Letting go vs Being proactive

[Lombardi4]

Ajahn Brahm related the story of when he was meditating on a beach. He was sitting there when suddenly he heard something whizz by him. Turned out a group of boys were throwing stones at him. So he just continued to meditate, and letting go. Until one stone flew so close it nearly hit him, and he decided it was no longer time to let go. He got up and started walking towards them. They all took fright and began running in the other direction! Except one boy. Ajahn Brahm asked him why they were throwing stones at him, and he said they thought he was one of the "orange people" (whatever that means).

The moral of the story for me, is that sometimes letting go is not enough and we have to be proactive. If someone is throwing stones at us we have to act otherwise we could get injured. Craving is the cause of suffering -- that is true. But when life is throwing stones at us don't we have to get up and walk towards the problem in order to solve it rather than sit and just let go?

Life is problematic. Every being on the planet has problems. And according to Buddhism the cause of suffering lies within, not without. The greed, hatred, delusion, ignorance, craving, and clinging. So, if we eliminate those, will problems stop occurring? Most problems are external. Shouldn't we try to solve them? If you have a bad relationship with someone, or if someone hates you, shouldn't we try to resolve the issue, i.e. being proactive?

If an Arahant, fully liberated one, having eradicated craving completely, were to have a disciple who was not behaving properly or had profound suffering, wouldn't the Arahant try to do something to make the disciple mend his ways or help him out of compassion? He would, and that is being proactive, not just letting go of craving. What happens if the disciple doesn't mend his ways or his suffering gets even worse? Wouldn't the Arahant be affected by that?

We have really serious problems in the world: global warming, wars and conflict, mass migration, overpopulation, hunger, poverty, etc. We have to do something about them, right? Not just sit and let go of craving?

I am not speaking ill of letting go! It does eradicate all mental suffering and flings us off saṃsāra. But I feel like we have to be proactive and try to solve the personal, social, and global problems. To stand up and walk towards the problems in order to solve them, not just sit and let go. Because otherwise we would get hit?

I feel this life is all about getting it and not getting it. In other words, we want to get what we feel will give us pleasure (or get rid of what we feel will give us pain). And we are afraid that if we don't get what we want, we will suffer. So the only solution, since we can hardly control external things, is to let go of craving. Rather than get what we want or get rid of what we don't want, we let go of the wanting, and then the problem is solved. But it won't solve pain, because if a stone hits you in the eye, that would really suck. We have to prevent the stone from hitting us in the first place?



I am not stating an opinion, just thinking out loud and asking questions, because I am a beginner, hardly one to teach others.



P.S.: Letting go is one of my three core practices (along with caring and trying not to do bad things). So how could I be attacking the concept? I just think it's not enough to solve the external problems, which should be solved by action, i.e. being proactive.

[Zom]

The moral of the story for me, is that sometimes letting go is not enough and we have to be proactive.

Bhikkhus, there are taints that should be abandoned by seeing. There are taints that should be abandoned by restraining. There are taints that should be abandoned by using. There are taints that should be abandoned by enduring. There are taints that should be abandoned by avoiding. There are taints that should be abandoned by removing. There are taints that should be abandoned by developing.

https://suttacentral.net/en/mn2" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[JohnK]

Letting go of attachment supports skillful action.

[The Thinker]

Letting go is a for the individual, a place of refuge. Being proactive( in the sense of working for peace and ending others suffering and disadvantages) is a necessity if we care about the future generations , birth etc. Proactive practice on every level is wholesome.

[chownah]

I think that letting go and being proactive are not mutually exclusive. If children throw stones one can be letting go by interacting with them by letting go of your idea of them being selves and letting go of the negative attributes you ascribe to those selves.....by letting go of your anger and by letting go of the self associated with that anger.
chownah

[_anicca_]

I have to agree with the others and say that they are not mutually exclusive. I feel that being proactive and assertive situations can be very beneficial if one has good intentions behind it. Other times, it is best to just let go. Perhaps one could even be detached while being proactive! That is something that I have found myself doing in the current predicament that I am in, but it takes practice.

Here is a musing that I read a while back that is both funny and thought provoking

The story goes that once a cobra was so impressed by the gentleness of a monk who lived in a forest hermitage nearby that he asked to become his disciple. The monk agreed and knowing that snakes can be quick-tempered thought it appropriate to teach him metta meditation. The cobra proved to be a good student, meditating regularly and becoming more good-natured as a result. One day while basking in the sun he noticed a woman nearby collecting sticks for the household fire. Rather than slither away or stand erect with his hood open so as to scare her, as had been his habit, he decided to remain where he was and radiate metta to the woman. She got closer and closer until she had collect enough sticks and then began looking around for something to tie them up with. Seeing the cobra and mistaking him for a piece of vine she picked him up by the tail, gave him a violent flick, wrapped him several times around the sticks, pulled him tight and then tied him in a knot. Then she put the bundle on her head and walked home. When she got there she untied the ‘vine’ and threw it away. Battered, bent and wincing with pain the poor cobra made his way back to the hermitage and told the monk what had happened. “You tell me to cultivate metta and this is what I get for it” he complained mournfully. The monk replied: “Just because you have metta doesn’t mean you can’t sometimes hiss.”

[SarathW]

So how can "I" let go everything and dive into Nirvana?

http://dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=16201&hilit" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[paul]

"MN 2 gives an idea of right exertion's range of application by listing seven ways in which unskillful qualities can be abandoned: seeing, restraining, using, tolerating, avoiding, destroying, and developing. The passage is deliberately vague as to which types of unskillful qualities respond to which type of treatment, for this is a point that each meditator must discover in practice for him or herself. This emphasis on personal exploration is crucial to the practice of right effort, for it encourages one to be sensitive to what can be discovered with one's own mindfulness and discernment.

The same point applies to the question of how much effort must be applied to the practice. The Buddha notes that some meditators will have to undergo painful and slow practice, while others will find that their practice is painful and quick, pleasant and slow, or pleasant and quick [§§84-85]. Thus each has to adjust the effort applied to the practice accordingly. This need for differing levels of effort depends not only on the individual, but also on the situation. In some cases, simply watching an unskillful quality with equanimity will be enough to make it go away; in other cases, one has to exert a conscious effort to get rid of it [§§58-59]. Thus, through observation, one will realize that skillful effort has no room for doctrinaire approaches. The polar extremes of constant exertion to the point of exhaustion and its opposite, a knee-jerk fear of "efforting," are both misguided here, as is the seemingly "middle" way of moderation in all things. The true middle way means tuning one's efforts to one's abilities and to the task at hand [§86]. In some cases, this entails an all-out effort; in others, simple watchfulness. The ability to sense what kind and what level of effort is appropriate in any given situation is an important element in developing the basic requirements for skill — mindfulness and discernment — by putting them to use." -"Wings to Awakening" 'The Four Right Exertions'. Thanissaro Bikkhu.

[_anicca_]

"MN 2 gives an idea of right exertion's range of application by listing seven ways in which unskillful qualities can be abandoned: seeing, restraining, using, tolerating, avoiding, destroying, and developing. The passage is deliberately vague as to which types of unskillful qualities respond to which type of treatment, for this is a point that each meditator must discover in practice for him or herself. This emphasis on personal exploration is crucial to the practice of right effort, for it encourages one to be sensitive to what can be discovered with one's own mindfulness and discernment.

The same point applies to the question of how much effort must be applied to the practice. The Buddha notes that some meditators will have to undergo painful and slow practice, while others will find that their practice is painful and quick, pleasant and slow, or pleasant and quick [§§84-85]. Thus each has to adjust the effort applied to the practice accordingly. This need for differing levels of effort depends not only on the individual, but also on the situation. In some cases, simply watching an unskillful quality with equanimity will be enough to make it go away; in other cases, one has to exert a conscious effort to get rid of it [§§58-59]. Thus, through observation, one will realize that skillful effort has no room for doctrinaire approaches. The polar extremes of constant exertion to the point of exhaustion and its opposite, a knee-jerk fear of "efforting," are both misguided here, as is the seemingly "middle" way of moderation in all things. The true middle way means tuning one's efforts to one's abilities and to the task at hand [§86]. In some cases, this entails an all-out effort; in others, simple watchfulness. The ability to sense what kind and what level of effort is appropriate in any given situation is an important element in developing the basic requirements for skill — mindfulness and discernment — by putting them to use." -"Wings to Awakening" 'The Four Right Exertions'. Thanissaro Bikkhu.

Thank you for sharing this

Metta