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How do I know I am not attached to Buddhism?
zenguitar
Bad BuddhistNew England Veteran
Hi Sangha, Let’s say I have made some (very small) progress in eliminating attachment to money, to material things, and to (pointless) sense pleasures. Let’s say this is because of my newfound intense focus on Buddhism, and especially due to meditation practice. How do I know that I haven’t released attachment to those old things just to become attached to a new idea of myself as “Buddhist” and this whole system of practice called “Buddhism”? 
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There are much worse things than being attached to Buddhist practice, I really wouldn't worry about it. I've been addicted to meditation for many years, the doctors can't do nuffink abart it.
Has Buddhism started controlling you?
Do you use a completely different standard when judging Buddhism than you do for judging other religions?
I should jolly well think so.
@zenguitar
Easier to just assume that you have.
As quickly as we let go of one identity, our ego retro fits us up for another. Usually though, with a slightly less worldly form than the last one.
A Buddhist practice is really just the continuous letting go of all arising identities.
Do you sleep at night, @zenguitar?
I wonder what a zen teacher would make of so much pondering...
"How do I know I am not attached to Buddhism?"
When you stop worrying about those types of questions that arise in the mind....
Remember that most of the problem with attachment (especially early in practice) is unhealthy attachment. No one expects a Buddhist mother to detach from her children. Just to maintain a healthy level of attachment. No one expects you to give away your bank accounts or dvd collection. Just to use them mindfully and not place too much importance on them. If you are meditating to the point you are not going to work, not feeding children, not paying bills, then maybe it's a problem. otherwise, not so much.
Where is this thing called "Buddhism" when you're sitting and your right knee begins to burn like fire? ... or when you hit your thumb with a hammer? or you run out of breath under water? Isn't "Buddhism" basically a cartoon with which to fill the moments when you're not being serious? ... or "Buddhist" if you insist.
@dhammadragon, yes, I do sleep. Luckily, I am not anywhere near as frantic as I my questions make me sound.
"Don't use Buddhism to become a Buddhist.
Use Buddhism to become a better whatever-you-are."
Being pleased does not mean you are attached. Actually you can only be pleased if you are NOT attached to some degree. Attachment does not lead to being pleased rather it leads to suffering.
So in conclusion being pleased is just a feeling. You can feel it. You get pleased for a moment and then it collapses when attachment comes. But attachment comes after the fact. Being pleased is just your sensitivity.
This question has come up before. I seem to recall that someone came up with a passage from the sutras saying that there were "wholesome" pursuits, and that devotion to Buddhism couldn't be considered an "attachment" in the negative sense.
I suppose one could become "attached" to Buddhism if one were identifying with it from an egoic base. Same with "compassion"; if one is using that practice to think of oneself as compassionate, and to identify egoically as a compassionate person, that's how you'd know you're adversely "attached" to Buddhism. The "I'm so cool, I'm a Buddhist" attitude. Joe Buddhist. But if you're sincere in your studies and your practice, then that's not "attachment".
Thankfully, letting it go either means you've found something that works better for you or you're dead.
Except maybe for those-who have in the past-been forced to renounce Buddhism or be killed or exiled.
I don't believe that the 4NT's came with an exception for a Buddhist practice clause.
If you observe that you are attached to a Buddhist practice, the practice calls for you to resolve your attachment to it, not push the practice away.
While some might prescribe substituting ones coarser attachments for finer ones, that is best left for those under the tutelage of their own Master.
For the rest of us peons, anything that we cling to or push away is just more of sufferings cause.
Exactly so.
Brain washing is a good plan. Getting rid of useless existing templates, models of advancement, 'my God is bigger than your enlightenment' etc.
Join the cult that destroys its own basis. Iz plan of Dr Dharma. Keep taking the meditation . . .
Ok, thanks, this is mostly reassuring advice.
The Dhamma - which is basically, what Buddhism is, if you think about it - is often likened to a raft, used for crossing a river.... You know the type.... they're tethered on one side, and the passenger has to pull on a rope, strung up and tied across the river, from one shore to the other, in order to travel from one bank to the opposite one....
or maybe there's a long pole at your disposal, to use the raft, punt-like, and to push yourself across.... or a pair of oars....... or a paddle......
That river can get pretty choppy at times, so that raft is a precious commodity.... But once you reach the far shore - and that is, after all, your objective - you no longer need the raft. Tying it to your back, or dragging it behind you, when you know you're never going to need it again, is a futile exercise.
Sometimes, the raft isn't the point. Neither is the rope/pole/oars/paddle.
The opposite bank is.
How you get there, is up to you, but one thing's for sure. You need that raft. Until you don't need it.
If one has no problems breaking the precepts all the time, skipping meditation all the time, hardly ever follows the teachings, etc. Then I think one could say they are not really too attached to Buddhism.
"How do I know I am not attached to Buddhism?"
When enlightenment happens ?
You are supposed to be attached to Dhamme Practice and to get rid of other craving.
Chanda vs Tanha.
Then in the end you give up your attachment to the Dhamma.
/Victor