Oh, That's Cool, That Shit Was Already Broken

So today's principal for discussion has to do with non-attachment to things.


Nothing is permanent. Not you, not me, not that lamp over there my kid is swinging from. Nothing. Often we have things that we become really attached to, I know I'm attached to  most of my stuff. If it breaks we get really upset. Like, seriously I hate you forever for breaking that upset.

The Buddha had this cup,  he always drank out of said cup and admired how the cup held his water. So one day, a student asked him why, if we are practicing non-attachment, was he attached to the cup. To this The Buddha replied, "Oh, this cup is already broken."


I heard that lovely tidbit in a Dharma talk by Noah Levine. And you know that moment where it feels like your brain just relaxes as something clicks into place, yea I had that.


Being attached to your stuff brings about suffering because stuff never stays the same, it always breaks. My Rock and Roll Hall of Fame cup that I swear makes my hot chocolate taste better, it's already broken. If you step back and you tell yourself, well, that's already broken, it isn't so disappointing when the stuff actually breaks. You probably won't be as apt to yell at the person who broke your stuff or try to  convince yourself you can fix it. You can just say, well, it was already broken.

All of this ties into one of the biggest points in Buddhism: Impermanence.

Absolutely nothing stays the same. From one second to the next everything changes. One of our key survival mechanisms seems to be ignoring that fact. As humans we want things to stay the same, to stay comfortable. We fight against change. fighting a process that takes place around you all day every day isn't really the wisest thing to do. It's a lot like standing on a train track and saying oh, that's not a train barreling towards me. Just because you pretend not to notice the train doesn't mean it isn't going to slam right into you.

By acknowledging change and practicing non attachment we make great strides toward removing ourselves from suffering. Things begin to get easier to let go of. You aren't quite so sad when your favorite shirt rips and can't be fixed.

Basically, let that shit go.


Angry Girl, swimmin against the stream.