"The root of suffering is attachment" ?

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   pearlmacbposted 11 years ago

   "The root of suffering is attachment" ?
   
   This was quoted somewhere online, heck what does this exactly mean?!

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   NornsMercyposted 11 years ago

   When you care about something so, so much, you will suffer because of it from time to time. It's the way the world works, as dark as it seems.
   
   For example, if you're head-over-heels in love with someone, you're going to suffer if s/he leaves you. If you're not attached to someone and s/he leaves, you're not going to care at all.

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      pearlmacbposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks - yes makes sense if you put it that way (personally throughout my life the more love & understanding involved the more suffering I've experienced)
      
      Would that imply ppl without a clear conscious or Narcs etc do not experience suffering?

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      NornsMercyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I think everyone experiences some kind of suffering. The situations are different for everyone, though. I believe each person has his or her own kind of pain. One person's suffering may seem so insignificant to someone else...

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      manatita44posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Norns Mercy is very wise and your question is quite profound. Many truths here. All else is impermanent except God's Love. This is paradoxical as in LOVE, one easily works with the impermanent.

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   lone77starposted 11 years ago

   Attachment is the action of ego. It is a crutch.
   
   Imagine losing everything you have. Now, picture how you feel after having lost everything.
   
   I mean, everything! Clothes, house, possessions, bank account, reputation, friends, food, job, identity, body.
   
   Suffering exists because we remain attached to these things even after we have lost them.
   
   Serenity is achieved by becoming unattached. This can be done with humility -- the antidote to ego. It can also be done with love and generosity -- simply giving to others unconditionally. Don't even be attached to the idea of tracking who you helped. Don't expect to get anything in return.
   
   Ego is at the core of attachment. Ego makes you vulnerable.
   
   If you assume the viewpoint of spirit, instead, you achieve invulnerability. If you take 100% responsibility for everything that others do to you, then you have achieved that invulnerability, for there is no longer the attachment to resentments.
   
   It sounds like something Gautama Siddhartha Buddha would say, but Christ has hinted at this in his teachings, too.
   
   Jesus said that those who are first (egotistical) shall be last (left out in the cold to suffer); and those who are last (humble) shall be first (welcomed in heaven).
   
   Love is the key to letting go of attachments. Love will guide you to the needed humility, responsibility and fearless confidence (faith).

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      pearlmacbposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Wow! loads of insight regarding invulnerability which I found highly interesting. Appreciate your time Lone77star

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