move over onto the fast track in our spiritual life? After all, letting go leaves a void.
Filling that void with devotion is key. When we develop a love for God and a passion for God Union, where God becomes our mother, father, lover and best friend, our all-in-all, then little else is needed. “Become a spiritual alcoholic!” Yogananda said. This passion for God gives us the courage to do what we must do to live a healthy, serviceable life on the fast track to God. Devotion, in its ultimate form, gives us the ability to let go of everything, even of the small self we perceive ourselves to be, cleaving at last solely to the act of loving God.
God please empower me to let go of everything and everyone that is holding me back on the path homeward. I only want to see Your face. I only want to be with You. Make me a courageous Warrior of Light, strong in Your service. I am Yours, forevermore.
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” ~Winston Churchill
We can get very serious during hard times of difficult challenges. Humor uplifts the vibration of everything. It is a powerful, helpful tool for returning us to a state of equanimity.
Norm Paulsen, the founder of Sunburst, loved to laugh and he laughed with all his might and being.
Ananda Moyi Ma
Ananda Moyi Ma was a great saint of India. It is reported that in her ashram when the vibration would get too serious, she would begin to laugh…and laugh…and laugh the merriment of God, until everyone was laughing with her and the vibration of Joy would reign supreme. She said:
Whenever you have the chance, laugh as much as you can. But to laugh superficially is not enough; your whole being must be united in laughter, both outwardly and inwardly. Do you know what this kind of laughter is like? You simply shake with merriment from head to foot. In order to be able to laugh in this way you must have implicit faith in the power of the all-pervasive Self and try to bring the outer and inner parts of your being into perfect harmony.
Do not multiply your needs, nor give way to a sense of want, but live a life of spotless purity. Making the interests of others your own, seek refuge at His feet in total surrender. You will then see how the laughter that flows from such a heart defeats the pain of the world.
Father-Mother God, teach me to laugh more often, and to see everything as you do. Help me make this effort to raise my vibration to your vibration of pure joy that I may merge with you, my true self, who is joy, ever-new joy, joy everlasting. Amen.
“I, a tiny bubble of laughter, have become the sea of mirth itself!” – Paramahansa Yogananda
Norman Paulsen, the founder of Sunburst, loved spending time out in Nature. “Mother’s Nature” he called it. He said: “Look at that sun shining out there. Look at that blue sky and the waters upon the earth. What a miracle! Look at the mountains and valleys covered with Mother’s natural images, her garden of life-forms.”
When I am facing difficult challenges, the focus of my attention can become very small. My thoughts and energies center around my problem or situation, making me feel like my brain is stuck in a self-made steam room. It is so helpful at these times to go out into the wide, open spaces of Nature. There, in the cool breezes, I am able to regain a sense of perspective, peace and equanimity. I begin to feel, “Gee, the world is so big, beautiful, and full of God, what I’m going through doesn’t seem so huge a deal after all. You know, everything is all right!”
Ananda Moyi Ma of India encouraged her students to partake of the healing forces of Nature. She told them, “Try always to spend as much time as you can in the open air. Gaze to your heart’s content at the lofty mountains or on the wide ocean. If you cannot do anything else, at least peer at the open sky whenever you have the chance. Little by little the rigid knots that make up your shackles will be loosened and you will find yourself becoming freer. A fully awakened consciousness functions only through and untrammeled mind and body. When both body and mind are light it is easy to attain to Liberation.”
Father-Mother God, help me make time to commune with you in nature. May your cool waters, your warm breezes, and your dappled shade become a healing force in my life. I take the time to heal, to rejuvenate,and to play, that I may all the better serve you. Amen
The symbol for the virtue of equanimity is a woman holding the balance scales, blindfolded, that she may judge without prejudice. (She is not allowed to peek!). One quality that is an opposite of equanimity is that of being judgmental.
How wonderful it would be if I didn’t have any judgment about my challenges. Instead of saying, “Oy vey, not another one!” if I could really live the song: “I like the sunshine; I like the rain; I like the good times; I like the pain, ’cause it’s all the same when you’re livin’ the life!”
Yes, I can see life as a journey of hills and valleys designed by Love for my growth and for my joy. God is with me. God, is for me. This is truly possible when all I want is to be close to God. Rumi wrote, “The snow brings me closer to Your lips.”
When I am sad, I am close to God. When I am happy, I am close to God. So, what do the ups and downs of life matter? I am always close to God! All I need to do is remember this.
Beloved God, I receive my challenges with an open heart, knowing that they make me strong and wise. I embrace the times that are difficult because they bring me closer to you. Today, through your grace, I hope to make someone else’s load lighter. Amen
In hard times, may the Sufi story of “The Good Gardner and the Pea” help to bring us into peace and equanimity.
There once was a Good Gardner who planted the seed of a pea bush. He first chose a spot in his garden where the light would be just right for the bush to grow strong and healthy. He amended the soil and carefully planted the seed. Then the good gardener watched over it, watering it every day and keeping away the weeds. Under his care, the little bush grew until it had large pea pods all over it.
One day, very pleased, the Good Gardner went out and picked his peas. He boiled a pot of water on the stove and shelled the peas into it. One little pea cried out from the boiling water,
“Why are you doing this to me! I thought you loved me!”
The Good Gardner looked into the pot with all love and answered the little pea: “Because, little pea, I’m about to take you into myself.”
May all of us who are facing difficult challenges understand that our pain and suffering is growing us, tenderizing us, and making us ready to be consumed by the Divine Gardener.
Father-Mother God, I thank you that I am on the path homeward. Make me ready for union with you; to see as you see; to love as you love; to be fully united unto your very existence, consciousness, and bliss. Amen
