Ashley Mwanza

THE head of the monastery and his disciple had finished looking after the sick, so they left the village and headed home. After a 45 minute trek in the woods, they came to the most difficult part of their journey, a wide, raging stream that had to be crossed. But today was different, for standing close by was a lovely maiden that also wanted to cross so that she could visit her uncle who lived on the other side.

Sensing her distress, the head of the monastery approached the young lady and said, “If you can place your trust in me, I will carry you across the stream.” She agreed and thanked him. He scooped her in his arms and entered the stream, followed by his disciple. Although the ten-minute trip across was arduous, they arrived safely. The elderly monk put her down, said farewell, and he and his disciple continued on their way to the distant monastery.

An hour and a half later, they had finally reached the gateway to the monastery. But instead of being relieved, the disciple appeared agitated. When he was asked what was wrong, the disciple replied, “Master, as monks we have taken vows to never touch women. Yet, you carried the maiden in your arms.” “Yes, I did,” answered the master, “but I put her down ten minutes later. It is YOU who are still carrying her.”

Like the disciple, many of us refuse to put down what is troubling us. We carry resentment, anger, hostility, mistrust, suspicion, grudges, fear, anxiety, worries, and other burdens. How can we travel very far if we are weighed down by so many concerns? When will we learn to drop our cares, release our worries, and let go of whatever is troubling us? The above story holds a very potent lesson.

Letting go means surrendering our ego and will. It means trusting that what is aligned to our highest good and what will bring us the greatest joy will be provided for us. It means not holding onto every detail of our lives with the intention to control them. It is the process of releasing people, situations, thoughts, habits and patterns that no longer serve us.

“We can never turn back the pages of time, though we may wish to relive a happy moment, or say goodbye just one last time, we never can, because the sands of time continue to fall, and we can’t turn the hourglass over.”

But if you sincerely desire to reinvent yourself, to be the you that hasn’t emerged but you know you can be, let go. Say thank you for the old days, and purge them.

Before creating your new YOU, you need to let go of your old YOU. Physically taking care of your environment by cleaning and de-cluttering can stimulate letting go of your mental clutter that has been holding you in the old pattern.

Yossi Ghinsberg says it is scary to let go; fear strikes. But fear is the best guide. It shows you the way, always towards it, never away from it. If you run from it, it will chase you forever. Letting go is the essence of life. One cannot hold onto anything, for nothing can be held; everything is in a constant state of flux. Letting go is the art of understanding the most basic principle of life. If you let go of your false position as conductor and assume your role as a part of the symphony, your music will be unique, flowing from all that you are, from your natural and most serene state of being.

Once you give up your need to be the conductor. Wow, what a sense of relief, what a load you were carrying, trying to control the uncontrollable. Your lungs fill with air now, you can breathe, and the strain on your shoulders, that constant pain you had become accustomed to, fades away. The music within you is miraculous.

As Barack Obama took up his presidency he uttered words that talk to all of us, he said, “If you're walking down the right path and you're willing to keep walking, eventually you'll make progress. We have to acknowledge the progress we made, but understand that we still have a long way to go. That things are better, but still not good enough.” That is so true, if you’re willing to keep walking, you’ll make progress, if you do not walk you remain in the same spot. And so to progress you have to let go and move on. You still have you.

Start your life all over again. It begins and ends with you. Letting go and moving on starts with you. Move on in life, carrying only the sweet memories of the past and hope for the future. Remember, only when you let go, you gain something. Stand up and walk out of your history. When you accept that the past is behind you, and that it never comes back, you can move forward. Letting go today frees you for tomorrow.

There is the old adage that says, “when the horse dies…dismount” I need not expatiate. Attachment is like holding on tightly to something that is always slipping through your fingers, it just gives you rope burn. But letting go, nonattachment, relieves the constant, painful irritation. Letting go is the practice, and the art, of being. We must let go of the past and start living for today!

Something we need to let go of is the idea that we need to be perfect. As well the fact that perfection is an impossible goal, the only thing you need to do to be happy is to be yourself, imperfections and all.

Letting go does not mean giving up, becoming passive, or accepting the status quo. It just means loosening your grip on life, accepting that many things are beyond your control, and trusting that whatever happens in your life, there will be wonderful opportunities for learning, growth, choice, freedom and happiness. Let go and let life happen.

For me letting go is a stepping stone on the path to total and complete self love. It is what allows us to remove the unnecessary worry and stress and see the peacefulness and joy that lies in surrendering to the flow of life.

Whatever begins, also ends. The world is round and the place which may seem like the end may also be the beginning. Great is the art of beginning, but greater is the art of ending when all is accomplished, we all want a perfect ending, so let us work at it. For that matter the beginning is always today, so let us get started, let go, and work our way to the end, and hence get to the beginning of great things.

A philosophy professor stood before his class with some items on the table in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly he picked up a very large and empty mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with rocks, about 2 inches in diameter.

He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

So the professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles, of course, rolled into the open areas between the rocks.

He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else.

He then asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a unanimous “Yes.”

“Now,” said the professor, “I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The rocks are the important things - God, your family, your spouse, your children, your friends, your health, – things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter – like your job, your house, your car. The sand is everything else. The small stuff.”

“If you put the sand into the jar first,” he continued “there is no room for the pebbles or the rocks. The same goes for your life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you. Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, etc. Take care of the rocks first – the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.”

Compiled by Ashley D. Mwanza

Society as we know it today doesn’t tend to work in cohesion with morality, but instead views itself as being a separate entity altogether. We are often told we are moving with the times. Indeed sadly we are moving with the callous times.

Sickness transmits easily, not health. Germs and bacteria multiply in congenial conditions. Like infectious diseases social ills also spread quickly. Young people generally lack maturity and are vulnerable to the social ills if they are overwhelming. A human being is neither angel, nor devil. In man there is the dual nature of evil and piety. In a healthy society piety is encouraged and evil suppressed. Piety needs nourishment and proper environment, not only for growth but also for survival. Throughout human history schools and institutions had been established to create good human beings. No school was ever established to train rapists, paedophiles, gang fighters, drug users and people of evil nature. They grow and multiply when a society loses its anchor, morals.

We have lost focus and this has created many of the problems our society faces today, and indeed has always faced. Comprehension of this can at times lead to a rather bleak outlook on life, and maybe even cause a descent into bitterness. Clearly such negativity is something to avoid then. That is something which can be difficult however. When reality inevitably collides with morality the end result shall be the devastation of that which should be. It is our hope that this reality will vanish and morality comes back to claim its domain. The ills of our society certainly do not promote good health for our world. The term ill denotes that which is not healthy, normal, and is unsound, resulting in suffering and distress. It refers also to that which is not up to recognized standards of excellence or conduct.

There are forces within who are attempting to destroy all that is good and moral. We can utilize the words of Isaiah, who under the direction of God cried out, “Woe to them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe to them that are prudent in their own sight! Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!” Their conduct did not go unheeded for Isaiah said, therefore as the fire devours the stubble, and the flame consumes the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness: because they have cast away the law of the Lord, and despised the word of the Holy One (Isaiah 5:20-24).

The ills of our society are continuing to blossom forth with resistance seemingly being brushed aside. Laws and rulings are now being set forth that at one time would never have been considered. Has the values of our world ruptured to the point that it is affecting our day to day lives? We are living in a time when the ills of our society can have a harmful influence on the life of the youth, if they fall into the category of acceptability of what is being promoted today. Society, has opened itself to examination because of its acceptance of the previously unacceptable.

In our world we face: Bullying in school, workplace and whole nations; bullying serves to destroy self-image of the victim and leaves a long-term scar on him/her. Both the bully and the victim lack self-esteem and some might have undergone abuse in their life and then it becomes a chain reaction, thus a bully compensates it through bullying, but the victims most often fail to put up with it, some remain stuck in a rut. Nations are fighting, nations are threatening each other, generations are been divided and/or killed, but why?

Racism has continued to scar the world it has become endemic world over, but, racism is an historical disease. Nations were wiped out in the past because of their perceived racial inferiority, some nations have crumbled because of it. The ethnic cleansing in some parts of the world horrified the world and continues to horrify us to this day. In day to day life, racism creates fear, distrust and disturbing environments.

As secularism and materialism have taken a dominant role, religions have become irrelevant or just rituals to most people in the West. As a result, non-Christians or even minority denominations within Christianity do undergo visible religious discrimination. Islam, because of its uncompromising allegiance to divine command, suffers most in terms of its image and treatment.

With increasing teen-age pregnancy in many countries, we are living in an era of social deconstruction with the danger of leading us to a disastrous future. What is the root cause of this? Materialism has given rise to individualism, which is making it hard for people to live under the same roof. Marriage is losing its importance as the source of permanent relationship between man and woman, divorce is increasing at an alarming rate and living together is becoming the norm. The TV, computer and other gadgets are keeping us away from other people, loneliness has become perpetual friend of many.

The drug issue is frightening in many parts of the world. Drug, sex and violence are intertwined. The danger of drugs has pushed aside the devastating physical and social effect of alcoholism. The detrimental physical effect of smoking is also ignored. Many adolescents drink and smoke in imitation or defiance of their elders. As a result, the health, economy and social life is ruined. Peer pressure in the schools works as catalysts for adolescents to enter into the world of addiction. Parents need to be conscious about who is their child hanging around. Parents have been a serious let down. Is it because of the laws that work against them and give more authority to the child?

Sex is now a determining factor in modern western life. The media world is awash with this subject. It has become the world's hottest commodity and its commercialisation has become globalised. It is disgraceful that the ‘sex industry’ has become a source of national income in some countries. Sexual promiscuity is giving rise to sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) especially among young people. Public Health is experiencing a traumatic rise in these and the so-called 'safe sex' message is leading to nowhere.

Every country has its share in crime. Paedophilia is the inhuman crime of the pervert man who destroys the innocence of a child. In civilised societies the law and order agencies rely on the civic responsibility of the people and work in tandem with them. Young people are vulnerable. Like plants they need nurturing, not misuse and abuse. A civilised society cannot tolerate paedophiles.

The challenge of fighting the social ills is enormous, but an attempt to eradicate these ills should include the wider society. But for this to come to pass, we need to widen the struggle and forge close links with the moral majority in the societies we live in. A small island in a sea of social ills can easily be washed away in time. An epidemic cannot be fought out by running away from it or through selfish attempt of individual protection. This is neither effective nor morally sound.

Can we then take a pledge on this occasion? A pledge not to change the world, but to change ourselves first, a pledge not to move mountains but to shift pebbles, a pledge not to ride the waves but to create ripples, since it is only by changing ourselves that we can change the world, it is only by shifting pebbles that we can conquer mountains and it is only by creating ripples that we can ride the waves. But where do we start?