Why does attachment cause suffering?

Answer 1

Because every*thing* is in a constant state of destruction and creation. ~ : )

Answer 2

I know this gets into the realm of confusion for a lot of people who assume it means that you don't love someone or appreciate something if you have no attachments but that OK, it's a hard concept but easy once you get it. When you are attached to material things then the absence of them causes more desire. The more desire you have the more envy/anger/pain/isolation/etc. you will experience. If you can own a home and be perfectly content without it yet truly appreciate it at the same time then you have reached the place called non-attachment. The same goes with a loved one. If we cling to the loved one we experience a lot of negative emotions. If we can cultivate non-attachment then we can love that person with great freedom. It's not as if the loss of them would cause you no pain but it is the recognition that they have passed into a new existence that brings comfort as there is no beginning and no end of existence. Confused? Read Thich Nhat Hahn's 'No Death, No Fear' (I could have swapped the order of the title but it is a great book and explains the concept well) Namaste!

Answer 3

Because attachment means you care about something and have a desire for it. If that thing is hurt, destroyed, or otherwise eludes you it causes suffering. The Buddhist and Benedictine monk solution to this problem is non-attachment - stop caring about specific things and people or expecting anything. It is not possible to live a normal life this way. I would argue that attachment is good - when someone I love dies or leaves I want to hurt, it means that I can and do love.

Answer 4

Attachment to a loved one can be joyful it is the breaking of that attachment (by death or other reasons) that can cause the suffering. As one treasures more that which was ours once in joy than what is left after, for the after feels bleak and sad and very very lonely.

Answer 5

Non-attachment does not mean NOT caring. But caring too much, wanting to cling to something, does cause suffering because when it dies its inevitable death (or changes) we feel the pain of "not having" that which we desired. Think of the word "attachment" and envision something attached to oneself; then see that "attachment" ripped away--therein lies the suffering. We can be attached to outcomes even moreso than to things: personal or financial or career success, love, health, conditions and situations, etc. Suffering comes if: we are denied our desires; if they don't satisfy us; if they are taken from us; if they change form, etc. This is how attachment brings suffering in the world of duality where the only thing that is inevitable is "change." So care, strive, hope, but do not crave, clutch, grasp. I am Sirius

Answer 6

"a mind that is all the time seeking pleasure must inevitably find it's shadow, pain" --Krishnamurti

The things we are attached to don't exist--it's all in our heads. We can strive to hold onto whatever it is, but it will be nothing more than a concept, a memory of what was, not what is. We grasp after what we will never reach, and in doing so find ourselves confused and frustrated.

Answer 7

There is only one constant in the universe: it is fleeting. Attachment to anything means caring about something that someday, eventually, will no longer exist.

Ouch. I love my wife. And my son. I am attached to them. Knowing that I will die, and be separated from them, causes me pain.

This is one of the Noble Truths of Dharma. It's one of the hard bits to make part of your mindset, and for most of us, it's really impossible to sever the attachments. We just don't have the same focus as Siddhartha on saving the world: we are preoccupied with our own little, temporary corner of it.

Answer 8

Once there was a great general who had seen many battles. He never once feared death or second guessed his decisions on the Field of battle. One day, he was drinking tea from his favorite tea cup. In a thoughtless moment, he almost dropped the cup. As he caught it, he realized that he had felt dread at the thought of his favorite cup being broken. He found enlightenment, smashed the cup on the spot. He stopped being a general and spent the rest of his life learning about Zen.
-I tried to retell it the best I could remember it. Find the book Zen Speaks. It is written in comic book form. It is awesome!

Answer 9

Fear of loss.

The attachment is based on the delusion of permanence and reinforces it. Since all things change, there is a constant reality and dread of loss.

Answer 10

I believe cause we are made to love and when we loose something that we love our bodies suffer because it's not doing what it should be doing. So i say focus on someone else that you love.

Answer 11

the universe is constantly changing and if we are attached to things that please us we want them to remain and it is this want that causes suffering, and also the attachment to being away from unpleasent things brings suffering when they arive or are about to arive.