Attachment is the root of all suffering, said the Buddha. An attachment is an emotional state of clinging caused by the belief that without some thing or some person or some result you cannot be happy and at peace. Look at this society we live in, infected as it is with attachments. It has programmed you to build your life on the unquestioned belief that without money, power, success, approval, a good reputation, romance, friendship, or God, you cannot be happy. Look at the inner conflict this breeds that turns into the outer conflict we see everywhere. Yet, in our culture if anyone is attached to power, money, property, fame, and success; if anyone seeks these things as if their happiness depended on them, they will be considered productive members of society, dynamic and hardworking.

If you could get rid of your attachment to all that, what you would be left with is sheer, undiluted happiness. The truth is you have happiness all already, but these things obstruct it.

When I say this people automatically think I am talking about about renouncing the material world. They say, how will I ever get support myself, how will I get ahead, how will I ever realize my full potential. I am not saying to renounce the materail world. No. One uses the material world and one enjoys the material world but one does not make ones happiness depend on the material world.

The irony is, when you are detached from the material world as you pursue success, you actually enjoy the process more, than when you believe your self-worth and peace and happiness depend on the outcome. If you succeed, great.  If you fail, your happiness and self-worth are not at stake.

Each day this week when you wake up, ask yourself: Am I willing to identify an attachment that is blocking my happiness and see it for what it is, the root of my suffering. Download the form for tracking this >> https://bit.ly/demello-attachment-exercise

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