A few years ago I bought a book for a friend’s birthday present titled Zen and the Art of Insight. It seems there’s almost always something her and I are dissecting and analyzing, pondering minutia from one topic to the next in search of some ultimate truth. So this appeared to be a good present. Sort of a guide book to our favorite pastime.

Well, the book sat around in her apartment unread as she went about her busy life. It was a bit esoteric and she had no time. So always wanting to be helpful, I offered to take it home, read it, and tell her what it was all about. Let her know if there were any gems of wisdom in it we could put to good use.  

I was blown away.

The book is a collection of Buddhist scriptures and commentary that pertain to the achievement of perfect insight. Though a good deal of the discussion struck me as repetitive, and perhaps for good reason, one simple, basic principle became crystal clear. In order for one to obtain perfect insight, one must relinquish all attachments.

Having studied a good bit of communication psychology, there was a familiar ring to this. Going under numerous names, we also know attachments as filters, bias, inclination, predisposition, prejudice, “things we cling to”, preferences, desires, etc. I think you get the picture. Each and every one of us has a truckload of attachments that serve as roadblocks on the pathway to perfect insight. Rarely do we ever get a good handle on all of them. Perhaps only a sacred few tucked away in some mountain monastery can ever grasp and maintain such an enlightened state.

But that isn’t to say we can’t all make an attempt at getting a bit further along the road than where we normally live. To understand the Buddhist teachings, in a way it seems quite simple. It’s more of a release, than a reaching. More a letting go, than a grasping.

And once we have let go of all our attachments, the world becomes clearer.

There's a passage from Tao Te Ching:

“ Do you have the patience to wait

till your mud settles and the water is clear?

Can you remain unmoving

Till the right action arises by itself?

The Master doesn’t seek fulfillment.

Not seeking, not expecting

She is present, and can welcome all things.”

So I
explained all of this to my friend.She wasn’t impressed.