<p><strong>What is it to let go in Buddhism?</strong></p>
<p>Is that the Noble Truths?</p>
<p>So</p>
<ol>
<li>recognise suffering</li>
<li>associate that with (recognise that as arising with) craving and attaching</li>
<li>let go</li>
</ol>
<p>It's also a past-tense, is it, i.e. -- &quot;suffering having been known in the past, it was dropped&quot;.</p>
<p><strong>What is it to accept in Buddhism?</strong></p>
<p>I'm not sure it is -- does acceptance imply a specific view of a specific &quot;thing&quot; accepted (which may be contrary to the doctine of things being empty), also of a &quot;me&quot; doing the accepting?</p>
<p>Realistically, though, maybe monks accept what &quot;necessary&quot; (i.e. the &quot;requisites&quot;).</p>
<p>There's also conventional wisdom (to be accepted) -- like <a href="https://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/dhamma/sacca/sacca4/samma-ditthi/index.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">from here</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>And what is wrong view?</p>
<blockquote>
<p>'There is nothing given, nothing offered, nothing sacrificed. There is no fruit or result of good or bad actions. There is no this world, no next world, no mother, no father, no spontaneously reborn beings; no brahmans or contemplatives who, faring rightly &amp; practicing rightly, proclaim this world &amp; the next after having directly known &amp; realized it for themselves.'</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This is wrong view...</p>
</blockquote>
<p>So an excess of &quot;nothing exists&quot; is wrong too.</p>
<p>So I suppose that &quot;accepting&quot; in Buddhism is, at least, not rejecting being kind and so on.</p>
<p><strong>What are the things we accept?</strong></p>
<p><em>Should</em> accept good advice, probably.</p>
<p><strong>What are the things we let go?</strong></p>
<p>Bad habits. And heedlessness.</p>
<p><strong>Why?
How?</strong></p>
<p>Liberation from suffering -- personal welfare and the welfare of others.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-10-22T05:22:45.670Z
2019-10-22T06:17:26.270Z
2020-06-17T09:56:10.877Z
ChrisW
<blockquote>
  <p>What should we accept? What should we let go?</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Every evil never doing<br/>
and in wholesomeness increasing<br/>
and one's heart well-purifying:<br/>
this is the Buddhas' Sasana<br/></p>

<p>(Dhammapada, 183)</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-10-22T13:25:50.890Z
2019-10-22T13:25:50.890Z
santa100
<blockquote>
  <p>And what is right effort? It’s when a mendicant generates enthusiasm, tries, makes an effort, exerts the mind, and strives so that bad, unskillful qualities don’t arise. They generate enthusiasm, try, make an effort, exert the mind, and strive so that bad, unskillful qualities that have arisen are given up. They generate enthusiasm, try, make an effort, exert the mind, and strive so that skillful qualities that have not arisen do arise. They generate enthusiasm, try, make an effort, exert the mind, and strive so that skillful qualities that have arisen remain, are not lost, but increase, mature, and are fulfilled by development. This is called right effort.</p>
  
  <p><a href="https://suttacentral.net/sn45.8/en/bodhi" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://suttacentral.net/sn45.8/en/bodhi</a></p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-10-22T01:20:43.217Z
2019-10-22T01:20:43.217Z
Dhamma Dhatu
<p>I am not going to quote a sutra, but I am trying to let go of everything, including letting go.
:)</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-01T11:12:15.753Z
This is not an answer to any of the questions about letting go, just personal testimony. I can see that you have a Buddhist (probably Zen) background, but this forum is for helping people understand and apply Buddhism. Your answer is too short, and too cryptic.
Katinka Hesselink
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-01T15:58:15.997Z
Hahaha!!!! There are so many reasons why I think your comment is hilarious, but I'll let you figure those out for yourself - how is that for short and cryptic? ;)
William Koplitz
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-10-23T04:06:02.440Z
2019-10-23T04:06:02.440Z
William Koplitz
<p>I am not sure there is a difference between letting go and acceptance ,If there is a let go ,there has already been acceptance.And its not directed towards anything specific, its basically all that manifests, everything including the sense of a self that needs to accept and let go.</p>

<p>Expressed well here in the <a href="https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn35/sn35.101.than.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Na Tumhaka Sutta</a></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-10-22T20:41:20.623Z
2019-10-22T20:41:20.623Z
Omar Boshra
<p>You should accept <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noble_Eightfold_Path#The_Eightfold_Path" rel="nofollow noreferrer">The Eightfold Noble Path</a>:</p>

<ol>
<li>Right view </li>
<li>Right resolve </li>
<li>Right speech</li>
<li>Right action</li>
<li>Right livelihood</li>
<li>Right effort</li>
<li>Right mindfulness </li>
<li>Right Concentration</li>
</ol>

<p>Everything that goes against that, should be rejected. FYI, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoga" rel="nofollow noreferrer">The Eightfold Yoga System</a> has the same injunctions. In Yoga, the first two steps are called <em>yama</em> (that what should be accepted) and <em>niyama</em> (that what should be rejected).</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-10-21T20:31:33.623Z
2019-10-21T20:31:33.623Z
Marino Klisovich
<ul>
<li>What is it to let go in Buddhism? </li>
<li><p>What is it to accept in Buddhism? </p></li>
<li><p>What are the things we accept?    </p></li>
<li>What are the things we let go?</li>
</ul>

<p>Why? 
How? </p>

<ul>
<li>What do Buddhists scriptures have to say about it? </li>
</ul>

<teaching>
What should we accept? What should we let go?
# What should we accept? What should we let go?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2019-10-21)

* What is it to let go in Buddhism?
* What is it to accept in Buddhism?
* What are the things we accept?
* What are the things we let go?

Why?
How?

* What do Buddhists scriptures have to say about it?

**Tags:** teaching


---

## 6 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2019-10-22. Score: 1

**What is it to let go in Buddhism?**

Is that the Noble Truths?

So

1. recognise suffering
2. associate that with (recognise that as arising with) craving and attaching
3. let go

It's also a past-tense, is it, i.e. -- "suffering having been known in the past, it was dropped".

**What is it to accept in Buddhism?**

I'm not sure it is -- does acceptance imply a specific view of a specific "thing" accepted (which may be contrary to the doctine of things being empty), also of a "me" doing the accepting?

Realistically, though, maybe monks accept what "necessary" (i.e. the "requisites").

There's also conventional wisdom (to be accepted) -- like [from here](https://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/dhamma/sacca/sacca4/samma-ditthi/index.html):

> And what is wrong view?
>
> > 'There is nothing given, nothing offered, nothing sacrificed. There is no fruit or result of good or bad actions. There is no this world, no next world, no mother, no father, no spontaneously reborn beings; no brahmans or contemplatives who, faring rightly & practicing rightly, proclaim this world & the next after having directly known & realized it for themselves.'
>
> This is wrong view...

So an excess of "nothing exists" is wrong too.

So I suppose that "accepting" in Buddhism is, at least, not rejecting being kind and so on.

**What are the things we accept?**

*Should* accept good advice, probably.

**What are the things we let go?**

Bad habits. And heedlessness.

**Why?
How?**

Liberation from suffering -- personal welfare and the welfare of others.


---

### Answer by username_2 on 2019-10-22. Score: 0

> What should we accept? What should we let go?

Every evil never doing  
and in wholesomeness increasing  
and one's heart well-purifying:  
this is the Buddhas' Sasana

(Dhammapada, 183)


---

### Answer by username_3 on 2019-10-22. Score: 0

> And what is right effort? It’s when a mendicant generates enthusiasm, tries, makes an effort, exerts the mind, and strives so that bad, unskillful qualities don’t arise. They generate enthusiasm, try, make an effort, exert the mind, and strive so that bad, unskillful qualities that have arisen are given up. They generate enthusiasm, try, make an effort, exert the mind, and strive so that skillful qualities that have not arisen do arise. They generate enthusiasm, try, make an effort, exert the mind, and strive so that skillful qualities that have arisen remain, are not lost, but increase, mature, and are fulfilled by development. This is called right effort.
>
> <https://suttacentral.net/sn45.8/en/bodhi>


---

### Answer by username_4 on 2019-10-23. Score: 0

I am not going to quote a sutra, but I am trying to let go of everything, including letting go.
:)

> **Comments:**
> **username_5**: This is not an answer to any of the questions about letting go, just personal testimony. I can see that you have a Buddhist (probably Zen) background, but this forum is for helping people understand and apply Buddhism. Your answer is too short, and too cryptic.  
> **username_4**: Hahaha!!!! There are so many reasons why I think your comment is hilarious, but I'll let you figure those out for yourself - how is that for short and cryptic? ;)  

---

### Answer by username_6 on 2019-10-22. Score: 0

I am not sure there is a difference between letting go and acceptance ,If there is a let go ,there has already been acceptance.And its not directed towards anything specific, its basically all that manifests, everything including the sense of a self that needs to accept and let go.

Expressed well here in the [Na Tumhaka Sutta](https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn35/sn35.101.than.html)


---

### Answer by username_7 on 2019-10-21. Score: 0

You should accept [The Eightfold Noble Path](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noble_Eightfold_Path#The_Eightfold_Path):

1. Right view
2. Right resolve
3. Right speech
4. Right action
5. Right livelihood
6. Right effort
7. Right mindfulness
8. Right Concentration

Everything that goes against that, should be rejected. FYI, [The Eightfold Yoga System](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoga) has the same injunctions. In Yoga, the first two steps are called *yama* (that what should be accepted) and *niyama* (that what should be rejected).


---

