How to Let G0

by Dr. Larry Morris

Sometimes we think that we need more of something in our lives to complete us, to make us feel whole, secure, calm, and serene. We say, "If only I had more so and so in my life, then I would really have it all together." But as Blake says "more, more, more is the cry of the mistaken soul/less than all cannot satisfy man." To be free to experience harmony, truth, and joy in our lives, what we need to do perhaps more than anything else is to learn to let go, to release our burdens which keep us from knowing the fullness of this life. We don't need to make Good happen; the Good of this life is already here; we need to learn how to let go to make the Good welcome in our minds, and hearts and all our relationships.

First we may need to see where we are caught. As Ram Dass says, "If you think you're free, there is no escape." Then we may need to decide if we really want to let go--are we ready to be released from that which has held us back? There's a medieval story of a man who was imprisoned for twenty years in a dark dungeon. One day he happened to try the door of his prison. He turned the door handle, the door opened, he walked out, and he was free. The door had never been locked! We too can be free from our limitations by letting go and releasing our self-descriptions that limit and bind us. Let's decide to let go of what is no longer working so that we can see the Good that is trying to reach us right now. Let's get out of the way so that the Good, we seek can find us. As Stephen Levine says, "Healing is not forcing the sun to shine but letting go of the personal separatism,,the self-images, the resistance to change, the fear and anger, the confusion that form the opaque armoring around the heart. This process begins with the dissolution of the dense clouds of our forgetfulness and unkindness. It opens the way to reveal the ever-healed within."