He isn’t looking back.
Field Notes of Rahgah - 20260829-S2
After your intent is set, forget it. It doesn’t serve you to ruminate, to cling out of desperation. Leave it behind. Set out on the path ahead of you. Release the grip, trust yourself, let go and flow.
Our hero has left the landing. The tower is behind him, the path is under him, and he isn’t looking back.
One of the hardest lessons I’ve learned, and am arguably still learning, is releasing my grip on the intent. Early on, we’re taught that if you want something badly enough, you’ll achieve it. Technically, this is true, but at least in my life I was never given the other side of the lesson: letting go of what you desire brings it closer to you.
Imagine what you desire is like a cat. The more attention you give it, the less likely it is to hang around. The more you ignore it, the more likely you’ll wake up to the cat sleeping on your head.
The simple lesson is to know what you want, to spend time understanding exactly what you’re after, and then to never spend another moment thinking about it. Letting go is the part of the operation our society finds counterintuitive. At first, I didn’t understand why this particular part is so hard to teach, but I do now.
In order to fully let go, to release the grip, you must trust yourself. I think a lot of people would reply with “Of course I trust myself!” Do you, though? Would you trust a stranger with your spot in line? How about your groceries? Belongings? Children? “Of course I wouldn’t — I don’t know them!” That’s true. How can you trust someone you don’t know? Do you know yourself?
There it is. That’s the part that can’t be taught, so it’s often omitted entirely. How can you trust yourself while you’re on a lifelong quest to understand and know yourself? I’ve found people with absolutely no issues in this domain to be rare, much rarer than we think. The majority of us, at some point in our lives if we’re lucky, end up throwing desperate questions into the ether that sound something like “Who am I? What is my purpose!?”
So, what’s the solution? Start practicing blind trust with yourself. Think about situations in your life that caught you completely unprepared. Were you able to walk away from the problem and sleep that night? Did you make it out of that tough situation in one piece? Are you still alive?
The questions are intentionally broad and vague. Of course you’re fine. You’re reading this right now, which means whatever happened… happened, and yet here you are, still standing, sitting, walking, getting up in the morning, brushing your teeth (I hope), heading out into the world day after day.
You already know how to trust yourself. You forgot that it doesn’t require thinking. It doesn’t require the mind, the ego, the stick-in-the-mud that finds a way to turn any ambition into paralysis by analysis.
What is required is your undivided attention to the present moment, in stillness and quiet contemplation. Only there are you the “I AM,” and only there do you have the capacity to see clearly, to know yourself, and to let go.