Non-attachment doesn’t mean that we cannot have or shouldn’t have or don’t want to have possession of things or don’t perform any actions. It is not about running away from our duty and responsibility, or runaway from the world and our problems.
We can have things or perform a lot of actions in our life, but we do not attached to the actions and the result (renounce from the fruit of action), and without craving and clinging towards the things that we have or don’t have. When these things changed or disappeared due to impermanence, we are fine and are not being disturbed or affected by the loss of the things that we have had and liked.
We can have the desire to want to have things or want to perform actions. But when we are not able to get what we want or do the things that we want to do, we are fine and are not being disturbed or affected by all these “not what we want” happenings.
We can have relationships, family, children, friends, material belongings, property, career, job title, social status, wealth, health, beauty, knowledge, and etc. But our confidence and happiness do not come from or based on all these things. When all these things changed or disappeared, we are able to let go and are not being disturbed or affected by it. We are still who we are, and are confident and happy.
The real non-attachment is about not attached to our mind and whatever the mind perceives through the senses. We don’t attached to what we see, hear, smell, taste, touch and think. We remain undisturbed, unaffected and not being influenced by all the names and forms that the mind perceives through the senses. We treat all names and forms equally, remain equanimous and at peace, being aware of all the names and forms but not being affected by them.
We think that if we let go of all our relationships, our family and friends, our material belongings, our job or career, our property, our social status, our wealth, health, beauty and knowledge, and etc, we will be free or care free and be happy. We don’t want to have anything to do with all these “things” and “people”, and live alone in the secluded cave and do nothing. We don’t want to have any duties or responsibilities. We don’t want to perform any actions (good or bad) because we think that if we stop performing actions, then we won’t create any cause and effect or good and bad karma for us to be reborn again and again. But the truth doesn’t happen like this. It still doesn’t and cannot free us from ignorance and attachment, the cause of suffering.
It’s because we are still attached to the mind, the ego, the likes and dislikes, the wants and don’t wants, the craving and aversion, the duality of good and bad qualities, and are still being disturbed or affected or influenced by whatever the mind perceives through the senses of what we see, hear, smell, taste, touch and think. We are affected very much by the duality of good and bad, positive and negative, pleasant and unpleasant, likes and dislikes, success and failure, praise and censure, heat and cold, birth and death, happiness and suffering, and etc…
This mind and the ego is still here with us even though we are alone by our own self and possess nothing.
We are constantly being controlled by the likes and dislikes about what we see, hear, smell, taste, touch and think. We get unhappy and frustrated when we don’t get what we like and are getting what we don’t like, or when we lost what we like and couldn’t get rid of what we don’t like. Our mind is constantly being agitated and disturbed by this likes and dislikes. There is no peacefulness and stillness in the mind to allow wisdom to arise.
Even though we live alone and not seeing or being with anyone, not doing anything, the mind is still constantly having unceasing activities going on in it every moment. We are being disturbed by our own thoughts, feelings and sensations in the mind even if we are alone, don’t perform any “actions” and not having any possessions in life. The mind, the ego and its activities are the only things that we really need to let go and not attached to.
There is no progress in our yoga practice (yoga asana practice, pranayama, meditation, study of the scriptures, reading a lots of books on philosophy, chanting, restricting our possessions and worldly activities, move away from worldly companies of men and women, eating vegetarian, doing karma yoga and etc…) if we are still attached strongly to the mind and are identified with the mind, associate with the activities in the mind, react towards the ego, the likes and dislikes, the wants and don’t wants, the craving and aversion, and constantly being disturbed, affected and influenced by what we see, hear, smell, taste, touch and think. Being angry, upset, jealous, arrogant, frustrated, irritated, dissatisfied, disappointed, anxious, depressed, aggressive, fear and worry all the time, and are being controlled by what the ego likes and doesn’t like, wants and doesn’t want, to act or not to act. Being influenced by the never ending cravings and clinging in the mind. And have no peace in the mind at all.
Real yoga practice is non-attachment. Real non-attachment will lead us to our true Self – love, peace, compassion and wisdom.
Real non-attachment happens in the mind. Not at the surface or from the appearance of how we are, what we do and don’t do. Never judge a person from the appearance. A person can be non-moving, the body being stilled and speechless, but the mind can be full of activities and impurities. A person can be moving all the time, the body is in motion and are speaking, but the mind can be calmed, concentrated, being at the present and free from impurities.
Not being attached to the impurities that arise in the mind from moment to moment. Not react towards anger, hatred, jealousy, greed, lustful desires, arrogance, frustration, irritation, aggression, depression, anxiety, fear and worry, and etc, and let them go without craving or aversion, without judgment. Know that all these impurities are momentary. They are subject to changes and impermanence. They arise, they stay, they change and they will pass away eventually. They are not us and they don’t belong to us. This is real non-attachment.
If we really know who we really are, we will know that the mind is just the mind, the ego is just the ego, impurities are just impurities, they have no power to influence us for our actions or non-actions. That is truly freedom. That is real non-attachment. Out of compassion, selflessly, without intentions or expectations, we perform all actions or are not performing any actions. It is beyond action and action-less.
May all be free and be happy. Be truly happy because our true Self is beyond the mind and the ego, beyond all the names and forms, beyond the state of good feelings, calmness and peacefulness that come from our yoga practice and non-attachment. The Self is whole, full, content and complete.
Be free from all the pleasant and unpleasant sensations, good and bad feelings, positive and negative thoughts, happiness and unhappiness. Throw away the craving and aversion. Enjoy and appreciate the present moment now without attachment, clinging, craving and aversion.
Accept ourselves as we are, at the present moment now, this is the condition of the body and the mind, this is where we are, this is what we are doing and not doing, this is what we can do and cannot do, this is what we know and don’t know, this is the condition of our life, and this is the condition of the world that we are living in. But at the same time, allow changes, evolution and improvement to happen. Without fear and worry, without intention and expectation. We will be free from the conditions that come from our own mind.
We are who we are. We are not “this”, we are not “that”, we are not “not this” or “not that”. I am who I am. Everything is just being what it is. The mind is just being what it is. The world is just being what it is.
Om shanti.
Hello once more and I hope you will forgive my intrusion:
A Hermit Buddha as represented by influential ZEN Masters such as Huang Po, Lin Chi, Bodhidharma, Ma Tsu, Hui Neng, Good Star, Cold Mountain, Stone House, Bankai, Ikkyu and many others – will probably disagree with your statement that you can have all these forms of attachment to children and family, personal possessions, likes and dislikes and still find your way out of this Burning House… Bodhidharma says this:
“Buddha is Sanskrit for what you call aware, miraculously aware. Responding, perceiving (…) moving your hands and feet, it’s all your miraculously aware nature. And this nature is Mind. And this mind is The Buddha. And The Buddha is the path. And the path is ZEN. (…) And the Essence of The Way is detachment. And the goal of those who practice is freedom from appearances.”
Nirvana ultimately defines a State of Mind that is free from all forms of conceptual elaboration; free from the perception of a phenomenal world, free from the restraints of the Ego Self and its belongings.
There is not enough “Stuff” in this Reality to ever satisfy our Greed and Desires…
Arne
Om,
Thank you for your comment. There is no need to apologize for something that you think is true… In fact, what you mentioned is true. And what I meant in this article is not different from what all the Buddhas want us to practice – non-attachment or detachment.
Without non-attachment or detachment, there is no path…
The path is nothing but non-attachment or detachment.
Eliminating the ego to become selfless is the essence to liberation. This is not possible without detachment.
Only when we are complete selfless, then true compassion will manifest.
When compassion exists, all the names and forms are not different from emptiness. Clinging or attaching to “names and forms” is the cause of suffering. Without clinging or attaching to “names and forms”, there is no suffering. All the “names and forms” have no quality or intention to be an object of suffering. It is the attachment from the mind towards “names and forms” that is the cause of suffering.
Without attachment, everything is just “names and forms” and all “names and forms” are subject to impermanence. Everything are just arising and passing away. When we cannot accept the truth of everything is impermanent, suffering will arise when impermanence strikes. When we can accept everything as it is, observe the reality as it is, without craving for the pleasant “names and forms”, and without aversion towards the unpleasant “names and forms”, and are able to let go when impermanence strikes, there is no “suffering”.
This body will be pass away sooner or later. Everything that is attached to this body and its life existence will be separated from this body. Either the body will go first or the things will go before the body. When there is no attachment, no clinging onto anything or onto this body, what is “suffering”? This body will go through old age, illness, weakening, decaying and death. It is the fundamental truth. There is no doubt about this body itself cannot avoid pain and discomforts. We already let go of the body even before death takes place. We are not attached to the pain and discomforts that derived from this body. What is there to call “suffering”? We don’t attached to likes and dislikes that come from the ego, it doesn’t matter if we get the things that we like or not, it doesn’t matter if we are being with the things that we don’t like or not, the mind is free from craving and aversion, then what is there to be unhappy and dissatisfied about?
We are contented with where we are, what we are and how we are at the present moment now, not projecting into the future, not hold on to the past, live earnestly at the present moment now, not anticipating anything, where is “unhappiness”? We are not craving for happiness nor unhappiness, but are observing and accepting the present moment now as it is, where is “suffering”?
We are not attached to all the duality of good and bad, positive and negative, praise and censure, heat and cold, gain and loss, pain and pleasure, and are not affected by all these duality of “names and forms”, there is no craving, no aversion, what is there to be perceived as “suffering”?
All the knowledge in the world, success, achievement, relationship, material and sensual enjoyment cannot take away suffering, and they do not cause suffering either. It is the attachment in our mind that is the cause of suffering.
When there is no attachment, there is no suffering, and there is no difference whether life is easy or hard, the body is strong or weak, healthy or sick. Growth, changes, old age, weakening, decaying, sickness, pain, and death are natural process of a mortal body. All are impermanent… Why do we need to feel sad or bad about all these natural process of the mortal physical body? Feelings will changed. Relationship won’t last forever. This is the truth. And so, what is there to be unhappy about separation from the things and people that we loved and liked? We already let go of all these things and relationships long before they changed and disappeared due to the law of impermanence…
Om shanti.
Thanks for sharing. We are ready to learn from you about attaining liberation from suffering.