Tosia H Zraikat

Wu Wei, Sich Lassen, Let Go

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sich lassen is the German equivalent of the Chinese Wu Wei, letting go, letting things be, a fundamental principle of Taoism. It is also part of the Christian teaching of Surrender though its deeper aspects there are rarely recognised.

Pain - physical and emotional - are great teachers of acceptance, and it is largely through them that I have learned that I am not the owner of my life, that while I am captain of my life, and am continually choosing and adjusting its course, my life has a direction and deep purpose that I cannot fully know or understand, not in this life, and probably not in many lives to come. The only way that I can begin to know my true direction is through acceptance, by recognising the limits of my control and accepting those aspects of life that I can neither control nor understand.

What I have done for most of my life, often to my own detriment is hang on, endure. I am very good at enduring. But enduring is not acceptance. Enduring is holding on with all one's might. Acceptance is letting things be, allowing, letting go of any effort to control, or even to understand. Letting go is Surrender. That is something I learned very slowly, and with many false starts.

Yet learn it I did, more or less. 

Yet in certain conditions, I still struggle with letting go, with accepting the suffering and injustice imposed on so many, the intentional misuse and abuse of power over others for personal or political gain: the many persistent wars that are killing so many for the ambitions and greed of men; the knowing destruction of natural environments for the sake of greed; the evil perpetrated against fellow humans in the name of religion and ideologies ..... Every day, something in me burns, and I must call on Spirit to help me quench the flames.

And I do. I turn within, and there beneath my first reactions I find a steadfast recognition that even the worst of things may be part of our spiritual unfolding, and that even within pain, injustice, mankind's cruelty can be found God's infinite love, offered without judgement, without blame or disappointment in the undying desire for our awakening.

I used to find the phrase, 'give it over to Jesus or God' selfish, a form of escapism and avoiding of responsibility. It has taken me until now, late in my life, to understand the value of acceptance, not trying to escape anguish over human suffering, or my own, but allowing it as part of my human experience, and knowing that I can share it with my God, the Beloved that is within me and fills the universe, who knows the suffering of every human heart, of each creature, and at every moment, offers comfort. I let go, and in letting go, release that which hurts, which burns with outrage or sorrow so that my heart can fall lightly into the comfort of the Holy, which is my foundation.

Sich Lassen I       1982

I thought I understood

until the ground opened and

the scaffolding tumbled into the dark.    

I will save it, I cried,

With ropes I will raise it

with water I will wash it clean

But eons I have waited through long moaning nights

and the ropes are slack.

There are no answers, are there?

Only the vast loneliness of Self

whispering in the deafening noise of mind,

‘Let go. Let be.’

 

Art by Tatiana Wright.  Photo of Natasha doing yoga.

Thinking about the contradictions of human behavior

This morning in a cafe, I finished a piece of very mediocre apple pie, wondering why I had eaten something that from first bite I did not enjoy. Why? Because it was there, on my plate. Because I had been taught to never waste food, to finish what was before me .... just because.

Oh, the contrariness of human nature!

I, who seek to be authentic in all things, who does everything she can to surround herself with beauty, with genuineness, who continually wants to simplify, to pare away all that is false, useless, a drain or burden on my body, mind and soul ---- I eat something that is neither good for me nor uplifting because I began, and something in me feels I should see it through.

Isn't that what we tend to do? We take a position on this or that world or national event, and instead of exploring that position, that perception, instead of even considering the possibility that there might be other ways of seeing that event, we hold onto that position. Holding onto a position means closing the door to open discussion, finding common ground, working through differences, open-mindedness or cooperation. We choose a side, a stance, an idea, and dig in as if we were building fortifications, holding onto our little piece of territory despite its intrinsic limitations, its flaws, its one-sidedness. Even worse if there are others with us, digging in, creating walls beyond which everyone is the enemy, or at best, a fool.

And so we contradict ourselves, acting against our highest spiritual ideals, our own common sense, even our wellbeing, not to speak of the wellbeing of others, of our nations, our world.

How vital it is, how utterly essential that we are ever mindful of what we do and why, and of our core values, and that we pull ourselves continually back onto the path of those ideals, those spiritual values.

How profound the teaching to become like a little child, trusting, open, not attached to one way, one ideology, one way of thinking. So may it be.