When Detachment becomes Attachment
Being detached is a basic premise of Buddhist thinking. Being detached from outcomes, unattached to goals, and riding the ups and downs of life and being able to remain the same person whatever happens.
But detachment can become attachment if you’re not careful.
You can see this issue of detachment becoming attachment all over social media. People who say, “I don’t care what happens around me…I don’t care what this person or that person does…because I am so detached”. In effect they are saying look at me, look at how detached I am, and in that they have become attached to their detachment. It is defining who they are.
Another form of this is people who espouse a simple lifestyle, will drive a beat up old car to show you how simple a life they are living. “Look at me, I am practicing simplicity”.
Detachment means being undefined by your circumstances…be very careful you do not define yourself by your detachment. The simplest way to be sure you are on the right path, is don’t tell anyone about your path. It’s for you alone and no one else.
