If you stay the way you are, you’ll never find a solution to your worries and life dilemmas. You will search tirelessly for an answer to your oncoming life problems without ever making real progress. Life throws unexpected events at us and we simply can’t anticipate them. One might seem like it’s subsided and the next will come up. This is the opposite of mental freedom – you are allowing the creation of your own internal prison.
But the answer was always right under your nose. It just involves totally letting go of things you thought defined you. You have to stop having desires. It’s so simple and yet so hard.
This is an ancient idea but to most people, it will sound insane. It requires letting go of a perceived part of you. They think it’s crazy because they’re in this three-dimensional surface existence, unable to think in any way that would differ from how they always have. They think their desires are essential.
So, it’s not anything complex. It just involves a totally new approach to your own existence and mind. That’s too much to ask of most people. And it’s hard to do even for those willing.
Stop Wanting
If you stop wanting things, then your problem goes away. When you look at any problem, there’s the thing you want which would make you happy (or so you think) and there’s the belief that it would make you happy. This is what forms a desire.
So, with every problem, there are two elements that make it so: the object of desire and the desire.
The object of your desire is not fully within your control. It could come to you and it might not. But your mind? That’s within your control. You can control what you want, right?
You might say, well I can’t control what I want! Those desires are just part of who I am! But you’d be wrong. How can something be part of who you are when it feels like you have freewill about your thoughts? Are you saying you don’t control your thoughts?
You can change what you want. People want different things, and your own wants have shifted over the years. Therefore, you can choose what you want.
So, if you can choose what you want and the desire is what is causing you problems, then simply stop wanting that thing. Poof! The dynamic of your problem totally changes.
It Could Get Challenging
So, now you know that all you have to do is stop wanting things. Just be satisfied with what you have. But if you get past wanting things like lollipops and for someone you have a crush on to like you back, it can become more challenging. Those things are just level one.
Level two is letting go of your desire for a lot of money and status. Letting go of dreams. People think you need dreams. But when they aren’t fulfilled it causes a deep sense of sadness. If you aren’t able to function in your role in your family or society the way you’d hoped to, it can really create a rift in the fabric of your life.
But just because it’s hard to let go doesn’t mean it’s impossible. It’s a trick of the mind — choosing not to want those things anymore. The more you do it, the easier it gets.
Level three is letting go of the desire for a future, health, and basic necessities. We think that as humans it’s our basic right to access the staples of survival. But nothing in this world is guaranteed. Learn even to let go of this, and you’re free. Without wanting things, you stop fearing things because fear is what happens when our desires aren’t satisfied.
When you eliminate all your fears, even of death, you’re really free. You’ve achieved mental freedom.
Be Content
Staying in gratitude is so important. All of what I’ve said so far about eliminating desires is completely related to gratitude. Only when you stop pining after things do you really understand how to be grateful. It’s the absence of desires — at least the absence of attachments to those desires.
You can still have the desire if you’ve learned to let it go as well. Remain unattached, then you won’t care so much about the outcome. You will be happy either way.
Hi, I’m Emily. In addition to writing, I also teach meditation, read tarot, create podcasts, and I’m a spiritual coach. I can help you transform the way you live your life. I have a master’s in philosophy which often helps when I write about consciousness. For more about me, have a look at how I can help you.
If you’d like to support me, you’re always welcome to buy me a coffee.
