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Buddhists/Problems with attachment theory
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Question
hi, I seem to come across this strange problem whenever I feel like doing something. When I feel like jogging for example I now question "why" I feel like jogging and if I'm doing this to cover up some underlying unhappiness and should I just be able to be happy without jogging. I then feel like I shouldn't go jogging to prove I'm not attached to it... I even question writing you this message... "should I not ask a question to prove I'm not attached to wanting to know the answer" I find this very confusing. Like I cannot do anything? Thank you for your help
Hi Chris,
I don't think there is an "official" answer to this. But it sounds as if you are already able to see the game you are playing with yourself - mostly we fail to do that!
Can you perhaps just laugh at yourself doing that?
It's a bit like the college-course ethics conundrum about being purely altruistic. Should I not do this good thing because I'm really doing it to feel that I'm doing a good thing?
Yes, "wanting to be unattached" is a logical contradiction, and taking the idea too seriously and too literally will lead you into and endless loop. Have desires and fears - that's OK, just so long as you let them come and go freely.
Is that any help?
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Answers by Expert:
Alex Wilding
Expertise
I have practiced and studied Tibetan Buddhism in the Kagyu and Nyingma traditions since the early 1970s, and have a good knowledge of theory, history and of the struggles of trying to practice the teachings, including meditation, while leading a normal, modern life. I am also available to provide background information for journalists.
Experience
I have been a practitioner since the early 1970s; have run a small Buddhist centre in the English Midlands and was vice-president of Kagyu Benchen Ling e.V. in Germany, for whom I managed three large Buddhist summer-camps. More importantly, I maintain a habit of personal practice.
I am the "owner" of the Kagyu list at Yahoo.
Education/Credentials
My first degree was an M.A. from Oxford. I later obtained a Master of Philosophy degree for a research thesis in "Initiation in Tibetan Buddhism" from Leicester University. I also have engineering and educational qualifications.
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