On Jul 10, 8:23 am, Ed
earthlink.net> wrote:> On Jul 9, 2:36 pm, ta
nc.rr.com> wrote:
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>
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>>> On Jul 9, 10:06 am, Ed
earthlink.net> wrote:>
>>> On Jul 8, 10:01 pm, ta
nc.rr.com> wrote:>
>>>> "July 26, 2007
>
>>>> “Do you want to know what my secret is?”
>
>>>> ©Jim Dreaver, 2005
>
>>>> Release Attachment To Outcomes
>
>>>> A fear that many people have is that if they don’t hold tightly to
>>>> their goals and dreams and think about them all day long, they won’t
>>>> accomplish them. Yet it is the very attachment to outcomes, to getting
>>>> a specific result, that sets the stage for anxiety, the fear that you
>>>> won’t achieve what you want. As you learn to release the attachment,
>>>> new creative energies—as well as feelings of courage and confidence—
>>>> spring forth, and actually move you closer to your objectives.
>
>>>> Worrying about the future is one of the main causes of stress in our
>>>> lives. It is a habit that just perpetuates fear, the uncomfortable
>>>> feeling that we aren’t enough as we are. It keeps us stuck in the
>>>> belief that such-and-such must happen if we are going to be happy, and
>>>> that if it doesn’t, our lives will be miserable.
>
>>>> There’s a story about J. Krishnamurti that speaks reams about what it
>>>> means to be free of this limiting, fear-based pattern of thinking.
>>>> Every spring he used to give talks in a beautiful oak grove in Ojai,
>>>> in southern California. He had been speaking there for over sixty
>>>> years. On this particular occasion when I went to hear him, in the
>>>> late nineteen-seventies, there must have been close to two thousand
>>>> people in attendance, sitting on the grass, or in their folding
>>>> chairs.
>
>>>> It was always an extraordinary experience, hearing Krishnamurti in
>>>> person. Aldous Huxley, who was a friend of Krishnamurti’s, described
>>>> it as: “Like listening to a discourse of the Buddha—such authority,
>>>> such intrinsic power.”
>
>>>> Part way through this particular talk, Krishnamurti suddenly paused,
>>>> leaned forward, and said, almost conspiratorially, “Do you want to
>>>> know what my secret is?” Almost as though we were one body we sat up,
>>>> even more alert than we had been, if that was possible. I could see
>>>> people all around me lean forward, their ears straining and their
>>>> mouths slowly opening in hushed anticipation.
>
>>>> Krishnamurti rarely ever talked about himself or his own process, and
>>>> now he was about to give us his secret! He was in many ways a
>>>> mountaintop teacher—somewhat distant, aloof, seemingly unapproachable,
>>>> unless you were part of his inner circle. Yet that’s why we came to
>>>> Ojai every spring, to see if we could find out just what his secret
>>>> was. We wanted to know how he managed to be so aware and enlightened,
>>>> while we struggled with conflict and our numerous problems.
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>>>> There was a silence. Then he said in a soft, almost shy voice, “You
>>>> see, I don’t mind what happens.”
>
>>>> I don’t mind what happens. That is the essence of inner freedom. It is
>>>> a timeless spiritual truth: release attachment to outcomes, and—deep
>>>> inside yourself—you’ll feel good no matter what. You’ll feel good
>>>> because you are connected to, one with, the energy of the universe,
>>>> the beauty and power of creation itself. Or, as Krishnamurti himself
>>>> put it:
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>>>> ‘When you live with this awareness, this sensitivity, life has an
>>>> astonishing way of taking care of you. Then there is no problem of
>>>> security, of what people say or do not say, and that is the beauty of
>>>> life.’
>
>>>> ©Jim Dreaver, 2005"
>
>
>>> This works pretty good as long as what happens is mostly good or at
>>> least not too bad. However, if something really bad happens to you,
>>> like, say, being waterboarded by the CIA, I think one minds. Even if
>>> one tries to not mind, the pain and fear break through.
>
>>> Very few can not mind when something terrible happens to a loved one,
>>> If one could do that it would be reasonable to ask "were they really a
>>> loved one or just someone you knew?" Isn't that what having a loved
>>> one means; that you care what happens to them? Suppose a loved one
>>> were to lose their center, became fearful and angry, would you not
>>> mind?
>
>> I think there is a difference between "not caring" and "not minding".
>> I think one can care, but still remain detached (and of course, words
>> always fail to capture the subtleties).
>
>> I agree though, it takes an extraordinary individual to remain
>> detached in the face of such circumstances, and I don't claim to be
>> one of them. But understanding it from an intellectual standpoint is
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> From my viewpoint remaining detached is not necessarily a good thing.
> If I see my child in distress, let's agree I care, but if spiritually
> advanced I don't mind, I accept things as they are and, in the end I
> take no action.
This is the most common misunderstanding of the state of detatchment.
It does NOT mean , 'no action' and anyone that doesnt yet understand
is actually blocking that state
> On the other hand, if I mind, I rush over and try to
> save her from whatever it is, I have lost my detachment.
That simply does not follow.Instead of thinking of the outcome, put
your attention on the action. You will be much more valuable to all
concerned.
> In my town a
> man was arrested for not interferring when the family dog nipped and
> scratched a two year old. He just watched. Somehow I yearn for a more
> activist morality.
Wasnt Steven Hawking by any chance :-).
Seriously, the guy demonstrated a state of mantal (spiritual)
disability.
> How do those who are advanced enough to want detachment feel about
> such things as sending aid to flood victims? Good deed or regression?
The first line of detatchment, is to be detatched from wanting.
It is also from that position that you never ever need to ask such
questions, which, afterall, only provides anothers pov, which
introduces the second line of detatchment:-)
BOfL
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