Clearing up clutter to avoid the snare of worldly things<\/p>\n
By Rahayu Ratnaningsih<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): At least a couple of people have sent me an e-
\nmail petition calling for the Taleban to withdraw their spiritual
\nleader's fatwa to destroy all Buddhist archaeological artifacts
\nin the land, two of which were the tallest standing Buddha in the
\nworld of the pre-Islamic Afghanistan of 1,700 years old.<\/p>\n
I replied that it was too late. It was sad but the irony was
\nthis vandalism echoed the very message of the enlightened one
\nhimself: impermanence and nonattachment. He would have told us to
\nlet go. And despite their cries and anguish, the world's
\nBuddhists have taken the hideous attack on their religious icons
\nvery well: with mature, solemn and dispassionate acceptance
\nknowing they can do little to instill some common sense in the
\nmenace of the world. If they treat their women folks as subhuman,
\nwhat kind of civilized treatment can you expect from these men to
\na "mere piles of stones"?<\/p>\n
My friend, Ann, an artist, recently found the pieces of work
\nshe cherished most were ruined in a flood. Initially, she was
\nangry and then this gave way to sorrow as she cried and cried the
\nwhole day feeling the loss, but then she thought, although it was
\nnice to have them, did she really need them other than for the
\nsentimental values they provided? Why would she be attached to
\nthis baggage, she pondered philosophically.<\/p>\n
Yes, why would we?<\/p>\n
I am so attached to my newspapers. I have this habit of piling
\nthem up whenever I have not had the chance to read them, in the
\nwishful thinking that one day I will have the time to sort them
\nout and get hold of some real good articles or features, which,
\nof course, I never do.<\/p>\n
I usually still have papers from six months, or even a year,
\nback. Recently I reduced them by three quarters, leaving a
\nsmaller pile of two months old. It took some time for me consider
\nif each one of the "collection" should go straight to the dustbin
\nor stay where it is. When I was done, I felt a significant burden
\nremoved from me.<\/p>\n
My mom, on the other hand, is perhaps the most unsentimental
\nbreast-feeding creature on earth. She didn't take my -- and my
\nsiblings' pictures -- as a baby, which up to now I still regret
\nvery much, the blame of which was of course equally shouldered by
\nmy father.<\/p>\n
How could any mother have done such a cold-hearted, unfeeling
\nact toward her first beautiful baby? She threw away my first and
\nsecond grade writing assignments, some of the few things I would
\nhave wanted to keep from my childhood just for the nostalgia they
\ncarry. And in a dramatic house clearing, out of ignorance, she
\nthrew away my diary together with its most private secrets and
\nthe magazines that published my short stories, the work of superb
\nimagination of my high school days! She was simply ruthless, yet
\nI can perhaps learn something from her: her acceptance of her
\nsimple life as it unfolds in the moment.<\/p>\n
Newspapers were just one thing, not to mention the magazines
\nand the small, cute cases, boxes, bottles, bags I thought I would
\none day need, which, again, I never did. Ouch, and the clothes!
\nI managed to get rid of these old T-shirts I used to like, but
\nwere now quite worn out, and some other outfits which were still
\nin good condition but for some reason I never really had the
\ndesire to wear (and of course I always thought, who knows, one
\nday I would need or grow to like them). And past projects that
\nbrought memories and nostalgia of our achievements and
\nimportance. What about other nonphysical baggage from the past we
\nare still dragging around: our past traumas, feelings of loss,
\nbittersweet memories, anger, sorrow, pain and anguish?<\/p>\n
There is so much clutter in our life, isn't there? The things,
\nbig and small, we are holding on to, which often we do not even
\nremember having but still keep anyway whenever we bump into them
\noccasionally, thinking that we are going to use or need them
\nsometime in the future, which we never do. We identify ourselves
\nwith them, feeling that a part of us will evaporate when we lose
\nthem. It is an addiction. We are held back and can't move on and
\nwe wonder why our life is so taxing.<\/p>\n
We all become snared by worldly things -- goods, possessions,
\nrelationships, personal comfort -- that we think are important
\nbut really aren't. Lao Tzu said, "To attain knowledge, add things
\nevery day. To attain wisdom, remove things everyday." Easier said
\nthan done, we would say. Giving up ain't easy, is it?<\/p>\n
But the fact is we do not shrivel up as we unload, we
\nemancipate. To detach from all these things is to become uncaught
\nby worldly life. Detachment means freedom. It means, besides
\nletting go of belongings, letting go of attitudes and beliefs
\nthat hold us back. It entails leaping out of old emotional
\ntraumas that drain so much of our energy and interfere with us
\nmoving ahead. It even means becoming less entangled with family,
\nnot abandoning them but loving them with fewer strings; not as an
\nact of indifference but as an expression of unselfish care.<\/p>\n
The fact is each knot uncoiled does not bring us closer to
\ndeath, it brings us nearer to life! Shedding all this baggage is
\na mental vacation, not necessarily a physical one. It's not so
\nmuch the giving up of worldly things; it is a releasing from the
\ndesire for and dependence on those things. Thus, you don't
\nrelinquish enjoyment of life; rather, you set yourself free from
\nthe inevitable disappointments of life and disquiet that come
\nfrom being addicted to these trappings, these snares of life.
\nIt's not enjoyment that is being given up, remember, it's desire,
\nneed, sorrow, and lack of peace. Without those, we can live an
\neven more abundant, peaceful and fulfilled life. As the lower
\nself recedes, higher Self clarifies.<\/p>\n
Satya Sai Baba, an avatar, a God-man to his multireligious
\nfollowers, comes out on the veranda and talks with several people
\nabout living life in tune with Spirit. Someone says, "But the
\nspiritual life is such a hard work." Baba feigns surprise. "What?
\nHard work?" he says, a mock frown on his face. He extends a
\nclenched fist, palm upward, gripping a handkerchief, saying,
\n"Holding on is hard work." Then he flips it over and lets it
\ndrop. "Letting go is easy," he says and walks away.<\/p>\n
Perhaps that explains why I felt a relief when I got rid of
\nparts of my wardrobe and my newspapers. I shall cut them back
\nsome more.<\/p>\n
The author is director of the Satori Foundation, e-mail:
\nsatori@cbn.net.id. Website:
\nhttp:\/\/www.satorifoundation.bizland.com<\/p>",
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