Focus on Life™

Have you ever considered what dying means? Often we are
very shady and quiet about death. It is something we do not
want to consider or think about. It is a taboo. It is something
that only happens to somebody else—not to us. In other
words—we are afraid of it. But why?

What exactly are we afraid of? Something we do not know
anything about? Maybe.

Dying means that we are departed instantly from every-
thing we are attached to and have. We have to give away
everything so familiar and “natural” to us, something and
everything we have taken for granted. Our health, physical
body, friends, family, wealth, possessions, lifestyle, habits, and
so on. This is death. It is detachment.

Clinging and attachment do not have to be physical in
nature. We can have obsessions, desires, needs, and cravings.
Suddenly we cannot satisfy those by physical means anymore.
We are forced to be without them. This is death.

We have to die in order to live. What does that mean? We
think that we are alive and kicking when we are driven by our
lower qualities like desire, lust, obsession, and so on.
Satisfying and fulfilling these consume most of our lives. We
call this living. We are in a never-ending circle where old
needs are fulfilled and instantly new ones arise. How liberat-
ing and happy!

Being truly alive means that we are free to live, not
obsessed or forced continuously to fulfil something. Free to
be.In order to achieve this, we have to set ourselves free from
our attachments and desires. They are strong and we cannot
win them by force. The more we resist them, the larger they
become. We can beat them only by ignoring them, by learn-
ing to live without them, by detaching ourselves from every-
thing in a similar manner—as death will do to us, finally, but
this time we do it voluntarily, gradually.

It is a misunderstanding to believe that detachment will
mean literally dying and living without anything interesting
or fun. On the contrary, how much fun and freedom do you
have when you are obsessed by something? Detachment does
not mean giving up living—only giving away all the attach-
ment and clinging. You can still enjoy the sunrise and have a
delicious meal, but the difference is that those do not bear any
utility value for you anymore—they simply are. There is no
need for anything. One is not lacking anything because need
implicitly declares a lack of something (i.e., the object of the
need).

Clinging and attachment are based on ignorance, and de
facto the only thing to give away is the wrong understanding.
Greater wisdom liberates. Always.

When you want something you also state that you don’t have
something. Your object of wanting is the very thing you’re
missing. In other words, you’re declaring your imperfectness.
There is something in you that still requires and is in need.

The person who is at peace and has achieved a state of
calmness needs no thing. He or she has everything. What was
it that you needed?

The view,
so vivid and exciting,
full of life,
happiness and joy,
sometimes sorrow, often pain,
from limited knowledge and
ignorance,
glances still;

Stepping back,
enlarging the scope,
gaining new foothold,
spectating,
from a distance,
different angle;

Firmly pacing,
knowing,
from here I must walk,
these curtains must fall,
something must go;

Giving away,
the known,
to make space,
for the unknown,
letting go,
to fall,
the facade,
so dear and attached,
which does not hold,
it must go;

The one behind,
was an angle of mine,
based on defects,
that was all,
nothing really at all,
but it was all,
I knew.

Within a shelter,
Covered in a case,
Limited by boundaries,
Extended by nature.

Trapped in the illusion,
Bewildered at times,
Lacking the courage,
Bravery, and persistence,
Of final breakthrough,
Transcending for the unknown.

The common is the bliss,
Misery, and sadness,
Of known and accepted,
Which horrific would be to lose,
And be replaced by something new.

To stretch the limits,
Ignore the lines,
Forget the known,
Unlearn the rest,
Exist in full,
Here and now,
Wake from the drowse.

Nothing to declare,
nothing to say,
nothing to hear,
nothing to think;

Only silence,
accompanying friend,
no one to miss,
no one to long,
lots of actions,
many memories,
tons of experiences,
nothing to look back for;

Nothing is the same,
everything is the same,
they are not relevant;

Just being,
no expectations,
no demands,
no claims,
no_thing;

From here,
always here,
from one moment,
to another,
observing,
registering,
no time,
just here,
right now;

No sadness,
no joy,
no feelings,
no regrets,
ready to leave,
ready to stay,
already being;

Calm,
relaxed,
smooth,
peaceful,
in harmony;

Empty Nest.

We are free,
to stay,
or to go;
No one holds,
but us.

We have so much,
to do,
and are so busy to achieve.
We hold tight,
for all we know.

It’s up to us,
when everything is done,
and there is nothing,
more to do,
cling,
or achieve.

We just get enough,
realize,
and undo.
Nothing to learn,
no more to gain,
nothing to achieve,
nothing to lose,
only no thing.

We give up,
let go,
prepare,
for the unknown.

The more we let go,
the more we gain,
right choices,
and confidence;

Knowing the way,
gives us the lead,
the bearing and the heading,
that guide us through,
the storms and thunders,
sunshine and rains,
through the gates,
of rose gardens and caves;

Our way,
is not here to stay,
it provides us,
the illusion of power,
control and sorrow;
It gives us the taste,
but lets us down;
Or is it us,
thinking of great achievements,
of our deeds when things turn,
our way thanks to luck,
or by other cause,
hidden the truth,
is from us?

Therefore easy for us to claim,
victory and gain,
but hard to admit the case,
where nothing from us,
helped to prevent,
a single item,
where everything went,
the other way,
we never anticipated,
or expected to gain.

Many years,
more decades,
lots of times,
we repeat our way,
control and sorrow,
illusion of gain,
where all the good,
is of ours;
Opposite results,
caused by others,
how strange it is,
when picking up the cherries,
from the cake,
is the way we hide away;
Give away,
let it go,all the way,
let if flow;
No control, no gain,
no sorrow,no pain,
no future,no past,
only here,
experiencing to last;
Easier way,
no stress to strain,
only the wise,
realize this,
the others try,
till they fail.
Give away,
no other way.

Our life is full of incidents and situations where we are
strongly emotionally attached. These occurrences can have a
significant impact on our behavior. We can feel deeply
involved with something but still have little understanding of
the real drivers and motivation. It is not uncommon that we
even know deep inside that we should act differently than the
way we are acting in practice. Still, there is something in us
that is forcing us to a certain kind of behavior.

Attachment is a sign of fixation and pattern that is deeply
rooted to us. We have a strong standing point in something—
great expectations or emotional affections. These sensations
may not be very logical and sensible to us, but they have a
power to overdrive our cognitive understanding and will.
Some intensive occurrences can make us to feel very confused
and fixed to the current state of being.

Often, we are very hard on ourselves. We expect more
from ourself than we do from others. It is easier to forgive and
give away to other people than forgive ourself. This makes our
life hard and difficult. Our internal contradictions and expec-
tations drive us to hardship and struggle. We blame ourself
and get frustrated when things are not in our control. Strong
emotional feelings are something we have a hard time keep-
ing in control. They can even blind us, causing us to act
against our normal sense and better understanding. Especially
in these cases, it is important to let go and forgive ourself.
Emotional feelings are strong signals of our inner state and,
therefore, should not be missed. We have to take them into
account and overcome them. Our feelings cannot be forced
under our cognitive will. We can only try to understand and
forgive. They are to guide us and let us learn more about our-
selves. Great lessons sometimes require hard methods.
Therefore, forgiveness is very important and necessary. What
we do for others we should also do for ourself—forgive and
start with yourself.

We often get carried away or overwhelmed by our emotions.
We call this a state of being emotional or sometimes even
irrational. In practice, we mean that we were in a condition
where we were vulnerable to act in a way in which we might
not normally act (i.e., we regret our behavior later on). In
other words, we are stating that we lost control of ourselves;
we were not “we” in the ordinary sense.

Detachment is a state of being where one observes every-
thing from a distance. This means that one is not getting car-
ried away or being emotionally more or less out of control
(i.e., getting angry and so on). Detachment does not mean
that we are passive or not involved in the moment—totally
the opposite. It means that we are capable of being observant
and active in every moment and, therefore, a more precise
perception and behavior in life is possible.

Detachment is not dependent on the situation. It does not
matter whether we are experiencing joyful and happy
moments or sad and unpleasant surprises. Keeping a small
distance from all matters enables us to have broader under-
standing of the issues and circumstances. Our personal ego
and interests cannot block our way. Actually one learns to
identify those, and in time gets rid of any personal selfish
motives. No more big mood swings to the negative or posi-
tive—we can purely experience life as it comes without our
expectations getting in our way. A fresh way of living.