Detachment

[Someone here]

 is something which I wonder about and it is a theme within some philosophical and spiritual traditions. The emphasis is upon going beyond the desires and goals of the ego and seeking to aim towards cultivating the higher rather than lower aspects of oneself. In speaking 6attachment I am referring to a sense of clinging or emotional involvement with specific aspects of life and detachment as being a state of not being concerned with these any longer.

I am not sure if the idea of a lower and higher self is completely helpful, but I do think that there is part of human life which is connected to instinctual desires and, in contrast, there is the cultivation of the moral sense and cultivation of mind and consciousness. In many ways, human beings struggle with conflicts which arise in relation to attachments, ranging from seeking material possessions and the fulfillment of desires and emotional wellbeing in relationships. Suffering is engendered when we do not get the results which we seek. This can result in depression and if a person compares him or herself with others and feels lesser in social worth, it can result in a sense of being a 'failure', whereas on a deeper level success cannot be measured to outer aspects of life.

However, I wonder what the state of detachment would amount to and whether it is possible. Is the striving for such a state a desire in itself. Is the fulfillment of desires or pleasures to be avoided, or is such fulfillment an aspiration which can lead one to be happier and a more positive person. Of course, some people do better at achieving their wishes and goals than others. Perhaps, the achievement of detachment works better for those individuals rather than those who are content. But, is detachment a state of indifference, or being cut off from one's emotions, or is a state of greater freedom

[Breakingthewall]

Humans have a peculiarity, a piece of software that makes them special: the ego. or what is the same, the ability to create a mental image of how reality should be. for example, reality should be without disease, and that is why we fight disease. This gives us great powers, the ability to evolve, to defeat nature, at the cost of becoming disconnected, anxious, miserable and frustrated, since reality is pure eternal joy and due to the lens of the ego we cannot perceive it.

when buddha says life is suffering, he is referring to the ego. life is glory. but it is undifferentiated glory, there is no good or bad. these are ego concepts. reality is just what it is, but although the ego cannot understand it, no matter how hard it tries, it is infinitely richer, deeper, than the image of the ego should be. the detachment you speak of is detachment from good and evil, from any comparisons, to return to the garden of Eden. 

The poem hsin hsin Ming begins with these words and sums it up perfectly:

 The Great Way is not difficult for those who have no preferences.

When both love and hate are absent everything becomes clear and diaphanous.

However, make the slightest distinction, and heaven and earth are infinitely distant.

[gettoefl]

why detach?

because we are attached to stuff!

which is our only barrier to realization

detachment is stripping away the attachments

attachments are simply dysfunctional relationships

task is to purify all these desires - which is another way of saying attachments

and make them holy

namely helpful for realization

every attachment can be turned into a vehicle to god!

Edited September 23, 2021 by gettoefl