Last week, I wrote about letting come and how that can sometimes be quite challenging for folks to do. This week, I’ll dive into letting go.

When folks use the expression “let it go” in normal conversation, it generally means something like “this isn’t worth obsessing about so try not to think about any more – put it behind you”. The way I use the term contains some of that but is different in important ways.

To let things go for me means to recognize that nothing persists. Everything dies. Every experience you have in your entire life must pass. With emphasis on the word “MUST”, because that is the nature of things.

Contrast the expression “all things must pass” with the expression “life goes on”. Each contains a truth about what it means to be human. The first one says that anything that shows up, be it an experience, a sensation, a sound, a galaxy or a living creature will someday no longer be here. The second one says that despite that, there is a force that persists. Some call it Life. Some call it God. Some call it Spirit. Some call it Pure Consciousness. It’s not one of those “things” that must pass. It’s there before things appear and it’s there after things disappear.

Now, let’s bring this back down to earth. You sit in mindfulness practice. You’re present. Sensations and thoughts come up. They hang around for a bit. Then they pass. Just like everything else in the whole universe!

Your little moment of presence is witnessing the whole show!

It’s all right there for you to watch: everything (and I mean everything) appears in your awareness, hangs around for a bit, then it’s gone. You’re watching life unfold. You’re watching the evolution of the whole universe. You’re watching what Ken Wilber calls “Spirit in Action”.

How amazing is THAT!?

Well, amazing in some ways but also totally mundane. How could it be otherwise?

No, what’s amazing is being present to that. Being fully 100% aware that your experience in that moment is a reflection of, even identical with, the nature of the whole universe, all of evolution, and consciousness itself. Now THAT is cool!

The realization that little old you doing your little old mindfulness practice is one and the same as the whole universe, all of nature, all of time and all of consciousness, well, that’s not trivial.

Sit back, take a deep breath, and watch the Show. Watch sounds and sensations and thoughts and emotions show up, hang around for a bit, then pass. And know the whole time that this is the whole Show. It may be to your liking, and you may want it to persist, and that’s a normal part of being human. But it will pass.

It may be highly unpleasant and you may want it to stop asap but that won’t change a thing. It will pass when it passes.

Letting go is a perspective. It’s a realization. Right here, right now, this experience you’re experiencing is the whole of life.

Let it come and let it go.