The art of letting go
This morning I decided I wanted to visit the Museum of Fine Arts in Saint Petersburg, Florida where the artist Losang Samten, a former Buddhist monk and attendant to the Dalai Lama, is using colored sand to re-create the Medicine Buddha mandala which is a concentric configuration of geometric shapes that depicts the Buddha of Healing. Geoff Fox, A Tribune Staff member, in an article entitled “Artist temporarily creates in sand” in the St Petersburg edition of the Tampa Tribune on January 4, 2015 reports:
“Samten will spend much of the next two weeks re-creating the work with colored sand. After the painstaking task is finish, the sand will be tossed into nearby water at noon Jan.16.
‘Sometimes we care too much about difficult feelings and it’s difficult to let go,’ Samten said. ‘Seeing the dismantling (of the mandala) helps people let it go.’
‘The reality,’ he said, ‘is that everything is changing.’ “
It is interesting that one of the possessions I have the most difficult time letting go of is the artwork created by friends of mine. Actually that is not entirely true. I also have a difficult time letting go of gifts which are tangible reminders of a loving circle of friends who have brought me great comfort and who have reminded me that if I do not take care of myself I am affecting others. At any rate, I am, of course, well aware that at some point in the not too distant future I will die and then my son and the executor of my estate will dispose of my possessions. My son may take a few things but, for the most part, nothing I possess, other than some family photographs, will have the same meaning for him as it did for me.
Death will, of course, force me to let go A severe flood, fire, hurricane, or other natural event could, of course, also force the letting go. The other possibility is to follow the example of such teachers as Losang Samten and other sand and ice artists (other spiritual teachers) who are practiced in the art of letting go.
Although I have made progress in this process, I have a long way to go. Certainly it is not the things which are a problem. It is my attachment to them and the extent to which they take my time, attention, and energy. Mr. Samten will, I am sure, hold on to the pencils or whatever tools he uses to draw the design – perhaps a computer. My guess is that if he did not nave these tools he would use some other tools, decide to just create from memory, or allow the creative part of his brain to begin with the sand and skip the preliminary drawing.
Yesterday I shut down an old billing program which required a special computer, monitor, and a continuous feed printer. All this was sitting on a very nice computer desk. I put the main frame of the computer in the closet until I can destroy the hard drive. The table I gave to a friend who works from home part of the time, and loaded the keyboard, printer and monitor into the trunk of the car to take to a person who has a shop where he takes used equipment and passes it along, often for free, to those who want/need it. Several times since loading up the car I have thought about taking these items out and keeping them just in case. Thankfully I have not done that.
As we know letting go does not apply just to things. Sometimes it is things which I find it easiest to let go of. I have a much more difficult time letting go of ideas or concerns. For example, I get embarrassed when I do something which is inconsistent with my values. This may be forgetting a birthday, saying something which is insensitive and hurtful, or doing something else which reminds me (and “the world” – lol) that I am human.
Sometimes I attempt humor when I need to just lovingly listen. Sometimes I get in my manic task-oriented dance and am not emotionally present to the task or another person.
The point is that I am, like most of we humans, very skilled at holding on to expectations that I should come closer to perfect (less human) in all that I do or wanting the universe to let me ‘let me’ off the hook by taking my stuff so that I do not have to feel guilty or sad for letting it go.
I am grateful to all those such as Losang Samten who are lovingly reminding me that it is safe to relax and let go. I am well aware that letting go requires me to be present in my very limited, human way.
It again occurs to me that even in my delusion that there is any permanency is something I can let go of. Even the artwork which so poignantly reminds me of the dear and talented friends is never the same. I have a constantly changing relationship with every piece. Since I am constantly changing, the relationship is constantly changing making it, in that sense, a different piece of art work every time I look at it.
Losang Samten’s assistant, Lyn Dean, said that Samten’s work may “…bring peace to a community. It softens people… They leave happier. He’s not here to teach religion. It about sharing art and culture.” I would say art can very powerfully draw the viewer into its center thus taking one out of ourselves and allowing one, for a moment, for us to be present. Unconditional love can do that no matter what form the love arrives in – art, a hug, a note, a special meal, a favor, a kind word, listening.
Written January 4, 2016
This morning I decided I wanted to visit the Museum of Fine Arts in Saint Petersburg, Florida where the artist Losang Samten, a former Buddhist monk and attendant to the Dalai Lama, is using colored sand to re-create the Medicine Buddha mandala which is a concentric configuration of geometric shapes that depicts the Buddha of Healing. Geoff Fox, A Tribune Staff member, in an article entitled “Artist temporarily creates in sand” in the St Petersburg edition of the Tampa Tribune on January 4, 2015 reports:
“Samten will spend much of the next two weeks re-creating the work with colored sand. After the painstaking task is finish, the sand will be tossed into nearby water at noon Jan.16.
‘Sometimes we care too much about difficult feelings and it’s difficult to let go,’ Samten said. ‘Seeing the dismantling (of the mandala) helps people let it go.’
‘The reality,’ he said, ‘is that everything is changing.’ “
It is interesting that one of the possessions I have the most difficult time letting go of is the artwork created by friends of mine. Actually that is not entirely true. I also have a difficult time letting go of gifts which are tangible reminders of a loving circle of friends who have brought me great comfort and who have reminded me that if I do not take care of myself I am affecting others. At any rate, I am, of course, well aware that at some point in the not too distant future I will die and then my son and the executor of my estate will dispose of my possessions. My son may take a few things but, for the most part, nothing I possess, other than some family photographs, will have the same meaning for him as it did for me.
Death will, of course, force me to let go A severe flood, fire, hurricane, or other natural event could, of course, also force the letting go. The other possibility is to follow the example of such teachers as Losang Samten and other sand and ice artists (other spiritual teachers) who are practiced in the art of letting go.
Although I have made progress in this process, I have a long way to go. Certainly it is not the things which are a problem. It is my attachment to them and the extent to which they take my time, attention, and energy. Mr. Samten will, I am sure, hold on to the pencils or whatever tools he uses to draw the design – perhaps a computer. My guess is that if he did not nave these tools he would use some other tools, decide to just create from memory, or allow the creative part of his brain to begin with the sand and skip the preliminary drawing.
Yesterday I shut down an old billing program which required a special computer, monitor, and a continuous feed printer. All this was sitting on a very nice computer desk. I put the main frame of the computer in the closet until I can destroy the hard drive. The table I gave to a friend who works from home part of the time, and loaded the keyboard, printer and monitor into the trunk of the car to take to a person who has a shop where he takes used equipment and passes it along, often for free, to those who want/need it. Several times since loading up the car I have thought about taking these items out and keeping them just in case. Thankfully I have not done that.
As we know letting go does not apply just to things. Sometimes it is things which I find it easiest to let go of. I have a much more difficult time letting go of ideas or concerns. For example, I get embarrassed when I do something which is inconsistent with my values. This may be forgetting a birthday, saying something which is insensitive and hurtful, or doing something else which reminds me (and “the world” – lol) that I am human.
Sometimes I attempt humor when I need to just lovingly listen. Sometimes I get in my manic task-oriented dance and am not emotionally present to the task or another person.
The point is that I am, like most of we humans, very skilled at holding on to expectations that I should come closer to perfect (less human) in all that I do or wanting the universe to let me ‘let me’ off the hook by taking my stuff so that I do not have to feel guilty or sad for letting it go.
I am grateful to all those such as Losang Samten who are lovingly reminding me that it is safe to relax and let go. I am well aware that letting go requires me to be present in my very limited, human way.
It again occurs to me that even in my delusion that there is any permanency is something I can let go of. Even the artwork which so poignantly reminds me of the dear and talented friends is never the same. I have a constantly changing relationship with every piece. Since I am constantly changing, the relationship is constantly changing making it, in that sense, a different piece of art work every time I look at it.
Losang Samten’s assistant, Lyn Dean, said that Samten’s work may “…bring peace to a community. It softens people… They leave happier. He’s not here to teach religion. It about sharing art and culture.” I would say art can very powerfully draw the viewer into its center thus taking one out of ourselves and allowing one, for a moment, for us to be present. Unconditional love can do that no matter what form the love arrives in – art, a hug, a note, a special meal, a favor, a kind word, listening.
Written January 4, 2016
RSS Feed