WHAT IS ATTACHMENT?
सुखानुशयी रागः। ७॥ 1.7 sukha anuśayï ragah
ATTACHMENT IS THAT WHICH DWELLS UPON PLEASURE
sukha,pleasure,anusayi
Sequential attraction to, closely following ragal attachment, addiction.
Attachment follows pleasure.
Because one experiences pleasure one perceives it. One wants more of it. Such is a deep craving in even insects and minute organism. Nature has so constructed us that we know only of pleasure when it comes in sight. We derive much enjoyment then. The pleasure sensation goes deep into the system. It remains as memory and craving. Basically this feeling comes because the enjoyer is conscious of himself. The organism is independent as against the outside world and wants to do everything for its pleasure preservation and propagation (instinct of self-aggrandisement, self-preservation, and Self-
propagation).
The more the I-sense, the more the pleasure. Theless the I sense, the less the pleasure.
As king Janaka said:
"Infinite, unlimited is my wealth because i own everything so i have no craving or desire ".
But one who owns little, many desire more. 0ne who is very rich may have appetite not only for ever more wealth but for name, fame, power and God-like omniscience, Whereas one who has nothing may be happy.
Why do we all want to be happy?
It is human nature to want to be happy because the opposite
unhappiness, is the cause of immense pain, misery and suffering
This nobody wants. We want to be permanently happy and for this
we go to any length to achieve it, although always unsuccessfully.
Do we enjoy being happy to such an extent that we even creait
a desire for happiness?
Everything stems from desire. Without desire there is no human
or other life, no cycle of birth and death. And the desire for
happiness is behind lall ther desires, just as avidya (ignorances)
have savoured and enjoyed momentary happiness that we crave
behind all other kleshas (mental affictions). It is only because we
for it more and more. As a matter of fact, this illusion of happiness
is only fleeting, but so powerful is its impact that we desire it more
and more and create more and more desire to achieve it
Can we just enjoy happiness once and completely forget
about it?
That is just not possible. Happiness is like a drug an intoxicant, a mental,emotional stimulant.We seek ways & means of
replicating the feat of once enjoyed happiness in a variety offom":
again and again.
How does desire originate?
Desire originates from memory and attachment to the memory of the experience.
ls desire a passive act or an active act? Desire is primarily a passive act. But by succumbing to it, we make ilan active act. Left to itself, it may even dissolve and disappear. Butthe fact that we dwell upon it constantly is what gives life to it. This is how and when we make it an active act.
Does desire involve ego?
Yes. After al, the desire is for self-satisfaction.
Why does desire give us pleasure? Desire does not give us pleasure, it only gives us pain. Desire is continuous and non-stop. The experience of fulfilment of any desire is only momentary. How then can desire give us pleasure? But we are so steeped in avidya (ignorance) that we believe in the continuity of this fulfiment of desire and keep on pursuing it. In actual fact, desire gives us pain, not pleasure.