Day 131 – Being overcome with desire and attachments

I now deeply repent of having been overcome with desire and attachments.

탐애한 큰 죄 오늘 참회합니다.

I wish I had some magical advice on how to sweep away desires and attachments! As near as I can tell, desires and attachments are the remnants of things that have allowed us to evolve this far. They may not have been perfect, and may have caused problems down the road, but at some point in our evolution, in that moment, they provided something that was helpful.

Because that worked at a certain point, we keep trying it to see if it still works. If it does, then we keep trying it again and again. But as we evolve, we need to move on and learn better ways of handling things, but those habits worked for so long, it’s easy to default to them. They aren’t “bad” in themselves, just limiting. They aren’t what we need to grow and move forward.

How do we move forward? As best as I know, by being present even when caught up in these, and once we become aware of them, by trying to entrust them to our foundation. Two things are useful here: One is to entrust the thought that, “When these arise, I want to remember to let go of them,” and two, “When I’m in the midst of these, provide the strength and willingness to actually let go of them.”

If you’re aware when in the midst of these, gradually you’ll sense the limitations and harm these cause you, making it easier to see them as they are, and let go of them, instead of being caught up in the sense-memory of the good they once did you, and desiring to experience that good again.