Friday, January 14, 2011

Giving up the Hope

I have been noticing a change lately.

Not much is different in my outer life. Same daily struggles at home . . .

The big shift lies inside. Heart and mind, both, are finally giving up the hope for better times.

Instead, there is only this moment to be in. Only this time to be enjoyed fully. Not a drop wasted. Unpleasantness, sorrows, disappointments, outer difficulties, all swimming alongside happier states, within a pool of overall gladness. And the resolve to not waste a single more moment, this moment.

It's taken a long while for me to really get 'it' . . . Happiness is about giving up the hope.

14 comments:

  1. Hmmm. Maybe we should not be too much in a hurry to drop hope, but perhaps the expectation of better times... Hope in my opinion is what we need in dark times - to give us inspiration to continue forward. But, letting go or holding lightly what we would like to be/have/expect - yes, I would heartily agree.

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  2. I know this may sound as a rather radical statement . . . For me at least, hope's got this underside, that the present moment is not good enough, and that at some point in the future lies the possibility of better times. In there lies the trap, I feel. True liberation can happen at any time, anywhere irrespective of outer conditions. Hope carries within itself the seeds of aversion towards the present moment.

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  3. I think giving up hope is a very brave thing to do. It is also one more step towards living the present moment, as it is.

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  4. Hope or desire?

    Giving up desire ...


    I see bereft of Craving (moments), its cousin Aversion doesnt come either


    Metta

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  5. food for thought...for sure!
    hope is related to 'desire' a human feeling. i am not as realized as you to be able to let go of all desire...my 'hope' is to be in this lifetime.

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  6. Hope and unwholesome desire both, Pooja. That's how I see things.

    Even the desire for liberation can get all twisted up in the mind . . . Such a delicate balance!

    And yes, no clinging, no aversion, no fear.

    Being happy with this moment. Not one moment to be wasted. So precious!

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  7. Hazel, let us not compare here. How do we know who is realized, who is not? It is such a fluctuating state anyway for most of us!

    Metta.

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  8. Marguerite - so sorry for my unintentional comparison/or judgement..i was commenting on your remark: "It's taken a long while for me to really get 'it' . . . Happiness is about giving up the hope." aware is probably a better word than realized...what i meant is that i have not gotten "it" as clearly as you say. and yes, impermanence rules..even our awareness'!

    i perceive it is truly in clinging to our attaining our ideas, goals, hopes, desires that cause us suffering, not to cling to the outcome of hope but still hope...always a pleasure to visit your blog!

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  9. "Happiness is about giving up hope..."

    Provocative thing to say, but true. It doesn't mean that we are hope-less, but free of the desire for the present to be different... which takes its own kind of surrender. There is no clinging or aversion in surrender.

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  10. thank you Hazel. my giving up the hope comes from a deep love of life, and the refusal to waste any moment. doing otherwise I realize, amounts to torturing oneself with unnecessary discontent.

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  11. Emily, thank you for meeting in this deep place :)

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  12. Marguerite, to me I understand hope as right intention. This is much different in my mind than desire. Hope is for me to compassionate and mindful each moment. To be loving and caring to all living beings. My hope is to be fully present and awake.

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  13. Interesting how every word, including the one in question here, can take on different meaning for different persons.

    David, yes, if you take hope to mean intention, yes, of course I am with you.

    For me, hope belongs to the world of magical thinking almost, and is different from intention, a word very close to practice and commitment to the path of unconditioned happiness.

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