40 Days of Letting Go, Letting God
From Release to Embrace
Rule 33
“While everyone in this World strives to get somewhere and become someone, only to leave it all behind after death, you aim for the highest stage of nothingness. Live this life as light and empty as the number zero. We are no different from a pot. It is not the decorations outside, but the emptiness inside that holds us straight. Just like that, it is not what we aspire to achieve but the consciousness of nothingness that keeps us going.”*
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Today we affirm: I release my need to be right
The wise man is one who knows what he does not know. Lao Tzu
Live this life as light and empty as the number zero. … It is not the decorations outside, but the emptiness inside that holds us straight. … Just like that, it is not what we aspire to achieve but the consciousness of nothingness that keeps us going. Rule 33
Today’s rule reminded me again of the importance of ’emptiness’. I have been told many times that the spiritual journey is mostly about unlearning and releasing. This Lenten Season – all Lenten Seasons – is a great opportunity to unlearn and let go.
This emptiness however does not give me a sense of ‘hunger’ but rather a sense of calmness. The less I strive to become someone or do something ‘great’, the more contented and at peace I feel. The world only offers me some temporary pleasures most of which I can live without. I am recognizing simple pleasures that are unattached from worldly neediness. Gardening for one.
Buddhists believe that true happiness comes with complete detachment. The moment when we stop striving and needing, we arrive to a peaceful place of nothingness. The consciousness of nothingness provides me with with a sense of joy, peace, and satisfaction knowing that all I need to do with ‘flow with Spirit’.
Though it sounds mystical, it is actually rather practical. Flowing with Spirit means staying aware of the present moment, engaging with what’s in front of me, and being contented with a ‘good day’s work’ just as it has been.
What did you discover by contemplation on this rule and Lent reading?
in Loving and with many Blessings,
Rev Kudlik
Please note that though I may use ‘him’ or ‘his’ pronouns to talk about God/the Divine, it is only because the English language does not have a gender neutral pronoun. ‘They’ sounds odd to me to use and ‘it’ sounds lifeless.