BROADCASTS.com

b'

Letting Go Ain\\u2019t That Easy

Shaykh ibrahim Ansari

\\xa0Sung about in the animated feature Frozen, and easily tossed at us by armchair philosophers, therapists, religions and Spiritualists, is the concept of Letting Go.

It is so easy to see another person\\u2019s attachments, hang ups, and abusive relationships, and then, with a wave of your hand, to tell them to drop it, to do something else, to \\u2018Let It Go\\u2019.

But when it comes to our own personal work, when we discover a habit that is dragging us down, we see that it really isn\\u2019t so easy to just \\u2018let it go\\u2019. We find there are lot more bits hanging on to that one thing. It doesn\\u2019t seem to disappear as we so desperately want it to. It keeps sticking around, and interfering in our life. Why doesn\\u2019t it just go away like everybody says it can?

Fortunately, over the centuries, a number of tools have developed that, when used properly, are\\xa0 efficient and effective. Tools like the various Therapies, meditation, Prayer, Forgiveness, etc. This habit or attachment from the past requires appropriate transformation and management.\\xa0

The available tools are not magic wands. A tool is just that. Like a shovel, one needs to apply effort to shift the dirt, and usually this requires many repeated uses of that one tool, over and over again. Effort is work, and work may require muscles you have not used in a while, meaning there could be soreness, weakness, and probably sweat. Frustration that the work isn\\u2019t finished yet may result in tears and anger. But until the pile is gone, there is still work to be done. So besides using unused muscles, frustration, and effort, this is all going to take time.

Neurophysiologically, we are rewiring the brain. This organ is not hardwired for the most part. It can be changed, which means old habits can be reworked at any age. We are learning more everyday about the brain functions, and one thing we know is that exercise helps maintain the plasticity. As all sports and arts people are aware, it takes constant practice to nurture and grow any talent, as well as learning new skills.

The process of Practice has some innate and unexpected goodies. What alchemists, musicians and gardeners have discovered is that it slowly changes the practitioner by developing Patience, Understanding, Respect, Perspective and Transformation of the whole person. These are the unexpected benefits of Practice, and they are what helps us to become what I will call a Human Being: An integrated amalgam of paradoxes and paradigms.

Without Practice, we cannot grow our patience, we will become frustrated at the slightest things, and we will forget to be grateful for the wonderful gifts we\\u2019ve been blessed with. We will be constantly angry at others because, honestly, we are most angry at our self for not growing and dealing properly with our \\u2018dirt\\u2019.

Another layer we must manage is one of Forgiveness - both to others we have hurt, and to our self who we have hurt as well. In a way, asking to be forgiven is part of Damage Control. No matter what our level of understanding or awareness, we are going to make mistakes. No one is perfect, there is no way you are not going to screw up. You absolutely, definitely, are going to make a mistake. There are many reasons for this. One is, it keeps us humble. No one is better than another, and it is not

Salaam Alaykum, murids, seekers, curious and interested listeners,

We appreciate you, and are happy to share our Sufi Message. Your donation will  help support our Sufi Centre in Sydney where we offer Zikr, Sohbet, spiritual counselling and healing services. We believe the message should be free, but it costs equipment, rental, services, software and hardware to get this to you.

 Thank you for choosing our podcast amongst all the millions available. If Support the show'