When an archer is shooting for nothing
He has all his skill.
If he shoots for a brass buckle
He is already nervous.
If he shoots for a prize of gold
He goes blind
Or sees two targets –
He is out of his mind!

His skill has not changed. But the prize
Divides him. He cares.
He thinks more of winning
Than of shooting –
And the need to win
Drains him of power.

Chuang Tzu

Chuang Tzu (4^th Century BC) was an influential Chinese philosopher of Taoism.

The situation Chuang Tzu describes is one we have all experienced in one form or another – from the cake we bake for a special occasion to the interview we have for a potential job to meeting someone for the first time. When the destination becomes more important than the journey we lose the ability to be present in the moment, and with that loss we step out of rhythm with life. The cake collapses, our mind goes blank during the interview and we act foolishly in a desire to impress others.

This caring about the results of our actions, this desire to control the outcome, this need to win is what the Buddha called ‘attachment.’ We can be attached to certain people, to a job, a house, a location. We can be attached to our reputation, our ideas, our self-image, our intentions. We can be attached to what we think things ‘should be’ rather than what they are. This inevitably leads to suffering.

If we can accept the possibility that humanity experiences a spiritual evolution as well as a physical evolution and that the direction of this spiritual evolution is a deeper experience of divinity, then all that occurs in our lives will tend to reinforce we go in that direction. When we become attached to certain things, people, ideas, etc. we are blocking the flow of Life/Evolution which in turn, creates pain and suffering.

We don’t always get what we want, as the Rolling Stones sang, but we always get what we need – to evolve. If we can become aware of our attachments, our pre-conceived ideas and positions, we can become more open to what Life is asking of us and thereby ease the suffering and pain of the human condition.