A message of hope

hope

You can be free of the shackles of hope!

Yes, the message of hope is that we can all let go of that and eliminate much of our suffering.

As I sat this morning, I became aware of my Noble aspiration for renunciation (nekkhamma). Having less, and letting go, are the only clear path toward real freedom and an abundance of love. And I see hope as the direct antithesis of this path. While most regard despair as the opposite of hope, I see acceptance as the opposite of hope.
Hope, for most people, conveys a sense of circumstance improving in the future. That our pain and struggles will be eased or taken away, and life will become what we wish for. I see this as not any different from playing the lottery, or rubbing a magic lantern. We hope, we wish, we pray, then we face the disappointment and dissatisfaction with reality being what it is.

Each facet of our lives is deeply entangled with threads of attachment. And with clear awareness, we can easily see that each one of these attachments is cause for potential suffering. With any desire to maintain, control, protect or even eliminate any of these, we only strengthen and deepen the roots. Like tentacles in our life, the more we acquire, the more entrenched we become in a cycle of desire, clinging, hope and despair. Over and over we search for more substance to fill a void that can never be filled. And hope being the culprit of desire that only fuels our ignorance about this reality.

Perhaps we can see hope in a different vain, and use it to express our Noble intentions for less. Letting go little by little each day, with a deep understanding of the nature of this life. Not to run away and hide, but to accept that life is unsatisfactory and transitory. And the truth is, that the more we have, the more that we suffer. And we will certainly not take any of it with us. I hope you understand.

Let go of the World without, and observe the World within.