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this is really interesting.. does memory hold us down and prevent us from moving forward?

thinking about it, it seems like we tie ourselves down to memory. our memory seems to work a little like a recorder - it just films whats going on around us. but we add to it, we select little bits of the film and play it over and over again - we create a strong connection between what happened to us and how it influences our actions in the future.

is it possible to just let our memory record things without getting especially attached to certain pieces of it? i dont know, but i hear it is. ive read that there are monks and saints who could have things happen to them repeatedly but not let it influence anything that they do. like the story we spoke about in which sisyphus continues to roll the rock up the hill despite the fact that it never reaches the top - he seems to have fought past his memory - seemed to have moved past it.

im not saying that that's what we should all aim for - not in the least. but what it be like, to be free of our memory? would be essentially be free of our pasts? how would we choose to conduct ourselves then? on what would we base our actions?

would it be liberating, a new kind of freedom? or would it just lead to new kinds of anxiety?