The Third Noble Truth, Letting Go and Letting God

 The third noble truth says that suffering ends when we "let go of holding on to ourselves." We cease to hold on to resentment, we let go of this feeling of being lost, trying to maintain identity.   Truly, the golden key is not in convincing yourself of anything, it is in recognizing what is happening with you and telling yourself, gently, "Thinking." 

Stop fanning the fire that has you talking, talking, and talking about a problem, making it something to worry about for the rest of your life. We fan that fire with what if's and maybe this will happen, and if I don't tell them this and that, surely something awful will happen and I should  make up for it. This is fanning the flame to the point where  you want to get up and scream running from the room; if instead we let come back to the original tight feeling...then we are with the wind, fire, water and earth, and we accept it whether it is calm or not. 

Then you "let go of all the discussion, talking, and attempts to understand or fix,” and you are left with sitting. 

We refrain from getting caught in hope or fear. Back a bit to visit on Steps 6 and 7 (letting go of more and more of our self-imposed limitations) realizing these steps  are part of a renewal process that will take us back to the previous steps until all feel more natural.  

It is also how we come to experience the peace in "letting go" of the story, bit by bit.   

Forgiveness of ourselves becomes possible as we work a conscious  amends process in Steps 8 and 9, and do ongoing work with Step 10.  

Even so I find I continue to return to Steps Six and Seven, to weave deeper into Step Eleven (prayer and meditation), wherein I aim towards continuous conscience contact with God.