By Cathy Eck

Letting Go Isn’t a “How To” Process

You’d think after over two hundred blog posts, I’d have written about how to let go; but I never have.  I’ve discussed the topic in countless ways, but I’ve never addressed it directly.  There’s a reason for that.  Letting go isn’t something that can be explained in a “how to” fashion.  There is no “Letting Go for Dummies.”

“How to” comes from our false mind — it comes from knowledge, reasoning, and wanting answers — which just creates more beliefs and illusion.  Letting go happens automatically when we realize that what we hold in mind is false.

Letting go is the result of discrimination.  Consequently, what I talk about most on this blog is discrimination — how to differentiate between truth and falsehood.  Letting go is the effect of realizing that your causal beliefs are false.

A Metaphor

Imagine that you want to go to the beach.  You ask a friend for directions and follow them carefully.  But when you arrive at the end of the directions, there’s no beach. You could go back to the starting point, but you’ve driven a long way.  You don’t even know if you’re closer to the beach than when you started.

Suddenly, you spot a guy in swimming trunks with a surfboard.  That’s a good sign; he looks like someone who would be a reliable source for beach directions.  He gives you directions, and you get back into your vehicle.

Now you have a choice.  You can follow the new directions and get to the beach, or you can hold on to the old directions and stay put.  Of course, the choice is easy.  You trash the old directions, and you drive to the beach.  How did you trash those old directions?  You simply let them go because you realized that they were false.  You discriminated.  You didn’t need a “how to” book to do so.

Beliefs are Temporary Truth

Beliefs were designed to be temporary just like directions to the beach.  Our beliefs cause our actions.  When the desired action is complete, we let the causal beliefs go.  You don’t think about letting go or try to let go.  You just let the beliefs go.

The reason that it’s so hard to let go of some thoughts or beliefs is that you’ve labeled them in your mind as useful, true, or right.  You think you’ll need them in the future.  Sometimes an authority has scared, guilted, or shamed you into keeping them in your mind as rules.

As human minds became more logically oriented, we learned how to memorize; people began holding on to beliefs.  They even created belief systems.  They relabeled beliefs as truth.  If you replace your True Self with a belief system, you create a false leader or God within your mind.  Your True Self then becomes the enemy of that false leader.

You can hang out in someone else’s illusion for a while, just like an actor plays a character.  But in time, your True Self will want to fulfill its divine plan.  An inner Armageddon starts to occur.   You begin to seek the truth.  You find many people who will gladly give you their version of truth — usually more beliefs.  Most people put even more belief systems in their mind before they realize that the right path is the path of their own True Self.

But where has their True Self gone?  Did they lose it?  No, they didn’t lose it.  They covered it up with beliefs.  They must dig it out by letting go of all the false beliefs they now hold in their mind as true.  It’s not a small job.

You Have Free Will

If you accept another person’s or group’s illusion as your truth, your emotions become psychologically reversed to honor their belief system.  You live for others, not your True Self.  Religious, cultural, and social beliefs are sticky because our mind tells us that they must be right because so many people believe them.  But most people are completely lost — trained from birth by authorities who are already grounded in the illusion.

Once you decide that you want to return to your True Self’s path, your emotions show you the way.  When you think something True, you feel calm.  When a belief arises, you feel emotion.  Since you’ve accepted lots of beliefs, you often feel like you’re going to burst with emotion.  All of your old beliefs arise trying to pull you back.  Your false mind says, “What about honoring your mother and father?”  “You’ll go to hell if you don’t obey the priest.”  “You must serve or sacrifice to be good.”  “You are becoming selfish.”  “You won’t be special anymore.”

Your change in direction has made the old belief systems obsolete.  But you have always obeyed them in the past.  What once felt good, now feels terrible.  This causes great confusion.  You must slow down your mind and discriminate.  You must let go of the beliefs that no longer feel good.  If you don’t let go, you stay stuck (like holding on to the old directions to the beach).

Letting Go Can’t Be Forced 

Letting go happens when you realize the old beliefs were false — when you discriminate.  Now you feel emotion that you didn’t feel before; there’s a voice that says the emotion means the belief is true.  It’s lying.

You MUST remember, “If a belief generates emotions, it isn’t true.”  That becomes your new mantra until you find your True Self.  Belief systems, usually from religion, culture, or social status, make letting go hard.  But hard doesn’t mean impossible.  You undo them one belief at a time.

True freedom means that you’ve let go of all beliefs.  The True Self has no permanent beliefs.  As you continue to let go, discrimination becomes easier.  The process quickens and becomes a normal part of life. Discrimination, the willingness to let go, and the desire to BE YOURSELF is the only formula you need for complete freedom.