Tricycle | Awake in the World

What happens if we just let go? Nothing happens except inner liberation. There is still food on the table. We are still brushing our teeth in the morning. Ultimately nothing can go wrong. It’s all perfect as it is. If we are dying in the moment, it’s still perfect as it is. All is being taken care of in the realm of perfection. That realm is what reality truly is.

There is a story about a man who traveled in the mountains and was overtaken by nightfall. As he continued walking in the dim light, he fell over what seemed to him to be a steep cliff. He managed to grab onto the branches of a small bush. He was holding on to it for dear life, imagining in his mind sure death if he let go of it. He spent the whole night in agony. By the first light of morning, sapped of all his strength, he lost his grip and fell. He was surprised to find that he landed on a secure ledge just two feet below where he had been clinging to the branches for dear life.

This humorous story illustrates our irrational fear and obsession. Because of our irrational fear we feel we must be in control. This originates from our belief that there is something fundamentally wrong with reality. The truth is that security is unobtainable because it is the very fabric of reality. Reality is all pervading. We can never fall out of it. We are already secure and we are always secure.

–Anam Thubten, from No Self, No Problem (Snow Lion Publications)