Letting Go

There is a certain arrogance to a human being.  We have discovered so much about the physical aspects of this universe, and we have learned to change our natural environment.  We have the ability to change an organism’s genetic code, formulate new chemical elements, and peer into the origins of the universe.  So from the perspective of what has been accomplished by humans over the last five thousand years, or even just the last 150 years… it is easy to see why we give ourselves so much credit.

But for scientists, the first thing they should admit is how much they still do not know.  All fields of research continue to push their boundaries of knowledge with thousands of scientific papers published each year.  Sit with any scientist and have them explain their field of study, and after each dissertation, ask “why?”  It will take fewer “why’s” than the fingers on your hand to reach the edge of their knowledge.  It seems the more we learn, the more there is to discover.  And why should this not be the case, after all, existence is infinite and so far we have only scratched at the gross physical.

We have influenced nature on the planet.  In our own lives as well, we strive for control – over people, and over outcomes.  Fear and the instinct for self-preservation are most prevalent in how people behave in today’s world.  We always seem to have pre-conceived notions about how we want things to turn out, and usually the scenario is one of coming out ahead of others.

Now let’s zoom away from the human spectrum of awareness and go deep into the microscopic scale, or go out to the cosmic scale.  This universe flows according to an unfathomable inherent intelligence that is self-evident if we just turn off our egos and look without self-proclaimed judgements and opinions.  How does nature perform millions of tiny miracles every day?  How do galaxies spin through their inexplorable journeys though a seemingly infinite cosmos?  The mysteries of existence are awe-inspiring if we could just peer up from our text books and look with selfless eyes.

When the universe can bloom flawlessly as it has for what we calculate to be 13.8 billion years – and that is just the dimension we know of – then how can a human life just be in the hands of a selfish creature out for its own egoic satisfaction?  We have a will to choose that option, or to let the reins go and submit to the natural flow of life.  We have the choice to live a life full of friction, or a life of devotion to the naturally arising energies that manifest in our lives.  Can we let go enough to joyfully welcome all the happiness and pain equally, recognizing that there is a larger plan at play than what we perceive with our fearful eyes.

The English novelist E.M. Forster said, “We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.”