Moksa

Try to do everything in the world with a mind that lets go. If you let go a little you will have a little peace. If you let go completely, you will have complete peace and freedom. Your struggles with the world will have come to an end. — Achaan Cha

Moksa literally means “liberation”, to be free. In the flow of our practice, it is the action of letting go. We do our duty, live abundandantly, express gratitude, and let go. Moksa is the state of nonattachment, the releasing of the fruits of our actions, our efforts, our hopes and dreams. …

At the end of each of my classes, I say, “We show up, burn brightly, live passionately, hold nothing back, and when the moment is over, when our work is done, we step back and let go.” — Rolf Gates, Meditations from the Mat

Letting go used to be very difficult for me. I find it easier now to let go of my attachments. The thing I’m working on these days is letting go of my aversions. That still seems difficult, somehow. I’m noticing my aversions now, trying to be less hostile to the things I don’t like, the people who annoy me, the yoga poses I don’t like doing. I caught myself last night at the moment I switched off in yoga class to a pose I was doing, refusing to do it. I still didn’t do it, but I noticed the aversion to the pose. The next pose I didn’t like, I noticed the aversion, and did the pose anyway. It wasn’t so bad, really.

Now to try this with the activities I don’t like, like cleaning and organizing things. Perhaps it won’t be so bad, really, and I’ll feel better when the chores are done….

But still, I need to detach from the results, whatever they are. Moksa…