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letting go
November 2009 
What would you do if you lost everything you owned?
Posted on Jul 21st, 2009
by 
Rob
Rob
This is in Response to the Questions and Reflections for July 21, 2009:
Well, what if I own nothing? It's somewhat a matter of perspective because surely I will go out the way I came in, to some degree depending on how I actually die, and since I have no idea, like everyone else when that moment really is, maybe I should have a different perspective, like say maybe that I just rent all this stuff and the space I use to store all the stuff in Carlinesque manner and then get on with developing true riches like virtue and happiness that comes from making choices to develop relationships and family ties and helping others in as many ways as possible because then I don't have the burden of actually having that pang of fear of even thinking about losing everything I think I own because I won't be attached to those things which are after all just things and will break and go away even if thats after I'm gone; not to mention the cost of fixing all those things.
Detachment from people and things means that I really own nothing. The only thing that I "own" is the conciousness that is hanging out in this body at the moment, and this body will, well, we've already been over the whole death thing so maybe we can just get on with it because really death and impermanence are realities so we could do with building a society that recognizes that and create one that has better values than spending all our resources and time on stuff, because that seems just a bit insane really doesn't it, whereas I want my legacy to be that even though I was opinionated I was willing to listen and learn and be corrected and wanted what was best for people and even that doesn't matter all that much because I won't be here to boast of my own legacy but I will have a lot of good karma and that will benefit me beyond the life in this body.
So we really can enjoy life if we just open up our hands, with our palms up and fingers outstretched and experience life which is going to happen anyway but if we make better choices as to how we respond then the whole attachment thing will change and our minds will change because isnt a person simply what they think about, I mean it's been said many times throughout history and then we spend all our time thinking about how to get stuff and we get back into the same cycle we were in before so, well, if we just let life be and look inward we will find the answers we are looking for.
It won't happen any other way.
Detachment from people and things means that I really own nothing. The only thing that I "own" is the conciousness that is hanging out in this body at the moment, and this body will, well, we've already been over the whole death thing so maybe we can just get on with it because really death and impermanence are realities so we could do with building a society that recognizes that and create one that has better values than spending all our resources and time on stuff, because that seems just a bit insane really doesn't it, whereas I want my legacy to be that even though I was opinionated I was willing to listen and learn and be corrected and wanted what was best for people and even that doesn't matter all that much because I won't be here to boast of my own legacy but I will have a lot of good karma and that will benefit me beyond the life in this body.
So we really can enjoy life if we just open up our hands, with our palms up and fingers outstretched and experience life which is going to happen anyway but if we make better choices as to how we respond then the whole attachment thing will change and our minds will change because isnt a person simply what they think about, I mean it's been said many times throughout history and then we spend all our time thinking about how to get stuff and we get back into the same cycle we were in before so, well, if we just let life be and look inward we will find the answers we are looking for.
It won't happen any other way.
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