Blog #208--Nonattachment is an Important but Confusing Spiritual Principle

Spiritual masters talk about our need for nonattachment. This is a hard concept for most of us to understand. After all, when we love someone enough to devote our lives to a long-term relationship, aren’t we attaching ourselves to them? Does our creator wish us not to love others in order to obtain spiritual enlightenment?

We are naturally connected to everyone and everything through a love energy that interpenetrates and binds the universe together. Recognizing this loving connection, our oneness with others, is essential for spiritual growth. But attachment implies a dependency toward another that creates imbalance. If we truly love someone, we are accepting our natural connection to them rather than our self-interested desire to have them in our lives. If equality is not recognized, it is an ego-driven and therefore temporary attraction rather than unconditional love.

It is easy to become attached to others in our environment. We become attached to myriad things besides other humans. Pets, plants, sports teams, television shows, movies, governments, politicians, religions, businesses, foods, drinks and drugs are just a few of our attachments. In fact, we grow up as dependent beings seeking leaders, friends, objects and other crutches in the hope of improving our lives. We all develop attachments as we proceed down our path, and we are encouraged to do so.

While looking for anchors to ground us in a three-dimensional reality has its value early on, eventually we must make a transition to another state of being that becomes our existence upon our passing from this world. That transition requires us to gradually let go of our attachments to the material world so we can partake fully of more spiritual energies. Holding onto aspects of life on Earth, including family, friends, homes and the like, while initially a good thing, eventually retards our spiritual development.

Over the years, I have found myself letting go of numerous attachments. Most of this has been a natural progression. For instance, after experiencing an explosion of awareness that proved the existence of eternal life to my satisfaction, I became less concerned about my personal ups and downs and less likely to judge others negatively regardless of their behavior toward me. There was less need to pursue the almighty dollar, recognizing I would get what I needed for survival, and that everything else was superfluous.

My most difficult lessons have come from attachments to ideals I learned about while young. For instance, I was born in a city with a Major League baseball team, and I was encouraged to become a fan. My parents took me to games, and the rest were broadcast on our radio. I partook deeply of the propaganda of that team and supported it through thick or thin.

Little by little, I began to realize there are many good teams, and all teams have fans like myself who are as loyal to their teams as I am to mine. I eventually tired of losing sleep or getting emotionally upset with every loss. By letting go of my attachment, I could still be happy when the team won without going to emotional extremes and suffering excessively through the down years.

I also became attached to one specific university and its sports teams. It became even harder to let go of my attachment once I graduated from that school and became familiar with the inner workings of its sports programs. I took losses hard and did everything I could to improve chances for success. But as losses mounted, it seemed as if the school was cursed. Getting emotional about every bad game became counterproductive and unhealthy for me. Little by little, I was able to let go of my attachment. I still care about the school and team, but my life is not dependent on their success. Nor should it.

I was attached to the ideals of the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights, as well as the founding fathers who created them, from an early age as well. Each time something or someone would rise up to threaten our democratic republic, it seemed the Constitution had provisions to prevent the extremes from destroying the balance that appeared on the surface to make the country great. It seemed we had the perfect system for this world, but as is usually true, the reality didn’t measure up to the ideal.

Unfortunately, the Constitution is interpreted and enforced by humans, each of whom is motivated more by his or her own self-interests than the needs of everyone in the country and world. It is rare indeed when a government political leader votes to go against personal preference to help others more in need at the time. The functionality of the Constitution has become distorted to the point where loopholes and exceptions have become the rule.

Many of the founding fathers were land owners and aristocrats, but I sincerely doubt they would approve of the two candidates running for president this year. Both appeal to a significant percentage of the populous, but neither appears to care as much about the common man as their own business and political interests. Lies, platitudes, catchy but misleading sound bytes and vague generalizations disguise their true motivations. The executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government are all seemingly controlled by the same cabal of ultra-rich puppeteers; they own both candidates, so the cabal wins regardless who wins the election. That is not what the Constitution intended.

So despite a great deal of early attachment, I have learned to let go of the ideal I imagined existed. I would still gladly help the government if I was called on to do something that would truly help the largest number of people, but that is highly unlikely. Unless something changes drastically between the time of this writing and the November election, I might be hard-pressed to vote at all. I probably will, but I certainly won’t be attached to anyone or any political group. Politicians may have proven unworthy to receive dependent followers, but we are them and they us regardless.

Care about all things. Love who and what you love, but love them enough to let them go if that is their desire or your need. We are one with all, so dependency is anathema to that knowingness. The solution to this quandary is love without attachment. Those who can do this evolve spiritually.

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