Focus on Letting go

[RedLantern]

Independant of the meditation object we choose,we already possess the means to become peaceful. We only need to focus on letting go of hindering attitudes that give rise to grasping and identification,the likes and dislikes or the grasping and identification,the likes and dislikes or the worldly dharmas. that may otherwise overpower us

[Tenzin K]

If we contemplate desires and listen to them, we are actually no longer attaching to them; we are just allowing them to be the way they are. Then we come to the realisation that the origin of suffering, desire, can be laid aside and let go of.

How do we let go of things? This means we leave them as they are; it does not mean we annihilate them or throw them away. It is more like setting down and letting them be. Through the practice of letting go we realise that there is the origin of suffering, which is the attachment to desire, and we realise that we should let go of these three kinds of desire. Then we realise that we have let go of these desires; there is no longer any attachment to them.

When we find yourself attached, remember that ‘letting go’ is not ‘getting rid of’ or ‘throwing away’. If I’m holding onto this clock and you say, ‘Let go of it!’, that doesn’t mean ‘throw it out’. I might think that I have to throw it away because I’m attached to it, but that would just be the desire to get rid of it. We tend to think that getting rid of the object is a way of getting rid of attachment. But if I can contemplate attachment, this grasping of the clock, I realise that there is no point in getting rid of it - it’s a good clock; it keeps good time and is not heavy to carry around.

[cookie]

The Buddha said that our addictive behaviour is the root of all suffering.
 
But why is it so difficult to let go? Why is it so hard to give up a bad habit or an ex-lover? The truth is that most of us suffer from a feeling of inner emptiness that we are trying to fill up with our various attachments - often without much success. One person may eat too much, another may cling to an unloving partner while a third may get addicted to social media. But none of this can fill our inner emptiness.
There are various meditations to help one to reduce the grasping and work on letting go. One very profound method is to meditate on death. As time goes by with this consistent meditation on death you will realise nothing in this world is worth hanging on to except the Dharma, cause that's all you can bring with you at death .

[sandra]

We used to talk about attachment vs let go. I believe sometimes we can understand it by surface however is very hard and difficult for us to let go because we are habitual for many many life times, it caused us serious attached to whatever we have and give in to our desire and subsequently created a lot of sufferings. We need to have a lot and a lot of merits and wisdom to practice and invoke the blessings from the three jewels to conquer our inner desire, to eliminate the attachment and subsequently to minimise the sufferings. I truly rejoiced for those who have decided to renounce. This is the first move for us to find our way to cease the sufferings.

[Matibhadra]

If ”letting go”, which is mere forgetfulness, would bring about the end of mental afflictions, ordinary sentient beings would have all achieved nirvana a long time ago, because ordinary sentient beings are all forgetful of their actions, of their mental afflictions, of their vows and commitments, and so forth.

Now, a contributory cause or factor which does enhance mental afflictions is inappropriate attention, and not paying attention to an object which increases afflictions does help reducing their power temporarily, until they are fully exterminated by an actual antidote. This is the advice of Shantideva in his Guide.

However, mental afflictions, such as ignorance, desirous attachment, anger, and so forth, do not go away by just ”letting go”. They have to be actively eradicated by their temporary antidotes, such as love, compassion, and bodhichitta, and by their ultimate antidote, direct, non-conceptual realization of emptiness.

Assuming that mental afflictions cease by themselves by just ”letting go” or forgetfulness is the evil advice of the Chinese Ch'an monk Hashang Mahayana, soundly defeated by the Indian master Kamalashila in the famous debate of Samye, under the eyes of the great king Trisong Detsen, the emanation of Manjushri.