Only Through True Eradication of Self-View Can One Truly Let Go

Some say: Facing circumstances with causes and conditions, one may appear to pick things up and put them down freely and unrestrainedly. However, this is not genuine letting go, nor does it bring true freedom and ease; it is merely self-delusion. To genuinely let go, one must first eradicate the view of self, cultivate the first dhyāna to sever afflictions, and eliminate craving. Only then can one truly let go and attain genuine ease. Without reaching this stage, any perceived "letting go" is superficial and ineffectual.

Many wish to be unbound and free, yet they do not truly understand what binds them or what freedom entails. Consequently, they mistake precepts for shackles and view meditative concentration as confinement, feeling constrained by disciplinary rules and thus rejecting them altogether to pursue absolute license. They fail to realize that the Buddha established precepts precisely to liberate sentient beings, which is why these precepts are called the Prātimokṣa vows (individual liberation vows). By upholding the precepts and refraining from transgressions, sentient beings avoid karmic retribution. Observing precepts facilitates the eradication of the view of self, subdues and severs afflictions, and only through severing afflictions can one attain liberation and true freedom. When the mind no longer oversteps boundaries, ceases clinging to people or affairs — this is genuine liberation. The very desire to be unconstrained is itself a mind bound and unfree.