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Dump Your Negative Attachments Here
ThailandTom
Veteran
The internet, alcohol, delusional desires, nostalgic past moments, my mother, my computer and that is all I can think of a the moment.
2
Comments
On the flip side there is something I am sure most of us have thought about or know about, but I have not seen it spoken about and that is negative dis-attachment. That can be just as bad for yourself as attachment, again I find myself coming back to the middle way :rolleyes:
One of my main attachments on closer inspection though is fantasies, I think we all have them from time to time. It could be a vacation, a person, an object, w/e it is we can be there day-dreaming about it and not even realizing that we are. To notice you are and say "hey, I am doing that crap again" is wise and the first steps to getting over it IMO. Observation, inspection, become chief detective on the self, the self is a mas murderer of wisdom.
http://www.nhs.uk/LiveWell/5ADAY/Pages/5ADAYhome.aspx
guess I am delusional
:bawl:
I have a tendency to be wise without due care and attention (nearly given up on that)
I overfeed hungry ghosts, eat carcasses and defenceless fish
I advocate kicking monks back into the meditation hall until enlightened . . .
Forgive me Buddha for I have unskilfully
Sinned
I have been bad to demons, inviting them to feed on my bad bits
I drank a whole hobgoblin beer and dreamt of satyrs
I am wasting my time meditating whilst sentient grass is trying to evolve . . .
I have hope and other positive arisings. :hair:
I make up mantras and chant them.
I subject turn harmless computers into objects of veneration
Bad, bad crustacean . . .
Top of the list would be my nieces and nephews, and my grand nieces and grand nephews. I'm way too crazy about them and spend inordinate amounts of time and money with things concerning them.
Family of course. They are all amazing, especially the young ones. So accomplished.
I'm attached to this iPad, but I really like it. It's a great device for sure.
Boats too. Their shape draws my eyes to them.
And the vehicles I have right now. I know they will soon be piles of scrap but I'm enjoying them while they last.
Don't have a cow.
You want to end suffering? Good luck with that. Develop your good habits. Listing bad habits and we will be here for ever - and that is just me . . .
So you are fine being attached to things? I guess it comes down to what you exactly define as being attached. I refer to what the dharma points to which is a negative way to relating to external phenomena in our lives. If you have no negative attachments then you must be very very close to liberation.
I would say that dharma points to attachment to every sensory input that I experience when I get out of bed each morning.
Good or bad, if I dont realize its empty nature, I'm attached.
So technically I am attached to my aches and pains as well, which I don't really care for. I am also attached to the sometimes painful mental feelings that go along with growing older. Parents gone. Children grown. Body showing undeniable signs of old age around the corner. On the downhill side of life.
But, being older I have had the benefit of experience that helps me to make fewer painful mistakes.
Also, I have found a way to balance my income with my expectations so I am not often surprised or disappointed by sudden uncontrollable changes in my situation.
Closing in on retirement, I have no grand dreams only some modest hopes.
Also, I have been through relationship hell including legal and financial trials by fire. That's history now, not to be repeated. You can be sure I was attached at that time.
So, far from liberated, I have a small degree of contentment. I guess you could say that I am fine with being attached to things. Take the bad with the good.
(I hope my wife doesn't read this!)
I'm far from liberated, but I don't think I have any negative attachments at all. I'm not attached to anything negative.
Are you wanting to hear some personality quirks such as disdain for tailgaiters and loud people? The way I see it I'm ATTACHED to sufficient space behind me when I'm motoring and am ATTACHED to just a little bit of peace and quiet. And every now and again I'd just like to hear a few kind words.
How can you be attached to something and it not cause you suffering some time along the way in some shape or form? "Oh I love my new computer, it is great, I am attached to it." Two weeks later somebody steals it and how would you feel if you were attached to it?
Maybe if we go back to basics here Nirvana, the 4NTs, read this.
1. Life means suffering.
To live means to suffer, because the human nature is not perfect and neither is the world we live in. During our lifetime, we inevitably have to endure physical suffering such as pain, sickness, injury, tiredness, old age, and eventually death; and we have to endure psychological suffering like sadness, fear, frustration, disappointment, and depression. Although there are different degrees of suffering and there are also positive experiences in life that we perceive as the opposite of suffering, such as ease, comfort and happiness, life in its totality is imperfect and incomplete, because our world is subject to impermanence. This means we are never able to keep permanently what we strive for, and just as happy moments pass by, we ourselves and our loved ones will pass away one day, too.
2. The origin of suffering is attachment.
The origin of suffering is attachment to transient things and the ignorance thereof. Transient things do not only include the physical objects that surround us, but also ideas, and -in a greater sense- all objects of our perception. Ignorance is the lack of understanding of how our mind is attached to impermanent things. The reasons for suffering are desire, passion, ardour, pursuit of wealth and prestige, striving for fame and popularity, or in short: craving and clinging. Because the objects of our attachment are transient, their loss is inevitable, thus suffering will necessarily follow. Objects of attachment also include the idea of a "self" which is a delusion, because there is no abiding self. What we call "self" is just an imagined entity, and we are merely a part of the ceaseless becoming of the universe.
3. The cessation of suffering is attainable.
The cessation of suffering can be attained through nirodha. Nirodha means the unmaking of sensual craving and conceptual attachment. The third noble truth expresses the idea that suffering can be ended by attaining dispassion. Nirodha extinguishes all forms of clinging and attachment. This means that suffering can be overcome through human activity, simply by removing the cause of suffering. Attaining and perfecting dispassion is a process of many levels that ultimately results in the state of Nirvana. Nirvana means freedom from all worries, troubles, complexes, fabrications and ideas. Nirvana is not comprehensible for those who have not attained it.
4. The path to the cessation of suffering.
There is a path to the end of suffering - a gradual path of self-improvement, which is described more detailed in the Eightfold Path. It is the middle way between the two extremes of excessive self-indulgence (hedonism) and excessive self-mortification (asceticism); and it leads to the end of the cycle of rebirth. The latter quality discerns it from other paths which are merely "wandering on the wheel of becoming", because these do not have a final object. The path to the end of suffering can extend over many lifetimes, throughout which every individual rebirth is subject to karmic conditioning. Craving, ignorance, delusions, and its effects will disappear gradually, as progress is made on the path.
I am attached to my attachments. Does that count, @ThailandTom?
More deeply rooted (but related to the above): an attachment to (a dualistic sense of) peace and tranquility, procrastination, and music.
/\
But, that said, I will dump at this moment
attachments to Buddhism
and that which is not Buddhism.
What is a positive attachment?
One of my attachments is NewBuddhist.com. Am also attached to those thread-creators that push the meanie ones down to the bottom of the pile.
LOL