Two Plus Two Equals Four......or Does It?

Yesterday morning I was reading a bit from a book called Essential Reiki by Diane Stein. She was giving a bit of the history of Reiki and there was a bit about Buddhism, and one particular message jumped out at me. That was the Buddhist principle of detachment. The Buddhists believe that the way to enlightenment is partially through the principle of detachment, otherwise called impermanence. It is the belief that suffering comes from being too attached to a particular outcome. We could say that if we are sick we are attached to the desire to be well. If we are poor we are attached to the idea of attaining money. If we are lonely we are attached to the idea of finding a lover. Through the principle of detachment, we find peace by detaching from the idea that our happiness lies in something outside of ourselves.

How does this principle not contradict the law of attraction? In the law of attraction, we have learned that the way to attract the things we desire into our lives we must create an energetic bond with that which we desire to attract into our lives. In the Buddhist principle of detachment, this almost seems that we should not have desires in the first place.

So I asked my Angels to explain to me how these two laws can peacefully coexist. How can I have a desire, feel the emotion of what I want to attract, say positive affirmations to attract it, raise my vibration so that I am in an energetic frequency to attract this desire, and then detach from the desire for a particular outcome? Is this possible? How can a person who is ill detach from the desired outcome of health?

My Angels said to me that I was operating under the assumption that 2 + 2 = 4. They said to me that when I am in grade school I am taught that 2 + 2 = 4. Now, they said to me, We want you to realize that this may not necessarily be the case. Black and white do not necessarily exist, They said. The properties of the two and the two may actually create a reality in which two plus two equals five.

My black and white mind does not understand this. But this is what they said to me. Many people have been disillusioned by the law of attraction because they desire something and they say affirmations and they visualize the outcome they desire but they forget that at some point they have to give up to the Universe or whatever they call their Higher Power for the manifestation of the highest plan for their lives. I do believe it is possible to attract things into our lives using the principles of the law of attraction, however I also believe that sometimes the things we attract into our lives do not end up making us happy. I think what the principle of detachment is saying is that in order to have true happiness, we need to detach from thinking that our lives can only go in the way that our finite minds think it has to. I have to be well, I have to be wealthy, or at least have a good paying job, I have to have a lover. Contentment truly comes when we find our happiness from that place within us that is connected to our Source, and all the other things come or do not come and it does not affect our peace. I found at one point in my life when I had absolutely nothing, that I was at my most peaceful. I knew at some point I would eventually get all the "stuff" back, but at that point in time I found contentment in living in an empty apartment with nothing but a mattress on the floor and a couple of chairs.

I guess what I am saying is that sometimes we create suffering for ourselves just by not being content with life the way we find it. We want so much more. We want this or that, and sometimes our wants are not bad things. But we are not happy until we create the life we think will fulfill us or make us happy.

I have felt like part of my purpose is to write down what the Angels tell me and post them in my blogs. If I don't get any messages for awhile or perhaps if my job gets in the way of my time in front of the computer, I feel like I am not fulfilling my purpose. Today the Angels told me to lighten up. Detach from what I think I am supposed to do. Realize the impermanence of all things. Detach from my desire for  a particular outcome.

Is there something that you want that has seemed to be just out of your reach? Maybe you just need to detach from a particular outcome and just go with the flow. Maybe the Universe has something better in mind. Realize that nothing is set in stone. What you thought was your purpose in life six months ago may not hold water now. Sometimes it is best to let life flow and not get too attached. 

Today think about what you have been trying to manifest in your life and then just think about letting go of the idea that it has to come in a particular way. Loosen your grip on making something happen. Let life flow the way it will and just find peace in the sound of the raindrops on your roof or the birds singing outside your window. See what happens when you just let go. This is what the Buddhists meant when they said that detachment is one of the keys to the end of suffering and the road to enlightenment.