Detachment isn't what you think it is

People mistake the Buddhist concept of "detachment" as detachment from the world - apathy, asceticism, or nihilism. But that's exactly the answer that the Buddha rejected in his quest to end suffering and find liberation.

What he realized and taught was to detach from desires and aversions. Both of those are constructs created within your mind that hinder you from enjoying your life and the world. As Naval said, "Desire is a contract you make with yourself to be unhappy until you get what you want."

When you break the chains of desire, you engage more fully, freely, and fluidly with the world. You aren't afraid or caught up in your own head. You flow. 


Notes:

1. This doesn’t mean you can’t have goals or aspirations. You just don’t cling or crave to the goals or the outcomes desperately in a way you hate your current reality. 

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