Detachment From The Materialistic World
Detachment is the concept that nobody owns us, but ourselves; and, if we weren't owned, we should not be owners.
With asceticism, the concept is to detach yourself from the materialistic world. The idea may be seen as a renunciation of sensual pleasures leading the ascetic to a deeper, more profound experience of the inner self.
However, abstention from material needs doesn't actually recenter the individual. In fact, abstention has the alternative result of habituation; the individual becomes supersensitive to the stimuli he's attempting to avoid.
Suppressing Your Desires?
By suppressing natural urges, desires might abate, for a short period, but, like hunger, they oscillate until they deplete the inner drive and the individual loses his sense of motivation.
Consequently, detachment should not be an obligation; it should not be a thing that the individual feels obliged to try to do, but, rather, a natural phenomenon.
For me, detachment isn't intentional; it's not an act of the desire. For me, it starts out as a perspective. It's the absence of something from within; not the absence of something from without. If the individual sees himself as inherently valuable, he measures, or judges, everything else against himself.
The Urge For Fulfillment
Those things that he believes are superior to his self, are those things to which he feels indebted; those things that he believes are inferior to his self, are those things that he believes are indebted to him. This creates the notion of possession.
However, this is often perceiving value as a concrete or objective idea.
If we believe that we aren't inherently valuable, but value is a subjective appraisal, then, the concept of ownership becomes quite personal.
Subjective Value
For instance, something sentimental might have value to me, but nobody else; if I took it to be appraised, the appraiser might tell me it's virtually worthless; if it fell into the hands of somebody else, he might throw it away. Nonetheless, I keep it stored away and perhaps even under lock and key as if it were something precious. The fact is it's precious; it's precious to me.
As long as we imagine ourselves as having inherent worth, as being objectively worth something, we'll still see the world as being made of superiors and inferiors, lords and subjects, owners and property; we'll still own and be owned.
Detachment isn't a physical withdrawal, but a psychological reality.
I upvoted you and gave you some money for a post that tells me that money won't make you happy. Here is some unhappiness then :D
Sometimes money does put a smile on your face haha.
Unfortunately, in the world we live in, money is hugely influential and it isn't as easy as people looking at the world through rose-tinted glasses and wishing that money wouldn't have such a tight grasp on society.
Thank you for the support @arsenal49
Maybe not a smile, but it will remove some weight on your shoulders, and remove a lot of worries. That might give you a smile :)
owenderfull post thanks sharing the post
I'm glad you liked it
thank u so much
Do you feel like meditation every morning would help me become less attached to the materialistic world?
Just try it out and you will feel way better in many different ways.
less is more / you can't take it with you
really great to read your post, sadly we are creating materials to make us happy but the opposite is what occur.
If we can detach our self from all this bullshit, I think we can reach big a upgrade over happiness :)
thanks and looking forward to read you next post .
I've realized that the less materialistic we are, the more value we have for ourselves. Some people in second and third world countries are extremely happy, but live with few possessions; yet people in the US are ridden with anxiety and depression, which affect over 40 million people. Practicing mindfulness can help immerse yourself in the present. Not in the past(depression) or the future(anxiety).
I believe there is a direct correlation between capitalism and mental illness.
Thanks for sharing
So, we believe money is of more worth than us, and so we feel the need to acquire more?
Nice writing... the world is getting too materialistic. If only humans could live and acquire money and other things without being too attached to them, the world would be a much better place.
Earn to live, not live to earn.