Letting go is a theme in all spiritual traditions. Holding on they say leads to tension and suffering, which is the opposite of what we really want. Letting go brings inner freedom and peace of mind. What we are letting go of are not the things themselves, but our attachment to them, which is a basically a way of seeing things – a mind set. The key to letting go is allowing the mind to relax. Rather than trying to get rid of difficult feelings or thoughts, Peter Russell reframes letting go as “letting in” and “letting be.” He applies this to our emotions, and most importantly to the ego. The ego is not some separate part of us, but a mode of thinking we get caught in. Many traditions see ego as an enemy, but it is actually an ally, trying to keep us safe. The problem is that too often the egoic mode of thinking gets triggered when it is not needed and doesn’t serve us. Rather than seeing letting go of ego as some future goal we should strive to achieve, he shows how we can practice letting go of ego in our daily life. He completes this talk with a meditation practice that helps us step out of our egoic thinking and become more aware of the present moment.