Letting Go....

Once a man was walking through the hills. It was a dark night and he lost his way. It was so dark that he could not even see his own body. Suddenly, he fell into an abyss. Luckily, while falling, he got hold of a branch of a tree. He was scared - frightened. He did not know what was down, or how deep was the abyss. 
He screamed for help, but there was no one who could hear him; only his own voice returned by the echo.
Frightened, he began to pray. He was desperate – it was question of life and death - his prayer was coming straight from the core of his heart.
Suddenly – he heard a voice – like an echo, but loud and clear.
And the voice said, “Let go of this branch and you will be saved.” 
“How can I let go of this branch? I will fall in the hole if I let it go.” The man said.
“Let go of this branch and you will be saved.” The voice echoed again and then faded out. 
“No. I can’t let go of this branch. This is the only support - only hope I have right now” - the man thought 
and tightened his grip on the branch. 
It was a very cold night. 
It was so cold that his hands were freezing by now. He knew that it was going to be very difficult to continue holding on to that branch for long– That sooner or later, he was going to lose his grip, and fall off the cliff. Death seemed so close – he could fall anytime and die. 
He was terrified - all night long, he kept screaming for help. But there was no one else there.
Slowly, his hands began to slip from the branch – and then came the last moment. His hands were so frozen and tired that he could not even feel them anymore. He could not hold on to that branch any longer and fell. Can we imagine how terrified he must be?
But then – he met with a great surprise. 
After he fell, he realized that there was hardly any gap under his feet. 
He was only few inches above the ground…. 
And he had been suffering and screaming all night. 

This might be the situation with many of us as well. 
We are clinging to certain things – certain beliefs and rituals. 
We are afraid that we will be lost if we let them go. 
We believe that those are our only supports and hope – and we will suffer if we do not hold on to them.  However, in reality, we are lost by clinging to certain beliefs and concepts that our mind is conditioned to. 
And the conditioning is on the surface of the mind – like the frosting on a cake. It may look great and tempting but it’s only on the surface. We know that underneath that frosting, there is something else. 
Similarly, all beliefs and concepts are on the surface of the mind – the reality is hidden deep inside. 
Because ‘deep’ is dark and unknown - all we see is the surface. 
As Satguru Kabeer ji says:
                * “Jin khoja tin paayeaa - geharay paani paith
                  Main bauri dhoondan gayi, rahi kinaaray baith”
"Those who go deep into the waters, find it
  I also went to search (for the Real self) but sat on the shore - did not go beyond the surface."

Until we let go of the surface, we cannot see what is deep inside.
                                     ‘Rajan Sachdeva’ 


    *जिन खोजा  तिन  पाया गहरे पानी पैठ 
    मैं बौरी ढूंडन गई - रही किनारे बैठ