Attachment
Tara on Tour
A favourite Buddhist word! The Third Tara specifically helps to free us from the suffering of attachment/desire. The last two days have been a reminder of how strongly we cling to an idea of a separate self that needs all sorts of things to relax and be happy. Personally, I have felt the tension of "clinging" very acutely and the raw fear behind and within that tendency of the mind. At times of great change or uncertainty, it can be difficult to stay relaxed and I've noticed that each time I go through such a period, I become very aware of how much I cling to an idea of who I am. Not consciously - but unconsciously. Travelling from place to place, interacting with different people all the time, is a massive teaching: it's impossible to stay fixed on oneself for very long. The constant interplay between 'self' and the outside world means that the experience of who one is is always changing. One day I am spending time with my mother and I am this way; the next day with my brother somewhere else and I am another way; the following day with a total stranger in the street and suddenly I see and experience life differently once again. All the conditioned ways of being are available in a rolling succession of opportunities! Also present is the opportunity to just BE..... which is the truth behind all the superficial stuff anyway, but dropping into the moment without self-consciousness and just an open acceptance of all that is without judgement ... that's a wonderful experience. With anyone.
I've been reading about and contemplating "emptiness" again today.The reality of "no-self" - at least of no independently existing, separate self. The feminine is said to take us close to the truth of emptiness - emptiness is wisdom and wisdom is synonymous with the enlightened feminine energy.
Wisdom helps us to see clearly the nature of conditioned existence and to realise that it isn't what we think it is. The dawning of understanding/realisation is often accoompanied by fear, because our old ideas and beliefs are being undermined. We spend so much energy trying to tie things down - homes, people, money, religions, our diaries, the future - and fail to appreciate that the true nature of all phenomena is such that this is impossible. Initially we refuse to change our view and our attachment gets stronger: we get stressed, angry, petrified, when our attempts to be in control continue to fail. If we're lucky, we'll give up at some point and just relax: and how often is it that everything works out just fine when we do?!
Being out of control is really uncomfortable for the ego - which believes it is the self. But sometimes, when we really let go of control, something else takes over - a kind of spontaneous, fresh, aliveness. Why do laughing, dancing, making love make us feel so good? Because the ego is out of control and the true spirit - which can never be identified or described or nailed down - is suddenly free. To play. To flow. Not resisting, but merging with a sense of wonder and magic that doesn't seem to be a part of us - but is in truth the inner source of our Being.
Being "safe" enough to let go of control is something I notice I look for.... which is rather like a tiger chasing its tail. Sometimes that's sensible, because there might be some difficult consequences to, say, dancing naked down Marylebone Road in a wild, abandoned state of freedom. But in my own case, I cling more than is healthy to control - and in my contemplations of the day, can really see that there is nothing to cling to. It's a pointless activity that leads to tension and suffering. If "I" and all that I cling to don't really exist in a graspable way, it would be better to stop the habit. Difficult of course, but awareness is always the key.....
"The flood of attachment"....so it was once described by the first Dalai Lama. Third Tara helps to liberate us from this.
A favourite Buddhist word! The Third Tara specifically helps to free us from the suffering of attachment/desire. The last two days have been a reminder of how strongly we cling to an idea of a separate self that needs all sorts of things to relax and be happy. Personally, I have felt the tension of "clinging" very acutely and the raw fear behind and within that tendency of the mind. At times of great change or uncertainty, it can be difficult to stay relaxed and I've noticed that each time I go through such a period, I become very aware of how much I cling to an idea of who I am. Not consciously - but unconsciously. Travelling from place to place, interacting with different people all the time, is a massive teaching: it's impossible to stay fixed on oneself for very long. The constant interplay between 'self' and the outside world means that the experience of who one is is always changing. One day I am spending time with my mother and I am this way; the next day with my brother somewhere else and I am another way; the following day with a total stranger in the street and suddenly I see and experience life differently once again. All the conditioned ways of being are available in a rolling succession of opportunities! Also present is the opportunity to just BE..... which is the truth behind all the superficial stuff anyway, but dropping into the moment without self-consciousness and just an open acceptance of all that is without judgement ... that's a wonderful experience. With anyone.
I've been reading about and contemplating "emptiness" again today.The reality of "no-self" - at least of no independently existing, separate self. The feminine is said to take us close to the truth of emptiness - emptiness is wisdom and wisdom is synonymous with the enlightened feminine energy.
Wisdom helps us to see clearly the nature of conditioned existence and to realise that it isn't what we think it is. The dawning of understanding/realisation is often accoompanied by fear, because our old ideas and beliefs are being undermined. We spend so much energy trying to tie things down - homes, people, money, religions, our diaries, the future - and fail to appreciate that the true nature of all phenomena is such that this is impossible. Initially we refuse to change our view and our attachment gets stronger: we get stressed, angry, petrified, when our attempts to be in control continue to fail. If we're lucky, we'll give up at some point and just relax: and how often is it that everything works out just fine when we do?!
Being out of control is really uncomfortable for the ego - which believes it is the self. But sometimes, when we really let go of control, something else takes over - a kind of spontaneous, fresh, aliveness. Why do laughing, dancing, making love make us feel so good? Because the ego is out of control and the true spirit - which can never be identified or described or nailed down - is suddenly free. To play. To flow. Not resisting, but merging with a sense of wonder and magic that doesn't seem to be a part of us - but is in truth the inner source of our Being.
Being "safe" enough to let go of control is something I notice I look for.... which is rather like a tiger chasing its tail. Sometimes that's sensible, because there might be some difficult consequences to, say, dancing naked down Marylebone Road in a wild, abandoned state of freedom. But in my own case, I cling more than is healthy to control - and in my contemplations of the day, can really see that there is nothing to cling to. It's a pointless activity that leads to tension and suffering. If "I" and all that I cling to don't really exist in a graspable way, it would be better to stop the habit. Difficult of course, but awareness is always the key.....
"The flood of attachment"....so it was once described by the first Dalai Lama. Third Tara helps to liberate us from this.
posted by Anna Howard | 1:56 PM
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