Freedom from Attachment & Detachment

Lately, I have been thinking about attachment and detachment. I believe that one goes through different stages of development in ones quest for peace & happiness. Given a situation, when I am given the grace to be mindful, I try to ask myself where I stand in relation to an event, object, person, etc… This often tells me how much I can truly benefit from or give of myself when considering the situation at hand. This also presents me with the clues on opportunities for learning. There are little substitutes for experiential learning or the wisdom gained from being truly present and open.

Having stated the above, I must clarify that I don’t necessarily consider one stage more important than the other. It is always important to recognize that every impulse or situation comes from the divine and can also lead to the divine. It takes wisdom to recognize when one should be attached or detached to a certain condition. And even more essential, humility and gentleness must also come into play when assessing the state of oneself or another… Sometimes it is okay to be attached and sometimes it is okay to be detached. I feel this wisdom comes when one is able to see the perfection of a seemingly imperfect circumstance. What the Sufis would call, taking the divine perspective.

Some of the questions I might ask myself when contemplating this are:

How attached am I to my status in society?
Am I too detached from my own emotions?
What are the fears that drive me?
When do I feel fully connected with life?

Often, I see how people are attached to their spiritual path or their concept of the afterlife. I’ve come to the conclusion that, for me, these can be unhealthy attachments to have. I don’t want to do good, or not be bad, so I can go to heaven. This mode of thinking does not make sense to me. It defeats the purpose of spiritual attainment. I’ve also come to believe that heaven is always happening all around us.

I love my path, but I want to love it from a space that is free. I want to be free to love. I appreciate Sufism, because it has given me the guidance and ability to recognize this about myself. It has also made me more mindful of my dealings with others. The universe is love in motion. In one sense each particle is connected to the next, but there are also oceans of space between them.

I am referring to 3 different modes/stages:

• Attachment
• Detachment
• Freedom from Attachment & Detachment

I think that we experience some degree of pain when we are attached. I think this is true whether we recognize this or not. With detachment, I feel that there is something we are missing in the experience of life, which is a beautiful gift. I believe that to be in the world but not of it, a certain Freedom from Attachment & Detachment is an ideal space to strive for. I think there is a certain maturity that comes whenever we achieve this in any given situation. We are also blessed with the ability to act in a manner that is beneficial to everyone around us.