Looking for info, Buddhism and non attachment.

buddhism is about finding your true nature. what is your true nature? well i can't really say and that is for you to find out through practice.

the point of non attachment is to pay attention. watch with utter awareness the process of all these things that you cling to. what underlying assumptions and stories do you hold as you react/respond.

it's not about getting rid of your attachments, but about seeing clearly into the nature of reality.

or i can frame it like this. when you are accepting of what is through BEING then you can accept whatever comes.

also this felt presence of being is in itself your true nature. what qualities does spacious awareness have? acceptance and contentment. what is contentment? accepting what is. it isn't a conditional happiness, but it is a happiness that arises when there is no suffering, which comes from clinging.

nirvana is the same thing as samsara. nirvana is the peace of mind when there is no clinging and samsara is the suffering caused by clinging.

so to actively engage in the buddhist path is to follow the 8 fold path.
to follow the path is ITSELF enlightenment.

the purpose and function is to cultivate morality. from morality we gain peaceful states of mind. from these peaceful states of mind we gain mindfulness and concentration. with mindfulness/concentration we see clearly into the nature of reality.

what is the nature of reality? emptiness or dependent origination.

everything exist interdepenently and there is no SELF essence. meaning everything is an impersonal process that come together for a short time and then dissipate.

so when we see a fire we are seeing the wood, air, friction, consciousness and fire. if one of these were missing we could not have a fire. subject/object duality.

also all things come FROM YOU not at you. reality as it is is what it is.

so there is only SEEING. there is only the verb. the subject/object is projected afterwards. get what i mean?

this is not intellectual. this is existential. EXPERIENCE IT YOURSELF THROUGH PRACTICE.

ok.

 

Buddha explained it best:


"Let me tell you about the middle path. Dressing in rough and dirty garments, letting your hair grow matted, abstaining from eating any meat or fish, does not cleanse the one who is deluded. Mortifying the flesh through excessive hardship does not lead to a triumph over the senses. All self-inflicted suffering is useless as long as the feeling of self is dominant.

You should lose your involvement with yourself and then eat and drink naturally, according to the needs of your body. Attachment to your appetites - whether you deprive or indulge them - can lead to slavery, but satisfying the needs of daily life is not wrong. Indeed, to keep a body in good health is a duty, for otherwise the mind will not stay strong and clear."
From Discourses II


Also a story:

In the South of India, people used to catch monkeys in a very special way. Actually they let monkeys catch themselves. What they did is cutting a small hole in a coconut, just large enough for a monkey to put its hand in. Next, you fix the coconut to a tree, and fill it with a sweet. The monkey smells the sweet, squeezes its hand into the coconut, grabs the sweet and .... finds that the fist does not fit through the hole. Now the trick is, that the last thing the monkey will think of is to let go of the sweet; and it holds itself prisoner. Nothing could be easier for a human being who comes and catches it.

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"The Buddha compared desires to being in debt. If you owe money to the bank for your house, every month you have to pay. In the end, you will own the house. With sensual desires however, you cannot pay off the debt; they arise again and again. Hunger, thirst, lust for sex, warmth, coolness, they all come back again and again. Trying to fulfil our desires is like carrying water to the sea; a never ending task and ultimately completely useless."


In other words, unless you can go without these things, ultimately you are enslaved to them...pay attention to the first quote however..that doesnt mean you live like an ascetic..

 

also non attachment arises when we attain correct view through penetrating reality with mindfulness/concentration.

prior to language all is one. when we assert or negate the game of duality is played.

when we see clearly what do we see? just this. what is just this? no permanent essence, impermanence, and no satisfaction.

out of wisdom arises the compassionate action of letting go.

if one cannot see such truth or have such compassion then suffering until you surrender. surrender to what is.

non attachment is a natural consequence of seeing reality as it is.

this is not to say desires disappear or that we become robots.

absolutely not! actually it is quite opposite. WE ALLOW THE THUNDERSTORM TO APPEAR AND DISAPPEAR IN ITS NATURAL WAY. haha all in caps for emphasis. This non attachment allows one to totally engage in the world fully without reservations.


but in seeing clearly we also see clear function. when you are thirsty you drink water. when you see someone else who is thirst you give them water. its the natural functioning of clear seeing.

when we see clearly we see that we already take care of strangers. for instance we take care of ourselves in the belief in a future version of us and their health.

can you say that the person you were a year ago was you? no because we are constantly changing. so this person we are taking care of is a stranger. see this is clear seeing. we are already inherently compassionate. THUS with clear seeing this becomes the basis for compassionate action.

if the illusion of separation is recognized with utter awareness then all is one. all is me. and there is only me. in the expansion of Self there is only me. so i take care of everyone out of the wisdom i gain from clear seeing.

compassionate action is not a feeling. it is clear cut action. when i am hot i move into the shade.

when there is someone that needs my help i help them and move on. there is only the verb or impersonal process. there is no true subject or object. can you grasp onto one?

can you find one? where is he?

examine all the assumption in language. because it is a game of language. all comes from mind and ends at mind.

 

^^lol...read the first quote from Buddha again....thats why I said pay attention to IT