DESIROUS ATTACHMENT 
AND IMPERMANENCE

The Light of lights looks always on the motive, not the deed… the shadow of shadows, on the deed alone.” Yeats

Desirous attachment is one of the faces of ego, judgment is the other.  It is easier to talk about them separately for explanation's sake.

“One day the people came to the master and asked: “How can you be so happy in a world of such impermanence where you cannot protect your loved ones from harm, illness and death.” The master held up a glass and said. Someone gave me this glass and I really like it. It holds my water admirably and glistens in the sunlight. One day the wind may blow it off the shelf or my elbow may knock it off the table. I know this glass is already broken so I enjoy it incredibly.” Achaan Chah Subato

The lesson of impermanence - and through it managing attachment to the object of our desire is simple - but not easy. It is ok to have "stuff" but the stuff should not have us.
Everything is already broken or temporary, life is given on loan, so savor the moment without attachment. Entropy is relentless. Once we pass over and leave our sentient bodies we are no longer able to enjoy sensory pleasures. So now is the time to enjoy them responsibly while not being attached. Everything in our material world is dominated by impermanence. We come into the world naked and we need to cross the veil between worlds  naked as well. The one who dies with the most toys - especially if attached to them - loses in the realm of spirit. 

“You cannot control results, only your actions. You cannot decide outcomes, only your choices. So it is best that you practice non attachment  to any concern related to outcome.”

The Ancestors

Desire is normal but attachment to the object of our desire has karmic consequences.

Non-attachment is trusting and surrendering to something bigger than oneself... 
a giving in to, and not a giving up, (as in a waving of the "white flag.")

Non-attachment is doing things purely for their own sake. Surrendering is going inward, being in the flow, connecting to the Field, having meaning and purpose.
“Prosperity comes from nourishment, impoverishment from neglect.
Purpose has to do with usefulness.
Meaning has to do with interior value.” 

The Ancestors

“God is attached to His creation. He is a God of passion – He is a God of Joy – He is a God of serenity.”
The Ancestors

It is commendable to be attached to the right things - to spiritual endeavors and wisdom teachings.  
Rashi taught; “with all your strength get knowledge.”  

 Non-attachment from desire is about having needs, not wants. The essence of the journey or what the ancestors call “Becoming,” or Self-realization, is to attend to needs and not wants, and keeping it simple. 

“Wants, needs and necessities have different characteristics. It is the want that is our enemy, not the need and necessity.” Sri Swami Rama

Those who have so little and yet seem happy - like the fast disappearing hunter-gatherers - teach us that good air, clean water and food, a roof over our heads, sufficient technology to manage our lives, loving relationships and meaningful work are the main criteria for happiness. Especially, during these hard times we can give ourselves a reality check according to the (rough) rules of three; we can live three minutes without oxygen, three days without water, three weeks without food and three months without human contact.

“Abundance is not an achievement of the acquisitive but rather a legacy of the perceptive, a realization of plenty – not an acquiring of more”             

“There is always enough as long as one is free from the compulsion for more. Narrow mind is about having - spacious mind is about being. Of all the teachings of the sages some most agreed upon as being both fundamental and elemental were those about abundance and delight…” The Ancestors

Less can be more, with more time for a spiritual life and less need to devote energy to sustaining one’s wants. In Hinduism there are the three gods; The Creator, the Destroyer and the Maintainer or Preserver. Creating or destroying (giving up and detaching from) our inner life is much easier than maintaining it. 
Preserving an excessive amount of "stuff" required to support one’s persona  can be exhausting. To achieve and to have more “stuff” is to be externally oriented but to attain deeper effects we need to let go of the attachment to have more than we need. Desire for wants and equanimity are mutually exclusive in each present moment. Clinging to desirous attachment is one of the greatest causes of suffering. The ego is never satisfied with more. Ego is momentarily satisfied with what it has but then comes the desire for more. Ego feeds more ego, greed feeds more greed, lust feeds more lust.

"Give up owning things and being somebody, quit existing." Rumi

 “Keep to the source of living waters.
Do not think to store in cisterns; they will break and crumble and the water will be lost.
Cup your hands and drink deeply and often and you will have health and joy.”

“The sages speak of a garden where plants are treated with tenderness and care for their own sakes alone, delighting in the garden itself
and not ego and attachment to how the garden may be perceived by others…”
The Ancestors

Non-attachment is not the same is Detachment.

 Detachment is a giving up - a giving up of having meaning in ones life. Detachment is resignation and a form of desperation. 

“Concerning detachment, one of its paths leads to a lifeless world without enthusiasm or hope, a place of indifference where one could become ensnared in hidden traps of dejection and despair, where one no longer cares to love nor dares to trust.”

In Summary

“Fill your bowl to the brim and it will spill, keep sharpening your knife and it will blunt, chase after money and security and your heart will never unclench, care about people’s approval and you will be their prisoner. Do your work, then step back, the only way to serenity.” Tao Te Ching

Harrison Owens gives us practical advice to help us with life’s challenges;

“Whoever are present, are the right people. Whenever it begins, is the right time. Whatever happens, is the only thing that could have happened. When its over, its over.”

“Lord, grant me the strength to accept the things I cannot change,

The courage to change the things I can,

and the wisdom to know the difference.” R. Niebur

Click on the link of the song and play
A double negative
"O we can't do nothing about it!" 
which means we must do something. Prepare ourselves spiritually!

"Attend to the dictums they are for health and joy." The Ancestors

03_Can't_Do_Nothing.mp3