“The discomfort associated with groundlessness, with the fundamental ambiguity of being human, comes from our attachment to wanting things to be a certain way.”
- Pema Chodron, Buddhist nun
In her book Living Beautifully, Buddhist nun Pema Chodron says that the real cause of suffering is not being able to tolerate uncertainty. So much in our lives is uncertain, yet it’s often in our nature to attach ourselves to the outcomes we envision. Perhaps we’ve charted a path for ourselves and resist veering from it. Pema’s teacher Dzigar Kongtrul calls shenpa—the Tibetan word for attachment—the “barometer of the ego clinging, a gauge of our self-involvement and self-importance.”
However, if we can “let go and not struggle against [change], we can embrace the groundlessness of our situation and relax into its dynamic quality.” Pema refers to this unattached state in which we’re willing to adjust course and go with the flow—to unglue ourselves from our preconceived expectations—as enlightenment.
However, if we can “let go and not struggle against [change], we can embrace the groundlessness of our situation and relax into its dynamic quality.” Pema refers to this unattached state in which we’re willing to adjust course and go with the flow—to unglue ourselves from our preconceived expectations—as enlightenment.
What are some ways you can reduce attachment to preconceived expectations in your life?
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