Holding On

In Buddhism, we believe that attachment is the cause of suffering. Sometimes, however, I think to myself about holding on. How about our dreams? Our hope? Can't we hold on to them? Will doing so cause suffering? I think from what I understand, from my point of view, what the Buddha means is that we will suffer when we solely attach ourselves to things, without caring about anything else.

And also I think there's a subtle difference between holding on and attachments. Holding on is like us holding the hand of someone else, and then happily walking together in a park, under a beautiful sky. What a wonderful scene isn't it. Neither of us are hurt by our hands, holding one another. 

But attachment is like us grabbing someone else's hand strongly. We feel uncomfortable exerting such a force to someone else, and the other person is hurt by our grip. Both parties are hurt.

Across the years I've learned the art of letting go. To really just let things go, and not letting them affect me in any way. Let happiness be felt and then melted inside my heart. Let anger be raged and then burnt into thin air. Let sadness flow inside and then evaporated into nothingness. Sometimes it is difficult, but through habits, we can do this. And ultimately you'll become a happier person. Because you've learned not to let them control your emotions and your daily life.

As for me, I've been reminding myself about the voidness of life. And through this constant reminder, I find it easier to practise letting go. Like the Prajnaparamita Sutra said, form is emptiness and emptiness is form. The same goes for feelings and thoughts. It really helps to overcome challenges.

However just recently, I thought of something else. I think there is a form of holding on that can actually liberate you. I wouldn't say it's a perfectly good thing - but it is us holding on to hope and faith. Attaching ourselves to hope - is a form of letting go. To have hope in difficult times allows you to let go of your worries and in some way, help you to be a happier (or at least, neutral) person.

But of course, I'm not referring to us just simply doing nothing in life and hope that all the good things will come to us. That's plain absurdity. But at the end of the day, we'll be tested in the end, when what we were hoping for didn't happen. And well, we still come back to letting go haha.

I've been holding on to hope for a long long time. And it is something I will never stop doing. That tiny spark that might develop into a huge fire that destroys all your worries, that clears the obstacles in your path, and let you walk on a new road again. But even if this tiny spark is put off by life itself, a new spark will appear. And I won't feel sad or anguished that this tiny spark is extinguished. Because I will create a new one, no matter how difficult it is.

I suppose this is what life is all about? The creation of this endless spark.