On Attachment

"In the end, all dependable satisfaction comes from the higher ground above and within, depending on how we choose to look at it. True satisfaction comes from the deathless dimension, not the temporary, transient, ephemeral, and material realm of joining and parting; it comes from a more invisible dimension, not merely from our plans and stratagem. Thus we rely on the ubiquitous religious impulse in human beings to find a love that transcends death -- a life that goes beyond this world where, as they say, moth and rust can destroy and corrupt. There is no way around this. This is not to denigrate our quotidian ordinary concerns, rather it is a way to bring deeper perspective to daily life, a way to bring a sense of the eternal into this time and space and in that way get perspective on our existence. We bring the timeless dimension right into the here and now. This is the realm of faith, of invisible connections, of interrelatedness."
(Lama Surya Das, Letting Go of the Person You Used to Be)

Working with attachments is the foundation of Buddhist practice. The first noble truth of Buddhism is that life is dukkha, which usually translates as suffering. More precisely, it is the recognition of life's transience and the suffering entailed in that recognition. The second noble truth is the recognition that what gives rise to dukkha is attachment (tanha, which translates literally as thirst) to things that are, by defintion, transient. The more we are attached to the things of this world, all of which are transient, the more we suffer. The third noble truth is that dukkha can be escaped through the eradication of attachments. The fourth noble truth is that the eightfold path offers the way to escape dukkha.

It is important to note that Buddhism recognizes that there are truly pleasurable things in the world; however, it is our attachment to those things that creates the suffering, not the things themselves. We can readily perceive that everything changes over time. However, most of us fight change because we are attached to things as they are right now. Whether it is something pleasurable, such as an old, ratty shirt that is comfortable, or something unpleasant, such as an abusive relationship, we cling to the status quo because we fear the unknown that change entails.

We all would benefit from looking at the ways we are attached to things and, therefore, creating suffering in our lives. There is no need to give up what we love, but we can change the way we hold those things. Instead of clinging to what makes us feel safe, we might release our attachments to those things and instead honor their presence in our lives. This applies to people as much as it does to things.

True enlightenment requires the cessation of attachment to this life. We don't reach this end in a single step, but it takes a first step to begin along the path.