One of the ills of our modern civilization, which is causing great concern, is that people, feeling the need to escape from, and forget for a time, the problems, responsibilities and frustrations of life, have "let go" too much. If they are not able to do this by reading sensational books or seeing exciting movies, there is always the recourse to drink, and lately drugs, too, are being used to aid the process, so that for a time all control vanishes, and the person is "free" for all care—often with tragedy as the result.

In Theosophy, we are advised to "let go," to free ourselves from the bonds that bind us, so that on the surface at least modern civilization and Theosophy seem to be in agreement—but only on the surface.

While it is true that thoughtful thinkers and writers today are beginning to regard man as much more than just his physical body, there is still a long way to go before the Theosophical concept of man is approached. Very roughly, for purposes of this study, man may be divided into the personality, or the "persona, " the outer form and name, and the individuality, the real "I," the dweller residing in the personality, the real chooser and thinker, the one who really needs to be "free"—but from what? and why?

The individuality needs to be freed from the bonds and the prison in which it has been encased by the personality. Though forgotten or unknown by the personality, the individuality or inner man has his own plane of action and life, and the responsibility of guiding the personal man to become more impersonal and unselfish; but his voice is unheard and unrecognized because the average person is unaware of his existence, and often even students of Theosophy forget that there is such a being.

Therefore, what is it that the personality needs to "let go" of, to be free from, so that it can be a fit instrument for the individuality to act through? Certainly not its problems and responsabilities; these are the very things that it cannot free itself from, because in many instances their causes have been sown in a previous existence, and have been brought over by the real "I" for the personality to work through and rise above in this present life.

What really needs to be "let go" of is our pride, our vanity, the desire that others should think and feel as we do, the feeling that our methods are the only correct ones, that our way of life is the only true one—in short, our selfishness and self-centredness.

To test out just how "free" we are, we should take a look, for instance, at our first thoughts on waking, and our last thoughts on sleeping. Do they tend to be concerned with how others have dealt with us, with the mistakes of others, with how we have been mistreated, or are we able to see objectively where we have erred, how we have treated, or mistreated, others, leaving them to worry about their own mistakes? Another test is to notice our reaction to any plan or proposal brought forward for our consideration. Is our first and immediate reaction, "It is not my way of doing it, therefore it is no good," or, is our reaction, "How will this affect others and the general pattern of work? Will it help or hinder?"

Mr. Judge, in his Letters That Have Helped Me, has given another test for us, and along with it very practical advice:

Begin by trying to conquer the habit, almost universal, of pushing yourself forward. This arises from personality. Do not monopolize the conversation. Keep in the background. If someone begins to tell you about himself and his doings, do not take first chance to tell him about yourself, but listen to him and talk solely to bring him out. And when he has finished, suppress in yourself the desire to tell about yourself, your opinions and experiences. Do not ask a question unless you intend to listen to the answer and inquire into its value. Try to recollect that you are a very small affair in the world, and that the people around do not value you at all and grieve not when you are absent. Your only true greatness lies in your inner true self and it is not desirous of obtaining the applause of others. If you will follow these directions for one week you will find they will take considerable effort, and you will begin to discover a part of the meaning of the saying, "Man, know thyself."

In this day and age, we see things in an upside-down manner. The influences of the astral and psychic planes are much stronger than those of the spiritual plane; therefore we see things in a reversed fashion. We see these lower planes as the only reality, and from the standpoint of the personality they are so. But from the standpoint of the real "I" they are not.

If we could only realize that there is a plane where we are all alike, are bound together by a bond stronger than any family or community or legal bond! It is on this plane, the spiritual, that real Unity or Oneness exists. All have come from this source, and must eventually return to it. It can only be approached when we have "let go" on this physical plane, not of our responsibilities and problems, but of our pride and vanity and selfishness—the choice is ours. One way will take us deeper into the psychic plane, where there is "under every flower a serpent coiled"; the other, nearer to the real "I" within, the man who forever is. It is up to us, but "let go" we must, one way or the other.

As gold purified in the furnace rids itself of dross and reaches the quality of its own self, so the mind ridding itself of the dross of substance, force, and darkness, through meditation, enters into reality.

Outward attachment arises through sensual objects; inward attachment, through personality. Only he who, resting in the Eternal, is free from passion, is able to give them up. Freedom from passion and awakening are the wings of the spirit. O wise man, understand these two wings! For without them you cannot rise to the crown of the tree of life.

—Shankaracharya: The Crest Jewel of Wisdom