|Ven. Dr. Thich Thien-An| One of the most important teachings of
Zen Buddhism is non-attachment. The teaching of non-attachment
may be easy to understand, but it is not easy to practice.
Nevertheless, it is very essential to cultivate non-attachment
if we are to live a serene and happy life in a world of constant
change; for this reason it is introduced here. Our world is a
world of desire. Every living being comes forth from desire and
endures as a combination of desires. We are born from the desire
between of our father and mother. Then, when we emerge into this
world, we become infatuated with many things, and become
ourselves well-springs of desire. Through desire we give rise to
attachments. For every desire there is a corresponding
attachment, namely, to the object of desire. For example, we are
most conspicuously attached to our bodies. When someone
threatens the body, we grow anxious and try to protect it. We
relish physical comforts and the enjoyment of the senses. Thus,
we are strongly attached to t