No Attachments

Think for a moment, what causes us pain and sorrow? I am sure you may promptly list a number of people, events, and conditions that rob your peace of mind. However, according to Jain philosophy, it is our attachment to possessions  (राग)  that is the root cause of all our sufferings. Hindu philosophy endorses this view as well. So, put in another way, we are causing pain and sorrow to ourselves. Find it hard to believe? Take a look at the story below:

A man who had gone out of his town comes back and finds that his house is on fire. It was one of the most beautiful houses in the town, and the man loves the house. Many people were ready to give double the price for the house, but he never agreed to sell it at any price, and now it is just burning before his eyes. Many people have gathered watching the calamity. The fire has spread out so much around the house that nothing can be saved. Obviously, this makes the man very sad.

In the meantime, his eldest son comes running, and whispers in his ear, "Don't be worried. I had just sold the house yesterday, and at a very good price - three times. The offer was so good I could not wait for you."

The father heaves a sigh of relief and says, "Oh that's so good of you, if you have sold it for three times the original price of the house." From tham moment, the man changes to be a watcher, like the rest of the crowd around the house. Just a moment earlier, he was so devastated when he identified the house as his belongings. And now, it is the same house, the same fire, the same damage, everything is the same; but he is not concerned. He is observing the disaster impassionately just as everybody else.

A little while later, his second son comes running and he says to the father, "What are you doing? Are you not worried that our house is on fire". The man says, "Don't you know, your brother has sold it?" The son says, "He had struck a deal to sell it, but nothing has been settled yet, and the buyer is not going to purchase it after this accident." Again, everything gets reversed. Tears which had disappeared come back to the man's eyes, his smile is gone now and his heart is beginning to beat fast. Now the watcher is gone. He becomes attached again, feeling the pain, even though it is the same house and the same fire.

Finally, the third son comes and says, "That buyer is a man of his words. I just met him and he told me that it doesn't matter whether the house is burned or not, he has agreed to buy it and it is his house now. He is going to pay the price that he has agreed upon, since no one  knew that the house would catch fire."

This news lifts a weight off the man's chest and turns him into an observer again. The feeling of attachment to the house is no more there. Actually nothing changed but just the idea that "I am the owner, I am identified somehow with the house", makes the whole difference. The next moment he feels, "I no longer possess the house. Somebody else has purchased it, I have nothing to do with it, let the house burn."

This simple but powerful story beautifully brings out the fact that the real cause of pain is our attachment to things. And if we live our life with a mindset that nothing belogs to us, as we have to leave everything here one day, it will go a long way to reduce and finally eliminate our sufferings.