Desire VS Attachment
What is desire? What is it attachment? Are they they same thing? If they are, is it bad to desire? If it's bad to desire, where to goals and basic needs like food fit in? Are they bad as well? Should I strive to want absolutely nothing, essentially erasing myself from existence? This is a very common misunderstanding of the Buddhist teaching of "attachment", but can be very easy to clarify with a short analogy: I could desire to see a movie, and this is totally fine. If I end up missing the movie, there are 2 things I could do: Just say "darn", go see it another time, and move on with life. Act grumpy and pouty all day. The latter reaction is the one we want to avoid because it is an attachment to the reality where I didn't miss the movie. The former is the one that we should strive for in all aspects of our life. Here's a couple of more serious real-world examples I've found in life: One day I am going to lose my wife. I'm not pla...