Letting Go by David Hawkins

[WelcometoReality]

On 2018-05-12 at 1:04 AM, iluminado said:

Seriously, this is the only thing you need. Literally, nothing else. His shit transformed my life in ways I can't even explain. Don't distract yourself with crazy techniques and ultra-complex concepts, it's a huge waste of time. 

Yes, surrender to what is or letting go is one of the most fundamental practices in my opinion. 

[Arman]

On 16/01/2019 at 3:34 AM, Recursoinominado said:

I read the book once but i miss the part where he explains how to actually do it, i mean, just saying "let it go" isn't much helpful, but let me see if i get it:

Let's say i am feeling some anxiety/resistance toward something (usually i feel those when i have to study something), i just focus on that feeling and try to let it go, relaxing in that feeling (usually is a tight feeling n my belly and chest) over and over until it goes away? And this is cumulative, meaning that if i repeat this process over days, weeks or months those feelings tend to disappear completely? 

"Letting go involves being aware of a feeling, letting it come up, staying with it, and letting it run its course without wanting to make it different or do anything about it. It means simply to let the feeling be there and to focus on letting out the energy behind it. The first step is to allow yourself to have the feeling without resisting it, venting it, fearing it, condemning it, or moralizing about it. It means to drop judgment and to see that it is just a feeling. The technique is to be with the feeling and surrender all efforts to modify it in any way. Let go of wanting to resist the feeling. It is resistance that keeps the feeling going.

When you give up resisting or trying to modify the feeling, it will shift to the next feeling and be accompanied by a lighter sensation. A feeling that is not resisted will disappear as the energy behind it dissipates. As you begin the process, you will notice that you have fear and guilt over having feelings; there will be resistance to feelings in general. To let feelings come up, it is easier to let go of the reaction to having the feelings in the first place. A fear of fear itself is a prime example of this. Let go of the fear or guilt that you have about the feeling first, and then get into the feeling itself. When letting go, ignore all thoughts. Focus on the feeling itself, not on the thoughts. Thoughts are endless and self-reinforcing, and they only breed more thoughts. Thoughts are merely rationalizations of the mind to try and explain the presence of the feeling. The real reason for the feeling is the accumulated pressure behind the feeling that is forcing it to come up in the moment. The thoughts or external events are only an excuse made up by the mind." - Letting Go - The Pathway of Surrender

[Jordan94]

@Arman Thanks that's great

I'm a bit unsure about the last part of "letting it run its course", usually what i'm doing is that i'm just observing the feeling trying to drop jugements and concepts, so just observe objectively (same as in vipassana), and that's it, then I move to another feeling, is it just that that's meant by 'letting it run its course' ? 

I know some people who got inspired by the book do a final step of visualizing the feeling coming up and leaving the body, do you think some part like that is necessary or fine without ?

[Arman]

23 minutes ago, Jordan94 said:

I'm a bit unsure about the last part of "letting it run its course", usually what i'm doing is that i'm just observing the feeling trying to drop jugements and concepts, so just observe objectively (same as in vipassana), and that's it, then I move to another feeling, is it just that that's meant by 'letting it run its course' ? 

It means allowing the emotional energy to do whatever it does. Sometimes emotions will spike, intensify, plateau and then dissipate, but not always. By letting it run its course it means if it wants to get deeper and more intense, let it do so. If it wants to shift into other emotions, let it do so. If it wants to dissipate, allow it to do so, and you stay with it for as long as is necessary until it either dissolves completely, shifts into something else, or you just feel kind of done with it.  

It sounds like you're doing well. 

23 minutes ago, Jordan94 said:

I know some people who got inspired by the book do a final step of visualizing the feeling coming up and leaving the body, do you think some part like that is necessary or fine without ?

It's not necessary, though it can be a helpful technique for those who aren't familiar or experienced with releasing, as a kind of scaffolding so that they can see what it's like. From my perspective, any additional visualization or steps is not helpful for the dedicated seeker. The profundity of the technique is in its simplicity. While visualization and added 'intention' can work, you are losing the effectiveness of being able to train yourself to do it at anytime, anywhere with anything. You don't want to become reliant on extended techniques. For example if your boss starts yelling at you - you may not be able to start doing the visualization on the spot. Visualizing makes it no more effective and creates openings for resistance imo.  

To quote the book, instead of thinking about how to do it, it's better to just 'do it'. 

Edited February 28, 2019 by Arman

[allislove]

I am wondering how this letting go technique is different from the Sedona method?

[Jordan94]

@Arman Okay great thanks, I also find that for me an added visualisation or intent to have the sensation leave the body is not helpful and can be counter productive, as it's an easy trap to have an intention/expectation to have the sensation move/be in a particular way, which is against just letting the sensation be as it is

 

@dimitri I find it's also quite exactly the same as vipassana meditation isn't it ?

[allislove]

@Jordan94 I do not know, going to my first Vipassana retreat in one month 

I suppose that all such techniques are quite similar: be aware of emotion, ..., let it go.

[Greek-God]

On 6/7/2018 at 2:40 PM, iluminado said:

4. I just sit in my bed, close my eyes and zone on what I'm feeling. Nothing special

@iluminado Just created an account after finding this thread.

I stumbled onto DH's teachings about 2 years ago. Read Letting Go twice, once in 2017, and the second time this year. I've felt so much resistance to the process itself, that I did not do it. I never dived deep into it, I kept being stuck in a low vibration state in my life.

Right now, I've made a conscious decision to make it a daily process.

 

4. Do you lay on your back, or do you sit with upright, with your torso braced?

[Fishy]

This book is a must read.

[Yonkon]

I listened to the audiobook like 4 times, if you don't have audible yet, get your free audiobook when creating an acount and choose this one.

[CultivateLove]

I saw a similar post 5 months ago or so. Decided to give it a try. It's been really surprising just how effective it is. I've been able to heal so much emotional baggage and trauma that was weighing me down, I'm much better at dealing with negative emotions (Low Vibration Energy) and experiencing a lot more of positive emotions (High Vibration Energy), and I'm starting to move away from the need to intellectualize to make sense of things, which is still useful in some cases but is also very limited, time consuming and energy consuming. 

In the last couple of weeks, I've been having mystical glimpses. Moments where I go deeper within and the "outside" gets seen as inside, where I can look at another person, and be directly aware that I am actually looking at myself. There is still work to be done though, since there is still a sense of "a self" looking  

I'm feeling more and more motivated to do the real spiritual work now, or more accurately I've let go of a lot of the resistance to doing what I actually want to do and actually brings me joy in my life  Videogames, TV shows and things like that just don't really do that much for me anymore. They never really did, I was just carrying to much shit to see it. 

Anyway, I could go on and on, this is just the tip of the Iceberg of my experience with the letting go process, but I got work in 2 hours and I have some things I want to do before  I go

TL;DR - 10/10 Book. Life changing. 

[Greek-God]

I tried surrendering yesterday several times throught the day. I must either be dumb or some people are just meant to live a life of unhappiness and I'm one of them, cause I felt as worse as most days. The technique does not seem to work on me. I'm in such a dark place, I feel so much bitterness over women, over the world, over my lack of affection / intimacy..

[OctagonOctopus]

@Greek-God

It’s not like it’s gonna be peace of mind right away, all the stuff one has repressed is gonna start coming up. Feeling in a “dark place” and “bitterness” are exactly the things one has to face, surrender to, and anything else that comes up. One is suggesting these feelings are wrong in some way which is a form of holding onto the feelings, not accepting them, rather then allowing oneself to surrender to them. 

[Jordan94]

@Greek-God How you doing ? Did you continue to try to experiment with the technique a bit ?

Also Leo made a video about it recently you definitly want to check it out if you haven't done yet

And for your particular case and why it didn't "work" well when you tried, I suspect that you did it too much in a tryhard / expecting results way, rather than in a light / playfull / just like a game way, which can be counterproductive because it's easy to build even more resistance and attachments using leting go itself as the object of attachment/craving, I definitly do that too sometimes so I can relate if that was the case for you too

 

[iamme]

On 2/28/2019 at 5:34 PM, dimitri said:

I am wondering how this letting go technique is different from the Sedona method?

It's not so different because David R Hawkins was a smart ass student of Lester Levenson who originated Sedona Method and Releasing Technique. Hawkins parted ways with Levenson after a misunderstanding regarding Hawkins' request to Levenson that he makes Sedona Method contents available to everyone for free. Obviously Levenson told Hawkins to basically fuck off and Hawkins interpreted that as Levenson being evil. Well, Levenson simply defended Sedona Method from well wishers who would have it destroyed into Oblivion fast. When something is pushed for free, it loses value to an ego. Pretty much like the church thing. If it's free, it doesn't have much value to you, especially when it involves a lot of effort in doing it. When you pay for it, it's likely for you to become more committed. 

So that's how Howkins broke up from Levenson's club, spent a lifetime spreading his own understanding of things (filtered through his psychology/ psychiatric profession), even tried to be a clarvoyant able to tap into the collective consciousness (I guess he actually believed that) and bashing Levenson freely post mortem. On his death bed Hawkins finished Letting Go which is a tribute and a comeback to Levenson's teachings. The book was published after Hawkins' death. I advise you go back to the original, before the Releasing Technique and the Sedona Method got too distorted by their current owners.

[Greek-God]

@Jordan94I am still doing daily releasing / letting go. If you know Julien Blanc, I'm in his 12-month program (Transformation Mastery Academy), which is based on Hawkins / E. Tolle / Dodson teachings.

I have made no big breakthrough, nothing like @iluminado experienced in healing his social anxiety. I still feel that tightness in my chest ever-present. However, even when I let go, I have so much layers of resistance, that I don't even get past that.

If I can't let go of the resistance to having the feeling, I can't access / let go of the feeling itself.

This is the key, I think to get that massive shift in vibration.

I did have a major temporary dating success: I attracted the most awesome girl I've ever been with, got her incredibly attracted to me in the beginning, but it faded away soon.  The reason: self-sabotage based on my core belief (I am not good enough for her, I do not deserve to be loved), which manifested in neediness and insecurity from my part, which pushed her away.

Any tips on how to let go of the resistance to having feelings?

Edited October 11, 2019 by Greek-God

[Jordan94]

@Greek-God Yea I know Julien Blanc and yea what he teaches recently is basically the exact same thing

Hm yea it seems like you have a ton of resistance to the feelings and to letting go maybe

The thing that you should play around is to try to let go of the resistance first, and by leting go of the resistance I mean leting it be, as David Hawkins/Julien Blanc would say, just observe it without jugement and just let it be, to make it more easy to observe the resistance, try to observe physical sensations that are associated with the resistance, tension somewhere for example

 

Good job for the girl and your game progress also  and even if it didn't end up perfectly this time it'll get better and better and future can be really bright for you on that regard

Edited October 11, 2019 by Jordan94

[Greek-God]

This is what I can't do, as I've come to realize

On 10/11/2019 at 3:14 PM, Jordan94 said:

just observe it without jugement and just let it be

The first step is to allow yourself to have the feeling without resisting it, venting it, fearing it, condemning it, or moralizing about it.

I either fear the feeling, condemn it or blame myself for having it.

 

On 10/11/2019 at 3:14 PM, Jordan94 said:

even if it didn't end up perfectly this time it'll get better and better and future

I know this is true, but it's sad, I wanted it be better / like a dream now, in the present, with this specific girl, not with others from the future.

[Jordan94]

1 hour ago, Greek-God said:

I either fear the feeling, condemn it or blame myself for having it.

Can you try to identify how this fear/condeming/blame manifest as a physical sensation in your body ? Like trying to locate/identify that feeling/emotion/sensation

 

1 hour ago, Greek-God said:

I know this is true, but it's sad, I wanted it be better / like a dream now, in the present, with this specific girl, not with others from the future.

Haha yea that's always the case, and will be the case for the next girl you really like that you miss, but at the end of the day it's just some thoughts and those thoughts will get less powerful/meaningful quite fast without doing anything with just some time

[traveller]

I am reading book for a while now and letting go almost everyday any time that I am able to concentrate I don't know if I am doing it true but at first days it was looking difficult but also awesome. But after a few weeks I get difficulties to do the techique and also l have a feeling like l am a walking dead. I don't have too much  tension in my body ı feel lighter, l am more relaxed in some situations  but also it feel pointless, no desire, no action to do anything, ı don't have a desire to react to any situations which makes me feeling like ghost. Also during that time of letting go practise l've been a lot of dreams, dreams are generally making sense it feels like I am dissolving my wounds or integrating my shadow .. l don't know really what's  its like to   letting go  because now  even sometimes it feels amazing most of times l am like no matter what, ı feel no excitement  any advise?