I have been thinking about this question, 'what is the real experience of non-attachment' ever since I had read the Lotus Sutra a couple of weeks ago, especially after hearing the part where Buddha exhorts the arhats not to attach to emptiness. Many interpretations I have heard about non-attachment seem to be related to this idea of not having any emotions, or not caring, or being distant. And according to Lotus Sutra, all of these interpretations are just forms of attachment! Just as a person commonly might attach to sensory objects, personal enjoyments or a strong sense of self-identity, so also a person can attach to non-identity as well. The desire not to attach to anything whatsoever turns out to be a form of attachment.
So how does anyone get out of that dilemma? I believe the answer is something like to reframe non-attachment as being deeply in one's experience rather than trying to escape from it into something extraordinary. In other words, I tend to see non-attachment as the sense of ordinary and the everyday: taking things as they emerge, being aware, harmonizing with others, and not having any particular sense that one is remarkable in the process. It seems then that, contrary to what some might think, non-attachment is not really necessarily achievable in isolation. In fact, it's possible to conceive of non-attachment as something that is done in the society of other beings. I am not referring to being socially gregarious, but I am talking more about the natural way that one is with others, not being strenuous or pretentious but being just so. And the reason that might best be played out with others is that there is no longer the illusory sense that there is a separate "I" that needs to be saved or to save itself.
I also believe that the busy and unpredictable 'normal, everyday thrown-ness' is the best way to shatter the view of the self. As one recognizes this thrown-ness (the state of being thrown into the world) there is also the tendency to let go of the idea that one has special powers. Wonderful to some and dreadful to others, I suppose. But just this morning, I had this insight that perhaps one of the best ways to reflect on the emptiness of self is to look back on one's life and wonder: is this like the Hollywood movie? Is it predictable? Does it have a single coherent narrative or direction? Chances are that a person will sense the bumpiness, the unpredictability, and the lack of a single coherent thread or plot, if one is truly honest with oneself about it. But far from being a curse, this feeling of unpredictability is a gateway to let go of a glamorous view that I have to be an absolute "somebody" in the universe. Perhaps it is okay to be 'happily nobody' and yet still get along with others and do one's best to pitch in an idea or two when asked. Perhaps a non-assuming disposition is the closest I have come to the attitude of non-attachment.
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