Attachment is the origin, the root of suffering; hence it is the cause of suffering.
- The Dalai Lama
There is happiness and freedom that can come with letting go of attachments.
The word impermanence by definition is the state or fact of lasting for only a limited period of time. This is an important teaching in Buddhism. Everything in life is impermanent, which means that everything is temporary, everything changes, this is inevitable. You yourself are impermanent, as are your loved ones, all material wealth, all living things, our planet, nature and it's seasons, all ever changing. The only sure certainty is this present moment.
This teaching is not only about letting go, but not grasping in the first place. If we can learn to live in this state of mind, we may find peace in every day and all areas of our life. Some see holding on as being strong, yet to let go takes great strength.
“To Everything There Is a Season”
…written in the Bible and sang by The Byrd’s!
In a Shaman ceremony circle I recently attended, the Shaman from a native tribe in Columbia, spoke of death as transformation. He explained that we experience death from the moment we leave our mother's breast, and as we move on to the next stage, the prior stage is like a death. We transform as we move forward, and this should be celebrated.
Being attached will only cause suffering, delaying change and growth.
Learn not to take the present moment for granted by accepting and loving what may come and allowing release when it's time of change occurs. This means that your happiness is no longer kept by anything outside of you. In other words, you remain free.
Connect without attaching!
Connection is a relationship, attachment is becoming possessive.
Although universally connected, we do not belong to another. You can extend a hand to help, but you do not give your hand to them to keep, at some point you have to let go.
Each of us having our own life and purpose, the only person you can ever change is yourself. Trusting in our spiritual journey, where growth is ever shaping us. Respecting and honoring this is freedom for the self and others.
Willingly allow life, others, situations, experiences, emotions and material gains to come and go. Allow and accept to that which is beyond our power, impermanence.
It's not that you should not own something, but that nothing should own YOU. Such as with emotions, one can still experience feelings without becoming them, they are temporary.
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. - Jesus
Expectations of life viewed by the ego, attached to the ideas of what the world is “supposed to look and feel like and what the world expects from you and wants you to be”, may result in the inability to ever find contentment and peace within.
Practicing mindfulness and meditation can bring conscious awareness to the presence of the ego and it's many attachments it holds onto. When you become attached to what is outside of you, happiness is based on duality, and your focus is on results. You're then controlled by the world, rather than your soul.
If you remain unattached to the things you have and experience, then you can own your happiness, make the best of each present moment and grow with each new stage.
Consider life, like the waves of the ocean which cannot be bottled up or kept for oneself, the movement of the ocean, unpredictable, unformed, belonging only to itself and to the universe. With each breath of the sea coming in and out upon the shore, briefly kissing the sand for only a moment.
If you try to contain the ocean, you will drown with failing expectations to the resistance of the impermanence of it's nature.
With unconditional love, care and acceptance of it's beauty in freedom, one can understand that although we cannot keep the ocean for oneself, we still are connected and nourished by what it provides that Is not ours to keep.
Let love flow.
We all have attachments, this teaching brings awareness of the resistance we have towards change to occur in our lives, which is a natural law of life.
Shanna