Aloha Friends,
I was recently listening to a meditation lecture and really liked how the teacher mentioned to “let it be” as opposed to “let it go”. I hear the popular saying “let it go” in yoga, meditations and massage a lot, but it seems to me, a rootless saying, intangible and too much a catch phrase. Let it be acknowledges the existence of anything, whether unpleasant or blissful. While let it go seems to get rid of what is happening, which as you may have experienced will only come back until whatever it is, will be properly felt and experienced.
The following is part of an article I saved from The Yoga Journal that is in a story like form and is a good example of let it be. I saved this several years ago and unfortunately I do not know the author. It is a popular Buddhist teaching, so this is one author’s translation. I hope you enjoy. Have a “Let it Be” weekend.
Aloha and Namaste, Johanna
“A farmer’s most valuable asset is the one horse he owns. One day it runs away. All the townspeople commiserate with him, “Oh, what terrible luck! You’ve fallen into poverty now, with no way to pull the plow or move your goods!” the farmer merely responds, “I don’t know if it’s unfortunate or not; all I know is that my horse is gone.”
A few days later, the horse returns, and following it are six more horses, both stallions and mares. the townspeople say “Oh, you’ve struck it rich! Now you have seven horses to your name!” Again, the farmer says, “I don’t know if I’m fortunate or not; all I know is that I now have seven horses in my stable.”
A few days later, while the farmer’s son is trying to break in one of the wild stallions, he’s thrown from the horse and breaks his leg and shoulder. All the townspeople bemoan his fate. “Oh, how terrible! Your son has been so badly injured, he’ll not be able to help you with the harvest. What a misfortune!” The farmer responds. “I don’t know if it’s misfortune or not; what I know is that my son has been badly injured.”
Less than a week later, the army sweeps through town, conscripting all the young men to fight in a war….all except the farmer’s son, who is unable to fight because of his injury.”
The point of the story is, you can’t know what changes your life will bring or what the ultimate consequences will be. There’s very little we can control other than our response to events, circumstances, people etc.