Day 28 -Holding Tightly, Letting Go Lightly

I once heard the great meditation teacher Ram Dass use this phrase and it speaks to  what we are given to do to develop the experience of stillness. Stillness is actually a feeling that we do not so much have to develop as uncover. If we go deep inside ourselves we find the experience of stillness. 

What is stillness? It is a deep knowing without words. It is the experience of a young mother with her infant, no words needed to pass between them. It is the experience of lovers who are with the right person. Stillness is in the artist as they let genius flow from them into the world. It is an experience of deep calm bigger than any action or movement.

We come to  know what stillness feels like. It is not a state we can create, but we can promote its likely presence by conditions that make it more probable. Like a breeze you cannot make it happen, but you can certainly increase the possibility by opening a window.

The window we open is a consistent self discipline that we are active in through all seasons of life. In good times and bad we do the practice that best supports us in the active experience of the calm. We also hold tightly to the code of living we have and do not surrender it to the current demonization of self versus others. Holding tightly these elements save us from the storm of reactive identification that strands outside of the warmth of our own heart. 

We let go lightly realizing that no matter how right we are we know that we are also wrong. We can be honest with ourselves in that no human being is right 100% of the time. We let go lightly in realizing that everything changes, including our bodies and those thoughts and opinions we hold dear. Thoughts are things, and all things break one day.

In letting go lightly we have the experience of ageless aging, vibrant and with growing wisdom. We find we can be physical throughout life if we are willing to listen to our bodies and our intuition. Holding on tightly and letting go lightly is the remedy for relieving suffering and realizing that you are thriving.