6.29.2015

Attachment (by Sanghamitra Nath)




1-19072198470_d2f33ab321_z 

Attachment means to be attached to the outcome. Attachment means doing something with the hope that something good will come out of it. Attachment means clinging to something or depending on something because it gives us security, acknowledgement, value, recognition, good feelings or good returns in terms of self -gratification. Attachment also means trying to control the outcome of events through our actions. So, when attachment does not work, ( i.e. it fails to give us good returns or good feelings), it brings pain and disillusionment to the person.  This is how attachment works in our daily life and this is how attachment brings pain.

Our society thinks that it is natural to be attached to something because of the simplistic thinking that if a person does something good, it must come back to him ! So, when something good does not happen to him, he becomes negative. In this way, attachment controls people.

Why does attachment sometimes not work ? It is because everybody is attached to something , everybody is expecting something good in return. Hence, a situation is created where everybody is dependent on each other for self gratification. Without the other person, the person does not feel complete or adequate. He needs the other person to satisfy his needs in attachment. He thinks that it is "natural" to expect and it is natural to be dependent on the other for self satisfaction and happiness. So, dependency turns into something natural, something like the "law of nature", as if we cannot live without it (like we cannot survive without water ).

Through dependency and attachment, we create a situation or condition of survival, where in fact, such a condition does not exist. We create a cage and enslave ourselves in it whereas, there is no cage there in the first place. It is a self created cage.

It is like saying," If you give me something I want, I am ready to help you/give you/love you". It is something that is conditional. Something that depends on a condition.

Without that condition, there is no relationship, no love, no growth.
Our entire life is conditioned by it.

............................



There are many aspects of our everyday life which we take for granted. Not only that, they are the source of our subconscious pain. Yet we are unaware of them. Attachment is one such aspect of our life.

6.17.2015

New Home ( by Sanghamitra Nath)


1-1-IMG_6441 - Copy (2) - Copy  

Finally, I have arrived in my new home. And suddenly, I am feeling that so much have changed in all these years. I am in a place now where I never thought I would be. Therefore, more than ever before, I believe that it is LIFE that chooses us and prepares us for its next turn and not us. We would like to believe that we are the doer of things, the creator of events but it is not us. We are being prepared by LIFE to do things. Even if you don't do anything, something will come up and turn your world upside down.

 Among many things that I have noticed is that I have become more and more reclusive. Once upon a time, in the Victorian age, being a recluse or a solitary man was not uncommon. Writers, poets and artists were often like that. Hermits, scholars and monks also led a solitary existence. In fact, some amount of silence and solitude was even mandatory for writers to write, artists to paint and monks to pray. Not only to write, pray and paint but also to cook and tend to the garden. 

Even if things can be done without silence and solitude, yet with silence + solitude, an ordinary moment  becomes beautiful and starts having a soul of its own. I believe that magic often happens in silent moments when nobody is watching or influencing you. Where you are not even influenced by your own thoughts.

Solitude means being in your own company rather than in the company of other men all the time. I have noticed that I gain very little in life if I remain with a lot of people all the time. I tend to react more, get upset and affected more. And I lose a sense of purpose, a sense of well being. I get lost in the chatter of the world. Only solitude helps me to listen to my inner voice. Solitude helps me to create beauty, beauty  in everything including beauty of thoughts, actions and purpose.

Although I may not be able to live for beauty always, it is something that I aspire for. It calms me down. The kind of beauty that is created from trash, brokenness or ordinary things fascinate me even more. Like alchemy. Like hay turning into strands of gold. Like life that was once broken, repressed and hopeless but now, healed and empowered. 
But the big question is : Can we be in the midst of chaos, a society full of people and their mindless chatter and disturbing noise, yet be able to silence our minds ?  
This is something that I am exploring now.

1-IMG_6538 - Copy-----
Picture 1 : Home decor /my living room
Picture 2 : My watercolor paintings