Written by Jafree Ozwald
www.EnlightenedBeings.com

“The law of detachment means that in order to acquire anything in the physical universe, you have to relinquish your attachment to it. This doesn’t mean you give up your intention to create your desire. You don’t give up the intention, and you don’t give up the desire. You give up your attachment to the result.” ~Deepak Chopra

The wise Buddha once said, “Attachment Leads to Suffering”. What he meant by this was that whenever we become attached to a desire, belief, thought, feeling, or anything for that matter, we needlessly suffer.  The suffering arises because attachment is an energy born out of fear, lack and disconnection to our Source. We tighten our grip on certain desires, because deep down we believe we NEED to manifest them in order to feel safe, happy, secure or loved. This overly tight grip on life simply means we are not FEELING the natural connection in our hearts to the great healing source and spirit within ourselves. As long as the mind continues to circulate in this vicious attachment dilemma, we can never truly relax and fully access this ever expanding all loving spiritual Source that radiates at our very core.

Whenever happiness is determined by any thought, feeling, or external event, then we become a slave to it, and the great egoic cycle of suffering begins. Expectations and disappointments are great examples of how attachment leads to suffering. If the big desire we had today manifests or doesn't manifest, it then becomes the main leading cause of our happiness and unhappiness. The very instant we become attached to a thought, we end up forgetting about love, joy, freedom and the endless possible things we can be thankful for. The grip onto any thought narrows and eventually blocks our energy, creativity and vibration so we cannot perceive any new ideas or options available.

So perhaps you're asking, how can we be passionate about our desires in life, and yet approach them in a non-attached easy going way?  The secret is the middle path. If we are too attached or too unattached to our desires, they won't manifest. We must hold the baby bird in our hand not too tight or we'll suffocate it, and not too loose or it will fly away.  The real secret is finding our natural connection to Source that is always coming from trust and is free from worry and fear. Our desires have this natural tendency to manifest faster than the speed of light when we are walking down the middle of this road.

Attachment is a habit that we learned from society. We are suffering because we are gripping too tightly or too looselyonto our thoughts. The mind gets hooked into beliefs that say, "I don’t have the money, knowledge, power, energy, information or understanding to manifest what I desire", OR the mind cannot hold long enough onto the idea/feeling that, "I do have the money, knowledge, power, energy, information or understanding to manifest what I desire!" Whatever we believe is what we create, and thus we manifest this amazing effortless manifesting adventure or a perpetual daily struggle to survive. 

“It’s not about getting what you want, it’s about wanting what you’ve got!” ~Sheryl Crow 

The Buddha always said the secret to enlightenment is finding the middle path. To find the middle, we must look within ourselves, stepping out of the periphery and towards our total center.  The real work we are here to do is not just on the outer world, yet also the inner. All our outer struggling is a pointer directing us back inside. Suffering is a great teacher showing us where not to go, and what not to do anymore. Pain is like a hot poker directing us to back off and rest inside until we are finding the middle path. 

When we listen to our bodies, we can naturally find a way to loosen or tighten our grip on life, and then this ultimate freedom simply find us. It's quite magical how it all unfolds. The Universe rewards us when we truly trust in it. If you want to see if you're too attached to a thought, just notice what's happening in your body. Whenever the mind become overly attached to any idea, a tension in the body forms when we think that thought. The more tension we have in our body, the less receptive we become to allowing that desired outcome into our life.

The mind tends to be a cling-master and ultimate skeptic of life.  It hasn't learned how to trust life and so we need to retrain it.  Whenever the mind thinks this Universal power is not real, permanent and trustworthy, we need to remind it that it is.  When we can stop clinging to thoughts, things, feelings, people and memories we will began to trust the Universe will provide all our needs.  We can stop working so hard, we can retire our illusions, and take a rest from our daily worrying and fears.  We can use our precious time appreciating and basking in the divine Source that is already here now.

“Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.” ~ Joshua J. Marine

I'd like you explore a powerful healing exercise right now. This is a GREAT exercise and can actually be a lot of fun to do! It will give you instant clarity on how to find your middle path, here it is.... Write down every belief that you think is causing you suffering. Take a closer look at what you are deeply attached to having, being or doing. Find out what are the things, beliefs, judgments and opinions that your mind is currently attached to.

It may take a few weeks to completely unravel yourself, yet keep looking and continuously searching for what is the root cause of your suffering. Discover exactly what are you desiring that you think will give you complete freedom, love, abundance or satisfaction? Research yourself deeply and explore the truth of who/what you are. Find out what societal belief habits you've been programmed with. Make a list, check it twice, find out exactly where and when you've been naughty or nice. =)

Upon deeper investigation into yourself, you'll discover that the mind only becomes attached to certain thoughts that it feels are lacking from inside. Meaning, deep down inside the person who has 3 master degrees and 2 PhD's is some attachment to the belief that they are stupid and unintelligent. If a person is a work-a-holic always seeking to attain more money, it means deep down they feel a great fear of being poor. That person feels they have to protect themselves from poverty by building up huge resources in their bank accounts. The more money a person needs to accumulate, the deeper the wounding is around feeling worthy, abundant and secure inside. When we look deep long honest enough inside ourselves, we see that this pendulum swing is always the case.

After you've got your list of thoughts that cause you suffering and you still don't know how to transcend them, it's time to take a more spiritual route. Imagine what it FEELS like to be connected, resting and in perfect union with the Divine Infinite Source inside.  Behind every negative belief is a positive one, and lurking beneath both of these beliefs is the secret to being free! When we find the middle path to life, we start appreciating everything again.  When we can trust and naturally relax, we will start basking in the magical divine Source that is already here now.  Just remember you are always connected to a Source of infinite power and energy. There is an internal eternal love source inside you, and this is the ONLY place you can find true, everlasting security. Come to know and trust deep down that you have the God given power to manifest the life of our dreams. 

It's vital to understand that the mind has been greatly misguided.  It has been fed beliefs that simply are smaller truths.  The greatest truth of all is the one that will liberate you on every level.  It's the one that doesn't need to believe anything.  It knows the feeling of real sustainable success cannot come from striving, reaching and trying to attain a bigger and better outcome. Remember, most people in the western world are wrapped up in this striving belief system. So watch out for this societal hypnotism! It's a mass manipulative belief disease going around. The desiring disease is very prevalent out there, and believing what other "normal" people believe is the main reason why your mind continues to fall again and again back into the experience of suffering. 

"If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours." ~ Henry David Thoreau  
 
Releasing Attachment Exercise: If you're ready to liberate your mind from your list of attachments, I invite you to do this little exercise.  Do it before you go to bed tonight and read through it again when you wake up tomorrow morning. Imagine in your right hand is a deflated orange balloon, which is attached to a string. Put the string in your left hand and start blowing all your attachments, problems, issues, and worries into this HUGE balloon. You have a magical breath that can breathe the thing (or thought) you are attached to right out of your body! The more attachments you put in, the bigger the balloon becomes.

When you have emptied yourself completely, the balloon automatically closes its valve and you let go of the string! It begins to float straight up into the sky. Watch it move far away from your life. Notice if there are areas in your body where you feel a release from the attachments.  In these places imagine breathing in a warm golden healing light. Feel the sense of relief and lightness in your body now that YOU ARE FREE from all attachments, worries and concerns right now!

Take several minutes after you have done this exercise to allow this lighter feeling to reach every cell of your body. Relax into your body, and into the spiritual being you truly are.  Know that you are infinite, eternal, and will never die. Be aware of this freeing eternal feeling throughout your day and you'll soon begin to experience a tremendous shift in your ability to effortlessly manifest the life you desire. Enjoy!