If Buddhism must be described in one word, that word is non-attachment. The eighty-four thousand teachings of the Buddha could be reduced to non-attachment. Non-attachment and detachment are quite different. Detachment is to cut off one’s self from the problem, to get away from it, to escape. But life can not be escaped. Non-attachment is to be one with the problem. Living life is like flowing water. But instead of letting life flow, we attach to favorable conditions and become greedy, or we attach to adverse situations and become angry. We form attachments to words, actions, situations, things, and people. The strongest attachment of all is the attachment to one’s self. The next five koans will be about non-attachment.
