Attachment

When we are really attached to something, it is very difficult to separate our mind from it.

For example, anger comes and goes, it is not always there, but attachment is something which is more or less continuously present. It is something that is not easy to separate ourselves from and therefore, it disturbs our peace of mind.

There is a Tibetan saying; ” if you touch it, it burns your hand, if you don’t, it breaks.” It’s like a hot pot, if you hold it, it burns your hand, if you let it fall it breaks. So it is a little bit like that. Whatever we do attachment remains problematic.

It is important to discover why and how attachment and clinging arise. Now, for instance, if we see something that we are attached to, something that we really like, then we see the positive side, the good side of that thing, almost too much really. We do not see the negative side. When we are attached to something we can’t separate our mind from the good things we see in it, they become as one.

When something we are attached to appears to your mind, it appears as something really desirable. In fact, unless it appears as something really desirable, it will not attract our mind. So desire and the appearance of the object of your attachment usually arise together. You see the object of your attachment as a very desirable thing. For this reason, you feel; “I cannot bear to be separated from it.” So you can see that the attachment or craving is something that is not free.

For instance, people make things desirable because they want to sell you something. They try to work out what will attract your mind the most. They try to work out which thing will create such a strong desire in you that you have to buy it, and you don’t even mind how much you have to spend on it. Then, when your mind likes it so much, you have such a strong craving for it, you want to get it, you have to buy it no matter what.

The main issue about this attachment is that you get overpowered by the object that you are attached to.