Spiritual talk.

At one time I was teaching at a local group and I arrived early. I parked my car next to the most beautiful car I have ever seen. Now, I have no interest what-so-ever in cars, but this was special. The aesthetics were incredible. It was a bottle green Jaguar, low, sleek and smooth. The interior was clean with deep plush seats and a polished wooden dashboard.

It was like looking at a beautiful sunrise. I had no desire to own it, but I could certainly appreciate it’s inherent beauty.

I went in to the Dhamma hall to meet the only person there, a woman whom I had met two or three times previously.

’Is that your car outside?’ I asked.

’Yes,’ she replied, but I’m not attached!’
There is a way to speak that people often use to convey the sentiment that they know Dhamma. There is a jargon and a style that covers their true non - understanding, and that they can talk about attachment, kamma, suffering and the rest as though they have already transcended. As though they know.

The truth is however, that only people who don’t know speak in this way, those who carry Dhamma in their hearts speak naturally and honestly about life, never making a show.

Those who speak do not know.
Those who know do not speak.

(Tao te Ching verse 128)

It is true that attachment is the cause of our suffering because in the end, whatever we are attached to will hurt us. It is inevitable and the proof of this, as with everything that is Dhammic, is found in our ordinary daily life.

Reflect, why do you suffer?

The answer is always simple, it is because in this moment you are attached to an idea of how things should be. The reality does not meet your idea and so suffering arrives. Subtle or gross it is always like this.

However, without fully understanding the words of the teacher we think that we are being told that we shouldn’t have any attachments, but this is not the truth.

The Master tells us that whatever we are attached to will hurt us – that’s all! How we move with this is in our life is for us to discover for ourselves.

Attachment is subtle and when we are attached to even one thing, the whole universe of attachment is in front of us.

One student of mine told me once that she had no attachments at all, except for her own bed at night. It doesn’t seem to be very much, but the attachment to this one simple thing opens the door for everything else. From one attachment the whole universe of attachments arises.

So our way is always to be honest and recognise that attachment is just attachment, no need to pretend it’s not there.

It’s not wrong to be attached, it just brings a consequence, that’s all.

Playing the Dhamma game in front of others has no value at all, especially in front of the teacher, and liberation will come when we realise that our suffering and unhappiness has a cause, and that we can do something about it.

So, the next time you are unhappy, find a quite place alone and ask yourself, ‘In this moment, what is it that I am attached to?’

The answer will always be the same, ‘I am attached to the idea that this moment should be different from the way it is!’

Once we accept the reality of this moment and surrender into it, there is no space for suffering to arise.

Enjoy what can be enjoyed and let go. Endure what has to be endured, and let go. This is true liberation.

May all beings be happy.