“Desire for things, once satisfied, breeds higher levels of desire and the market knows this all too well,” the monk said. “That’s why today’s marketing strategies are to promote consumption beyond the actual value of goods. They make us consume the brand and image to defy who we are. In Buddhism, we call it the consumption of illusion.”  –http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2008/04/10/business/business_30070471.php

 

‘Attachment is the origin, the root of suffering; hence it is the cause of suffering.’ [1] – The Dalai Lama at Harvard, 1988, Snow Lion USA, p.37

Non attachment gives us freedom to sincerely reflect upon our likes and dislikes, as well as creating a sort of shared consciousness by doing things not just for our selves but for the shared happiness for all or the greater good. Zen teacher John Daido Loori said,

“[A]ccording to the Buddhist point of view, nonattachment is exactly the opposite of separation. You need two things in order to have attachment: the thing you’re attaching to, and the person who’s attaching. In nonattachment, on the other hand, there’s unity. There’s unity because there’s nothing to attach to. If you have unified with the whole universe, there’s nothing outside of you, so the notion of attachment becomes absurd. Who will attach to what?”

This means that we go through life trying to add and own things that will make us happier, yet in the end craving is really just the product of being ignorant to our true selves. The Buddha said,

“When the thirty six pleasure-bound streams of craving are strong in a man, then numerous desire-based thoughts pull the deluded man along.”

Are we truly living as a deluded society? When desire fuels our lives, it may not be hard to realize that we are not as happy as we thought we would be…