The concept of non-attachment is common to Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. Echoes of similar concept can be found in other major religions of the world. Non-attachment means to live like a lotus leaf in the waters of life, without being touched by it or polluted by it. It is living free from the encumbrances of life and the attractions and distractions it has to offer, not passively by running away from them, but actively by developing equanimity and self-awareness. Attachment means holding on to things dearly as if you cannot live without them or as if your very happiness and existence depend upon them. These are the mental bonds you develop
with things and objects you believe are important for you and your happiness. They are the invisible strings that tie you to the external world and its myriad attractions through your sense organs. You attachments are part of your consciousness. They bind you to the
sensory world and limit your vision, knowledge and awareness. They determine your actions, reactions and inactions, your joys and
sorrows and your successes and failures. They take control of your life, your body, mind and senses. They define your personality, your
ego consciousness, your identity and your destiny. They also limit your freedom and your awareness.
1) Our Suffering Comes From Our Attachments
According to the Bhagavadgita contact with sense objects results in
attachment. From attachment arises desires and from desires come
anger. Anger leads to delusion. Delusion causes confusion of
memories, and it ultimately leads to loss of discrimination. When we
do not have right discrimination we lose the ability to choose
wisely, which results in the consequences of karma that bind us to
this world and to the cycle of births and deaths. Influenced by our
attachments and desires, we come under the influence of our sense
organs and distract ourselves from the real purpose of life by
seeking and accumulating things. We live and act as if our lives
depend upon fulfilling our desires and building defenses against
pain and suffering. We desperately strive to secure our lives
against the vagaries of life through our possessions and
relationships. This thinking and attitude become so ingrained in our
consciousness that we begin to accumulate things even when we do not
actually need them, a situation most religions recognize as a
serious problem responsible for our suffering and our bondage to the
cycle of birth and death.
2)The Buddhist Perspective
Buddhism acknowledges attachment as the root cause of our suffering.
Our attachments results in our cravings. Our cravings lead to
suffering as we fail repeatedly in our attempts to cling to objects
of sensual pleasure and avoid their opposite. The very uncertainty
of life does not guarantee that we can always remain happy, enjoying
the pleasant and avoiding the unpleasant. Somehow, for many its
opposite is what turns out to be true. So, from a Buddhist point of
view, attachment is essentially a problem of wanting and not wanting
or seeking and choosing. It is about preferences and choices and
desires and dreams. Since life does not always happen as expected,
we suffer perpetually from the fear of the unknown, the unpleasant
and the uncertain. Bogged by the weight of the past and the
anxieties of the future, we fail to experience the beauty and
serenity of the present moment and flow with the flow of life.
3)The Bhagavadgita is A Treatise on Overcoming Attachments
The Bhagavadgita identifies attachment as the root cause of our
deluded behavior. It explains how the triple gunas (qualities of
nature namely sattva or purity, rajas or vitality and tamas or
inertia) influence the nature of our attachments. According to the
scripture our religious knowledge by itself does not guarantee
freedom from desires. What liberates us is freedom from desire and
attachment. When sattva (purity) is predominant, people are attached
to virtue. When rajas (vitality) is predominant they are attached to
action and when tamas (darkness) is predominant they are attached to
inaction or inertia. So in truth we all are attached to something or
the other, irrespective of our virtues, inner disposition and social
status. We experience equanimity only when we practice true
detachment and cultivate divine virtues. Neither the sense objects
nor our actions are by themselves cause our karma. What precipitates
our karma, says the scripture, is our attachment to the sense
objects and our desire for the fruit of our actions. Therefore, we
should perform our duties as a sacrificial offering to God, without
the sense of ownership, self interest or attachment and without
seeking the fruit of our actions. Desireless actions performed with
detachment, devotion and self-surrender are the key to our
transcendental experience and eventual liberation.
4)Our Attachments Come In Different Shapes and Sizes
Identifying our attachments is the first step towards an unfettered
life of peace and stability. With some practice we can become aware
of our dominant attachments and in the process learn how to deal
with them and become free from them. The following list enumerates
some well known attachments common to us.
Physical attachments. Attachment to one's body, color, shape,
physical fitness, health, sexual desire. Also included in this
category are attachment to all material things such as money,
house, place, land, nature, clothes, food, people, pets,
possessions, luxury etc.
Mental attachments. Attachment to particular emotions, one's
identity, family name, family status, family background, caste,
race, nation, gender, language, color, relationships, social
status, power, prestige, fame, habits, hobbies, daily routine,
rules, procedures, religion, scriptures, virtue, morality,
opinions, judgments, beliefs, prejudices etc.
Spiritual attachments. Attachment to one's guru, religious leader,
beliefs, God, gods and goddesses, saints, religious tradition,
methods of worship, spiritual practices, places of
worship,scriptures, ideals, virtue, morality, spiritual life,
afterlife, knowledge, symbols etc.
It is important to remember that from a spiritual perspective there
are no good and bad attachments. All attachments are binding,
creating karma, and stand in the way of our liberation. In the early
stages of our spiritual journey we may be advised to focus on some
of them. But eventually we have to cut through all our attachments.
5)Our Attachments Shape Our Lives Individually and Collectively
Our attachments are behind all our motivated behavior, learned
behavior, habits, fears, thoughts, decisions, preferences, choices,
accumulations, intentional behavior and structured relationships.
Our attachments are responsible for the actions we do in order to
gain something, own something, not to lose something, survive,
succeed, avoid failure, overcome fear, perpetuate our identities,
prevail against nature, dominate others or yield to them. Some of
our attachments are also collective in the sense that whole groups
and nations have selective preferences for things and identities
that stem from their collective consciousness and group identity.
Thus each group, tribe, caste, nation, association and community is
attached to certain beliefs, traditions, likes and dislikes,
preferences and prejudices that are part of their collective egos
and collective attachments. Historically, these attachments have
shaped our history and civilization both positively and negatively.
They have also caused a great deal of human suffering through racial
abuse, wars and aggression, gender differences, religious hatred,
social and economic inequalities, ideological and political
differences, environmental degradation and destruction of life and
valuable resources.
6)Spiritually All Attachments Are Part Of Our Delusion
Our attachments aim to perpetuate our individual and collective
identities, egos, interests and values. They are responsible for our
craving and the compulsive need to accumulate in order to feel
complete, fulfilled and secure. When we are subject to attachments,
we react differently to different situations. We suffer from
conflicting emotions. We live with the fear of loss or the hope of
gain. We become defensive or aggressive. We take positions. We
change positions. We seek. We criticize. We admire. We appreciate.
We castigate. We attack. We cherish. We hope. We become vulnerable,
manipulative, selfish and self-centered. We hold on to things we
believe are needed for our happiness and survival. They become our
main driving and motivating force. We cannot work normally without
them. They fill our lives with hopes and expectations, fears and
anxieties. They fill our minds with conflicting emotions. They lead
us. They guide us. They blur our vision. They take us to the heights
of rapture or to the depths of depression and restlessness, that
become so much part of our being that most of the time we do not
even realize that these conflicting emotions are interfering with
our lives.
Our attachments prevent us from being who we are and what we can be.
They do not let us experience reality without coloring our
perceptions and understanding. They hold us back from flowing with
life. We become limited and self-centered because of them. We stop
being truthful, honest and transparent. We wear masks and pretend
what we are not. We seek relationships that serve our interests or
promote our welfare. We lose touch with the reality. We seek
permanence by having things and accumulating them and pursue things
that are inherently harmful and destructive, at the expense of our
own good. We allow ourselves to be guided by our conditioning.
7) Practice Of Non-Attachment Is The Road To Freedom
Attachment is therefore a fundamental problem, which can be resolved
only by cultivating non-attachment through the practice of various
yogas or disciplines. To be free from attachments, we must be
willing to let go of everything, renounce our attachment to things
and embrace change, without feeling threatened by it. We should
practice equanimity by not seeking security in things and
relationships that are by themselves impermanent, undependable and
unpredictable. We have to become aware of our thoughts, actions,
habits by practicing mindfulness. As the Buddha said, however strong
may be our desire to hold on to things and make them part of our
lives, all composite things, to which we cling so dearly, will
eventually come to an end. We should therefore cultivate an
awareness that is impervious to change and impermanence, that can
survive the vicissitudes of life of without disrupting itself and
experience peace and equanimity unconditionally.
8)You Can Be Free If You Let Go
From non-attachment comes true freedom. But how can you arrive at
the state of non-attachment? How can you set yourself free, in a
world and from a world that itself is a mesh of attachments and
relationships?
You can start the journey by becoming aware of your likes and
dislikes and what you value most in your life. Find out what your
criticize, whom you criticize, what you defend and whom you defend,
what you oppose, what you want to change, what you avoid and what
makes you happy or unhappy or fearful or contended or angry or
hurtful. These are your reactions to different situations, objects
and perceptions caused by your attachments. They are rooted in your
past experiences and shaped by your attachments.
Your attachments are responsible for your hopes and aspirations,
your opinions, judgments, memories, vulnerabilities, feelings,
emotions, passions, beliefs and anxieties. Become aware of them
through mindfulness, detached observation, being a witness of
yourself. Know what makes you happy or unhappy, what drives you
crazy, what holds you back or forces you into desperation. These are
the responses you have learned because of your attachments to
objects, people, beliefs and knowledge.
9)A Few Simple Suggestions To Practice Detachment
When you learn to respond differently or stoically to whatever that
seem to evoke a response in you habitually, you break the shackles
of your past and set yourself free from the illusions of your own
mind. There is nothing wrong in having things or enjoying them. What
is wrong is your attachment with them and your preferences that
prevent you from experiencing life as it comes with unconditional
trust and freedom. It is not an easy process. But by becoming aware
of them, truthfully, honestly and mindfully, you are opening
yourself to the possibility of life without limits. The following
suggestions may help you in your efforts to overcome attachments.
Start with a few attachments and work on them. It may be a
particular food item you like or dislike, a habit that has become
part of your daily routine, or a relationship that you have
trouble accepting.
Let go of your attachment with money. Participate in some a
voluntary work. Make a donation. Help a child in his or her
education.
Overcome your attachment with the body. Take a cold bath. Wear
simple dress. Practice yoga and exercise.
Deal with your preferences for food. Eat the food you do not like.
Fast at least once in a week.
Practice detachment with the usual forms of recreation you are
attached to such as watching TV or movies.
Become aware of your actions arising from your need for
recognition, power and influence. Practice silence when you are
urged by the compulsion to speak in a group or conversation.
Listen to learn. Consider others viewpoints and arguments with
which you disagree.
Let go of your attachment with discipline and perfection. Forgive
yourself and others for your faults and oversights.
Let go of your possessions. Remove the clutter from your life.
Give away the things that you do not need and do not use.
Become aware of the motives behind your actions and words.
Overcome the profit motive and the selfish motive.
Let go of your need to dominate and influence others.
10)Detachment Does Not Mean Willful Indifference
To be free from your attachments does not mean you have stopped
being happy or responsive or turned yourself away from all the
positive things in life. Non-attachment does not mean you should not
have the zest for life or lose all your vitality. It only means you
have to be unconditional in what you do, what you seek, what you
love and what you experience. The life of Lord Krishna is a great
example in this regard. He lived a complete and luxurious life, took
sides, waged wars, indulged in mischief and yet remained free from
the fetters of life. The transcendental life that we seek as a
solution to the impermanence of human life is eternally vibrant and
yet free from all the limitations to which we are subject. It does
not forsake action, but attachment with action. It does not forsake
enjoyment but attachment with it. It does not forsake experience,
but remains untouched by it. A detached life is a liberated life, in
which the boundaries of self, the notions of oneself and one's
identity dissolve. Free from the demands of the self-centered and
narcissistic ego, it is dynamic. It excludes nothing by choice or
preference. Detached consciousness is alert, attentive, calm and
spontaneous. It responds to our calls for assistance with compassion
and clarity of purpose. It offers us a chance to be what we truly
are, to experience life without fear or the compulsion of choice.
From non-attachment comes the true joy of living in the now and
here. A detached person lives in the present, unburdened by the
memories of his past or the uncertainty of his future. He does not
look far ahead or plan things in advance meticulously to secure his
life. He lives without fear. He is contended with what life offers
to him and accepts life as it comes, without complaint, without
judgment and without striving. He is a traveler who is on a journey
of self-discovery without any baggage and without any conditions,
with complete trust in the reality of the present moment. He has
attained perfection because he has transformed himself from becoming
to being.
Spirituality 
