Attachments
Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai Houston, Texas, U.S.A., November 14, 1993 (Originally in English)Q: How do we begin to rid ourselves of all our attachments that might keep us further away from our spiritual path? Can we become more selfless, and not want to have this and be this?
M: It's difficult if we water the plant from the leaves and not the root. The basis of all this misunderstanding, ignorance, and greed is because it comes from the root. We have not opened the power of understanding; therefore, we misunderstand and we think money will make us happy. We are seeking the Truth, which is eternal happiness, but then we misunderstand; we think money or beautiful girls will make us happy. The true thing that will make us happy, that we seek, is the true happiness: it's the Truth, our real spiritual power, the real god Self, but because we don't know that, we keep wanting this, that and the other. But as soon as your real source of understanding is opened for you, then you will understand differently. You will say, "This is what I want, not that!" Then all these things will fall apart. You don't need to do anything to it - just like watering a plant on the root and then all the leaves will be green.
Pearls of Wisdom Spoken by Supreme Master Ching Hai Washington, D.C., U.S.A., December 25, 1997 (Originally in English)
To be detached doesn't mean that you become a stone or wooden statue. Being detached means that you have to do what you have to, but that it is not important. If you don't have to, or if you can't do it, it is okay, too. If you have to do it, you do it and then forget about it. You don't kill yourself over some problem of the world or a personal setback. You try to solve your problem as best as you can at that moment. Maybe tomorrow you will see things differently, and then you will do it differently. Today, you see it that way, and you do it that way. But then you are not overly grieved about this thing, and you forget it. We do still have sorrow, happiness, stress and all that; but the thing is that we forget it quickly; we overcome it fast. More detachment comes later; as the days pass by, you become more detached in a very subtle way. So, even though sometimes you are angry or you are crying, you feel that you are very detached from that emotion. You still let the emotion show, but you are detached from it. In the depths of your heart, you know this is nothing. "I can cry, but I can also stop. And why should I stop? Why should I make the effort or take the trouble to stop?" If you need to stop, then you stop, and if you need to cry, just cry. You know that you are in control of that emotion. It is okay. To be detached means that you see yourself cry, but then you aren't overwhelmed by it. You let it be. You don't make it a more important issue and cling to that crying or that sadness all the time. Just let it be, and then move on.