Love and attachment: Getting it right

Article Summary

An interesting article on spirituality that answers the questions: “Is getting attached to anyone or anything bad? What is the difference between attachment and love?”

The author beautifully explains that attachment is based on desire or possession and the perception that things and people are permanent. Attachment arises from a selfish perspective of ‘i alone want to be happy’. This makes it an act based on impure consciousness. The article also explains through examples that even nature does not support attachment.

Love, on the other hand, is based on understanding that something which is born will pass away and hence there is need and reason to love. This emotion is desire-less, unconditional and non-discriminatory, that is, there is no precondition as there is in attachment.

The author concludes that attachment is therefore a kind of emotion that needs to be purified and be replaced with its positive counterpart, that of loving kindness.