Edgar,
I think that all you, and Bill!, and Suresh say about attachment is valuable,
and that, yes, attachment is a consequence of the trust we put in our sense of
a separate self.
I will add that the sense of a separate self disappears at awakening, and
afterward. We then "fill" our full Human nature and regain all our Human
inheritance.
With the disappearance of a separate self comes the disappearance of
attachment(s).
In our awakened state, we have no attachments, but we are still able to live
our lives safely and naturally. We are not "attached" to helping or saving
others, but we help and save anyway, because it is our nature to do so. We do
it without attachment, and not "for ourselves", nor even for "others!" We do
these things spontaneously and without hesitation.
There is no planning, and no check-list consulted.
There are no "others", in the awakened state. We have only a natural response
to conditions just as they arise: we rely on no memory of how to behave, and we
have no sticking-points, neither culturally nor educationally gained. We can
USE our cultural and educational endowments freely, but they do not limit us.
The Diamond Sutra summarizes this in ONE phrase: ONE admonishment, or ONE
description. It is:
"Abiding nowhere, let the mind work."
Sticking nowhere, attaching to nothing, let the mind operate; as Wisdom and
Compassion arise spontaneously, just spontaneously respond.
That's the prescription for, the description of, a wonderful life.
We are not blown on the wind, because our Nature keeps us on track at every
instant. This is truly wonderful. And it is our nature to be so, and to live
like this.
Awakening usually does not last. But depending on the strength of the
awakening, within several weeks or months, the sense of a separate self may
begin to return. And so do attachments. But the attachments may be less. We
have seen our original face, and lived differently.
Afterward, a further awakening may occur when conditions are right, again. And
we live again in the awakened state for a time, before it, too, erodes again.
And so on.
If we are really lucky, maybe the cycle breaks and we remain submerged always
in our nature. Or we become content to note that perhaps delusion is part of
our nature, too, and Practice then becomes very easy for us, and never separate
from all the details of our everyday life.
But, understand: "Abiding nowhere, let the mind work", is not a PRACTICE. It
is the description of a RESULT. It is a description of the awakened human
being's LIFE, as a result of effective practice.
Well, may it be so for "all",
--Joe
> Edgar Owen <edgarowen@...> wrote:
>
> Suresh,
>
> Attachment is a very valuable evolutionary survival mechanism.
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