Episode 123 - Attachment To Self

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In this episode we look at attachment to self. In particular, we try to identify what attachment to self is and how to lessen it so that we experience more peace and light-heartedness. To recognize attachment to self, we can contemplate extreme examples:</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"> </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Extreme examples of when we feel attachment to self</span></p> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Embarrassment</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Excessive shame or guilt</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Reactions to criticism like anger or dismissing the person</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Strong pride or self-aggrandizement </span></li> </ul> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In general, attachment arises when we perceive an object we find attractive and exaggerate its good qualities until we become glued to the object, such that we feel pain when we are separated from that object. Attachment to self exists because we perceive a fixed self and become attached to this perception of a fixed, inherent self. Some examples of these attached perceptions of self range from “I am a good person,” “I am smart,” and also “I am a bad person,” “I am a loser. </span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">One way to lessen our attachment to self is to recognize that we do not exist as a fixed, inherent self. Just like all things, our self exists as an interdependent phenomena; our self depends upon causes and conditions, labels, and the mind appearing it a certain way. Our self does exist, just not in the way it normally appears, as fixed and inherent. Our self exists like a rainbow appearing in a clear sky. A rainbow arises in dependence upon rain droplets, the rays of the sun, and our location to the rainbow.