How does attachment, detachment and non-attachment play out in our spiritual practice?
We have heard that no one ever really breaks our heart, they break our expectations. Often, we become attached to something and we become sad or upset because we were attached to a particular outcome, or there's detachment - where we are no longer in the game at all. We become reclusive, don't want to be heard, whatever the case may be. Then there's non-attachment where we are playing 100% full out but not attached to an outcome.
In spiritual practice, getting attached to an outcome can block the manifestation flow because we tend to narrow our perception and purview to where we do not see the limitless possibility surrounding us. We often end up creating resistance to the very blessings in our lives because we're too attached to what we think our lives should look like, or how our life vision should manifest or through whom it should manifest. On the other hand, as mentioned before, detachment leads us to give up on the entire game. We take our ball and go home and decide not to play anymore. People often become detached when they suffer some kind of loss or disappointment, or chronically experience things not going their way. So not only are they detached from something good happening, they simply detach from life.
People often confuse detachment and non-attachment as being the same thing. They are not. When we become non-attached, we allow the outcome to form based on our expanded awareness. Our intentionality, our spiritual practice, our willingness yield our surrender. This act of surrender and state of receptivity generates outcomes based on intentionality. For instance, master artists don't always know how exactly they are going to create something or how it's going to look until it starts to take shape and manifest. The unknown carries infinite possibilities and we must enter into that realm because the good that we are seeking is often beyond the present paradigm.
Thus we enter the space of infinite potential so we may develop the consciousness of non-attachment, experience insights, revelations and Satori moments. So consider your life structures and examine where you have a high level of attachment and see if you can ease up a little bit. See if you can have an intention to be prosperous, to be healthy, to be happy, to have your needs met but just hold it lightly. Allow infinite potential to reveal itself so that it may surprise and delight you with something that was beyond your wildest imagination!
Based on lectures by author and spiritual director Michael B. Beckwith