The Art of Letting Go

Let it go

If there was a lesson to learn from my trip in India, it would be "The Art of Letting Go".

I flipped back through my old journal, and there was something I wrote there regarding 'letting go' and it went like this:

Difference between "Good Bye" and "Letting Go":

- "Good Bye": "I'll see you again when I'm ready to hold your hand and when you are ready to hold mine."

- "Letting Go": I'll miss your hand that I realized it's not mine to hold, and I will never hold it again."

Well, the 'letting go' that I felt there in McLeod Ganj, not necessarily the case like the quote above. Perhaps it was more into letting go of my desire, dream, and hope, especially when I had to face the fact that I couldn't meet Dalai Lama there. 

Prayer and Meditation - Pic courtesy: Kipchu

I sat down at one corner, prayed and meditated. There, I drained out all my feelings. First, I conveyed my gratitude for letting me be there, reaching one of my whole life's dream place, a place where I used to see from YouTube screen when watching the Dharma teaching brought by the HH Dalai Lama. Now, I was really there!

Dalai Lama Main Temple at McLeod Ganj, India

I recognized that yellow window pane, the clock that was hung on that wall, the fence, and so on. Being there, still felt like a dream for me. As if, it wasn't real, and as if, it was never exist!

I poured out my disappointment for not being able to meet him on my journey this time. However, I was praying too, most importantly, that he was blessed with good health. It wouldn't matter for me if I couldn't meet him, but his health mattered for me. And if he was in good health, I was content and grateful.

I never thought of visiting this place again. I only thought, this might me my last time visiting this temple in this present life. I didn't put any more hope of meeting him again, as I knew that he turned to 80 this year. Of course I was hoping that he would live long. However, the chance for me to meet him again, it needed lots of fate and good karma. Anyway, if not this life, next life ba!!! :)

Afterwards I continued my pray with usual gratitude and blessings for all sentient beings, especially those loved ones, then meditated.

Om Mani Padme Hum - Pic courtesy: Kipchu

I was relieved once it was all over, just like removing a very big stone from my heart. I walked out from the temple with a light feeling. I even felt like jumping and singing. My smile appeared at the very best (not sure if Kipchu noticed), and I told him briefly about "The Art of Letting Go", without giving further details, and then we continued walking, to our next destinations, where we were fated to go and be there.

So, everything happened only for a good reason. Whatever good or bad people we met, things we experienced from the past, it was all leading us with good reasons only. Without encountering all that, there wouldn't be the present me, who I am now. It was just there to shape me, mold me, sculpt me, decorate me, and give me with lots of lessons to learn in life and resign my karma to the nature.

As we passed by the Kalachakra Temple, we turned the prayer wheels there, again for the last time. "Om mani padme hum. Om mani padme hum. Om mani padme hum. Om....."

"Thus the six syllables, Om Mani Padme Hum, mean that in dependence on the practice of a path which is an indivisible union of method and wisdom, you can transform your impure body, speech, and mind into the pure exalted body, speech, and mind of a Buddha" - HH Dalai Lama

Source of inspiration: Dalai Lama Main Temple at McLeod Ganj - Dharamsala, India. Visiting there on 30th September and 1st October 2015.