Letting go (myth of Sisyphos)
Raw link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KGeltyzXaQ
In this 30-minute video I philosophise about the notion of letting go. I do it by discussing the ancient myth of Sisyphos. Themes I cover:
- The story of Sisyphos in brief and how it is a metaphor.
- Why I think what happens to Sisyphos is not punishment. He is doing it to himself in his ignorance.
- We do not let go of what we treasure the most because we identify with it. We consider it an extension of our self.
- The self is not immutable. It is not constant. It changes and does everything around us.
- What comes to our possession or, generally, what we associate or interact with, does so by coincidence. We can still not identify with it.
- We are like travellers who paths converge only to eventually diverge.
- The concept of non-ownership, which I describe with the Greek word aktisia (ακτησία).
- How difficult it is to let go as it requires courage and magnanimity.
- We can start with small and inconsequential things. This way we can practice and develop the capacity it takes to let go.
- A story about how Atlas, my dogs, has learnt to let go. We can do the same.