EGO'S TRIAD 

Subordinate Ego to the Higher Self.

Desirous Attachment the Third Part of Ego's Triad

“By attributing worth to tangible objects humans becomes attracted to them; attraction brings desire for them; desire leads to competition and dispute. These create anger and the result is delusion. Delusion completely overcomes man’s sense of right and wrong.” Srimad Bhagavata

There is nothing wrong with desire but being attached to the object of our desire is a negative attribute creating only temporary satisfaction. The ego is never satisfied, the more it gets the more it wants.

“More possessions - more worry.

More generosity - more peace. 

There is nothing wrong with possessions, only to being possessed by them.” Hillel

Karmic merit comes from spiritual transformation. Attachment to that is much harder than to the material because we are given the challenge of being in a sentient body and more than ever, the boundless temptations of technology. Steve Jobs once said to his employees that their job at Apple was not to give people what they needed but to tell them what they wanted. Many entrepeneurs follow this mantra. Attachment to a spiritual life is much less alluring. 

Non-Attachment is not the same as detachment which implies denial, resignation, desperation, a giving up, rather than a giving in to a higher vibration and something much bigger than oneself.

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.

Emperor Wu asked, “I’ve built temples and ordained monastics; what merit is there in this?”
Bodhidharma replied, “No merit.”

As fame can enslave, so can the costs of money impoverish. Make sure the need is worth the price. To overpay can rob the Self.

The Ancestors teach that ulterior motives are greatly underrated . It is good to build hospitals or anything else that can help humanity but if it is attached to an outcome it is karmically neutral. The same can be said for giving charity to get ones face in the media or for a tax deduction.

“Give up owning things and being somebody. Quit existing.” Rumi

 Desirous attachment may not only be related to having more stuff but also being attached to or craving power, prestige, pride or the fame that more stuff can bring to one's persona.

“Behind my work was ambition, behind my love was personality, behind my purity was fear, behind my guidance the thirst for power. Now they are vanishing and I drift. I come Mother, I come, in your warm bosom – floating whereever you take me – in the voiceless, in the strange, in the wonderland. I come a spectator, No more an actor.”   Swami Vivekananda

“There is no room for God in him who is full of himself. The sages tell us concerning the proud man; God says; “I and s/he cannot dwell together in the world.” Talmud 

Until you empty yourselves of pride God cannot be realized.

If God were after numbers he would have made the way abundantly apparent and attractive - enticingly so, ego free and forever lasting. The Infinite one has also granted us our own lens for seeing and our own will for choosing what we see.

The Ancestors advise us to not be trapped by materialism in any guise. To attend to our needs not our wants - to keep it simple. Having to maintain stuff gets in the way of our spiritual work.

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.

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

No matter how it was said or by whom, the message remains that ...

"Abundance is not an achievement of the acquisitive but rather a legacy of the perceptive - a realization of plenty - not an acquiring of more - a delight not a desire." Hillel

This concept is enhanced by practicing gratitude. Research by Emmons and McCullough has shown that a gratitude practice creates well being as well as a positive feedback loop - gratitude leads to more gratitude.

"Reflect on your present blessings, on which every man has many, not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some." Charles Dickens

Of all the teachings of the sages some most agreed upon as being both fundamental and elemental were those about abundance and delight.

Desirous Attachment to Greed and Power

"Power corrupts and complete power corrupts absolutely." Baron Acton

Given full power, greed becomes an enslaver of the greedy - fear becomes first a bully, then a torturer and then a killer.           The Ancestors

“Greed is not stilled with money any more than thirst with salt water.” Ksemendra

“Nearly all men can stand adversity but if you want to test a man’s character give him power.” A. Lincoln

Desirous Attachment is antithetical to the principle of impermanence. We cannot take "it" with us. At the end of the day the only thing we can take is our karma - how we dealt with our experiences.

The one who dies with the most toys or those that live irresponsibly because of the illusion - "to live for today for tomorrow we die" - will have a rude awakening when they cross over. 

Moreover, material attachments can hamper the soul's journey and cause the spirit to either become earth bound (lost between the worlds) or to inherit a low vibration in the Astral.

The only things that live on are love, truth and the soul. 

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