What Non-Attachment is not

After a lifetime of faithful and diligent practice in the art of Attachment, I have inadvertently discovered what Non-Attachment isn't. These examples come from first-hand, tried and true personal experimentation.

Non-Attachment IS NOT:

• Denial. This is when we see or experience something that makes us feel uncomfortable. Because we feel uncomfortable, we naturally look for a way to feel comfortable again. One option presents itself--deny the very existence of your current reality. Just refuse to accept what you're experiencing. Pretend it's not real. Done. Warning: one may begin to exhibit delusional behavior.

• Numbness/Emotionless. Charles Swindoll once wrote, "Life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it". But what if we just simply choose to NOT react to life? What if we see and comprehend the current state of affairs but choose to shut down any and every emotional uprising that attempts to manifest itself? In our attempts to be even-keeled, monotone, passionless and neutral we ultimately achieve it. I like to imagine the electrocardiogram that records the electrical activity of the heart. It's the ups and downs, the peaks and valleys, that imbue us with life. To smooth out those upheavals is to flat-line. We die, if not literally, then at least metaphorically.

• Isolation. To let go of all desire and all expectation must inevitably require one to live completely and utterly alone. We must detach ourselves from all relationships and sever all ties. We must cloister ourselves and escape the perils of modern society. Right? In reality, non-attachment is first and foremost an inner discipline of the mind and heart. If we try to approach non-attachment from the outside in, we end up with this kind of skewed interpretation. When approached from the inside out, everything falls into its proper place and context. We begin to realize that we are all intimately and intricately connected. Living in isolation is a fantasy. When we lose ourselves, then we are truly found.

It is safe to conclude that if Non-Attachment is not denial, then surely it is ACCEPTANCE. If it is not numbness or emotionless, then it is COMPASSION. If it is not isolation, then it is INTERCONNECTEDNESS. But my conclusions are unreliable, not peer-reviewed and just entering the fist stages of clinical trial. Only real-life experimentation can tell you for certain.