There comes a point when I know I must let go of certain ideas that are holding me captive, that are conditioning me. How far they are from the truth, and how far the truth is from any chain!
I am aware of that clinging, the kind born of simple fear. And if I keep holding on to a fear, how could I free myself from it? How could I be free?
I know it is a game I must learn to play. One in which I exchange cards. One in which the card I find hardest to let go of is the jester, the joker, hoping to save it for one final masterstroke. And so, because I remain afraid, I fail to receive the truly valuable card that should come in exchange.
Yet, since I am not completely blind, I glimpse the scents of freedom, I glimpse landscapes of light. And through them, I know it is worth letting go of those unremarkable cards that are merely forms of bondage.
I walk freely and without a care along a mountain path. Views of the sea. The fingertips of my left hand greet flowers and ears of grain. A little twig in my right hand taps gently against my shoulder. I hum a song. A sunny day, fresh air, a cool breeze. What an incredible feeling of safety in the deepest serenity!
Since I can glimpse where I am going, I know I am not completely lost. I know what I want, and I know it is as simple and as difficult as letting go of everything I do not desire.
And when I see that image, I understand how enslaved the world is to itself, and how absurd its slavery is. How foolish it is to treasure desires that are entirely foreign to it.
Then I remember that I must be stronger than a rock and more flexible than bamboo to find my own little corner on that dreamt-of hillside, rising gently all the way to Heaven itself.