No one tells you how much you need to let go of to truly master your mind. We can all understand that if you really want to achieve greater control over yourself and reach higher states of consciousness, you may need to give up conflicting goals or activities. When we first start going deeper into perfecting the art, we soon discover the habits and routines we need to let go of.
But what of the more subtle things? What else do we need to say goodbye to?
Mastery of the art of meditation is a continuous unveiling, revealing layers of attachment we weren’t even aware we carried. It’s a process of letting go, not just of tangible possessions or conflicting future aspirations, but also of the internal forces that disrupt our inner equilibrium and hinder our progress towards stillness. This includes recognising and releasing disruptive subtle emotional attachments, some of which we may have carried for years without realising their impact on our present state of mind.
This process extends beyond simply releasing thoughts and emotions in the moment. It requires confronting those internal forces that deplete our energy and disrupt our inner harmony – vices like pride, aggression, greed, and envy. These vices act as energetic drains, diverting our attention and fueling a cycle of reactivity. Pride can make us overly sensitive to criticism, while aggression keeps us in a state of constant agitation. Greed leaves us perpetually dissatisfied, and envy breeds resentment and bitterness. Each of these vices creates a turbulent inner landscape, making it challenging to find the stillness and clarity that meditation cultivates.
Anything that draws your focus away from your higher nature in day-to-day life also weakens your focus in your meditation practice.
Letting go of these vices is not about suppressing them or denying their existence. It’s about recognising their presence, understanding their impact on our well-being, and consciously choosing to cultivate their antidotes. Humility can counter pride, compassion can dissolve aggression, contentment can neutralise greed, and gratitude can overcome envy. This process of letting go is not a one-time event but a continuous practice. It requires self-awareness, honesty, and a willingness to confront the hidden aspects of our nature. In truth, emotional fixations often feel very good and are not seen as a shortcoming at first, and it takes a while to recognise them.
But the journey doesn’t stop there. It also involves recognising and releasing the subtle ways in which our emotions can become entangled with external events and circumstances, including those from our past. This might involve letting go of past hurts, regrets, or even lingering attachments to people we no longer have in our lives. It’s about learning to truly say goodbye, not in a way that negates the value of those past connections but in a way that allows us to move forward freely, unburdened by the weight of lingering attachment.
It’s not just the big emotional events from the past that can hold you back, it’s the many lingering connections, often through kindness, that waste your energy, and you need to let go of them.
Anything in life that triggers strong emotional reactions – be it a heated political debate, a dramatic news story, or even a captivating novel – has the potential to disrupt our inner equilibrium. These emotional triggers can hijack our attention, consume our mental energy, and leave us feeling agitated, distracted, or emotionally drained. This emotional turbulence makes it challenging to settle into the stillness and quietude that meditation requires.
The challenge lies in recognising these emotional triggers and consciously choosing to engage with them in a way that doesn’t derail our meditative practice. This doesn’t mean becoming emotionally detached or indifferent to the world around us. It’s about cultivating a sense of mindful awareness, recognising when our emotions are being pulled in a particular direction, and gently guiding ourselves back to our centre.
Ultimately, mastering the art of meditation involves recognising that true freedom lies not in suppressing our emotions or ignoring the world around us but in mastering our relationship with both our internal and external landscapes, past and present. It’s about cultivating a sanctuary of stillness within ourselves, a space where we can connect with our higher purpose and cultivate a sense of inner peace that transcends the turbulence of everyday life.