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The Seven Factors of Enlightenment
There are actually whole spiritual traditions that involve just tuning into this basic truth. There can be great value in learning to see the space around things, rather than just being caught up in the things themselves. A useful phrase from one of these traditions is “cultivating space-like meditative equipoise.” The more we habituate this way of being, the more we connect with the truth of our minds.
There are also some really excellent teachings, especially from Zen and Daoism (also spelled Taoism), that relate to this, such as the teachings about no defilements, no enlightenment (or practice is enlightenment), nothing to perfect, no where to go, etc., and checking in with some of these teachings can be very helpful. This is the important counterbalance to spiritual striving and gung-ho practice that can get very future-oriented if done incorrectly. In the end, even if you have all kinds of insights, if you don't have equanimity, you will be beating your head against a wall, and it actually might feel like that or worse.
Once again we are back to knowing this moment just as it is. This
“just as it is” quality is related to mindfulness and also to equanimity. In the end, we have to just accept the truth of our lives, of our minds, of our neuroses, of our defilements, of impermanence, of suffering, and of egolessness. We have to accept this, and this is what they are talking about when they say “just open to it,” “just be with it,” “just let it be,”
“just let it go,” and all of that.
From a pure insight practice point of view, you can’t ever
fundamentally “let go” of anything, so I sometimes wish the popularity of this misleading and indifference-producing admonition would decline, or at least be properly explained. However, if you simply investigate the truth of the Three Characteristics of the sensations that seemed to be a solid thing, you will come to the wondrous realization that reality is continually “letting go” of itself! Thus, “let it go” at its best actually means, “don’t give a bunch of transient sensations an excessive sense of solidity.” It does not mean, “stop feeling or caring,” nor does it mean, “pretend that the noise in your mind is not there.”
If people start with “just open to it” and yet don't develop strong mindfulness, look into the Three Characteristics and gain deep insights, then their practice may be less like meditation and a lot more like psychotherapy, day dreaming, or even self-absorbed, spiritually-48
