Dharma Quote of the Week: Attachment

Snow Lion Publications' Dharma quote of the week:

Wouldn't life be boring without attachment?

No. In fact it's attachment that makes us restless and prevents us from enjoying things. For example, suppose we're attached to chocolate cake. Even while we're eating it, we're not tasting it and enjoying it completely. We're usually either criticizing ourselves for eating something fattening, comparing the taste of this chocolate cake to other cakes we've eaten in the past, or planning how to get another piece. In any case, we're not really experiencing the chocolate cake in the present.

On the other hand, without attachment, we can think clearly about whether we want to eat the cake, and if we decide to, we can eat it peacefully, tasting and enjoying every bite without craving for more or being dissatisfied because it isn't as good as we expected. As we diminish our attachment, life becomes more interesting because we're able to open up to what's happening in each moment.

~ From Buddhism for Beginners by Thubten Chodron, published by Snow Lion Publications

Tags: Snow Lion Publications, Dharma quote, Buddhism for Beginners, Thubten Chodron, Buddhism, attachment