Is Desire The Root Of All Evil?
Or have we got 'detachment' all wrong?
In spiritual circles the practice of detachment is King aimed to bring a state of peace and wellness. But what I’ve seen over many years is that suffering increases. The more desire is hushed, the more the state of powerlessness finds its home in supposed ‘detachment’.
I’ve seen people let go of their careers, finances and relationships, living powerlessly in the ‘void’ to an end of poverty, loneliness and purposelessness.
I’ve seen people believe they are practicing ‘detachment’, yet what they are really playing is a lack of honesty with what is really going on within themselves. The cause of this dishonesty is a deep distrust within themselves and Life and ironically an attachment to upholding a sense of identity that they are doing fine.
Detachment in its truest sense is the decision to let go of control and surrender into a deep faith that Life has our back and has plans that are far greater than the plans we could ever make from presupposition and the rational mind.
I coach people who have cancer. Why does Integrative Dr Carol Haddad refer some of her patients to me? Because we both know that cancer is something we cannot ‘control’ and for those who are up for it, invites
a detachment to an identity that no longer serves them and
a desire to be a more authentic, whole, loving and purposeful version of themselves
Cancer is the catalyst for the inner freedom necessary to who they are becoming.
Through the experience of cancer we can see that detachment and desire can co-exist in the same moment. In fact they are meant to.
Without desire there is no will to live.
Without detachment there is no ability to ride along with the force of nature that Life is - programmed for us to know our true identity - that we are Love and are here to express and experience ourselves as Love.
Detachment is the choice to no longer attach to the meaning we have given ourselves both in its ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ sense. To no longer attach to the meaning of being the one who is in ‘control’, or to the one who ‘achieves’ and ‘wins’ or who is ‘peaceful’. To no longer attach to the meaning of the one who ‘distrusts’, to the one who has ‘failed’ and feels ‘shameful’.
Life does not come in a straight line. Sometimes life is gritty. Sometimes life has to be in order for us to undo where we are not being and expressing ourselves as Love.
And how do we come to know and express ourselves as Love? Through its contrast. We get to live from a deep sense of faith by firstly distrusting and de-valuing ourselves and each other. We get to experience the beauty and power of vulnerability by firstly needing to control ourselves and each other. We get to experience compassion through deceit and dishonesty.
If we practice ‘detachment’ to the grittiness of Life we would never experience its contrast. What a waste of life that would be. And unfortunately I see a lot of that in spiritual circles.
Detachment and desire are a dynamic duo here to harness the powers of surrender and personal agency, here to hand ourselves over to divine intelligence yet equally playing our part in taking responsibility for our experience of being and expressing ourselves as Love.
So be cautious if your sense of detachment is laced with an under-grounded distrust and needing to uphold an identity of OK’ness. It’s OK to not be OK. It’s OK to feel scared, anxious, to feel lost and unclear. Be careful not to spiritually bypass the grit because on the other side of grit is gold.
If you are wanting more, desiring more and are being called into more in 2024, I applaud you! With that in mind I have two offerings to share with you.
Firstly my new Untapped Abundance Mastermind - a Mastermind that has the depth, wisdom and the practical resonance to place you on that upward trajectory that would ensure that 2024 is your breakthrough year - so that you can finally live the life that you’ve been promising yourself. You can be anywhere in the world to participate in this Mastermind.
Secondly, a live 2 day event on 6 & 7 February - ‘Sacred Business’ at The Q Station in Manly, Sydney. Who is the next generation of you when you reach into the untapped abundance of who you are? Most people goal set at the beginning of the year. This is not about goal setting. This is far more expansive, far more transformational, far more self-loving, far more authentic, far more generous and far more game-changing. ‘Sacred Business’ is life-changing. It will provide the vital and necessary footing into the next generation of yourself that you are to experience in 2024.
Please connect with me here if you are interested or called into The Untapped Abundance Mastermind or the 2 day live event Sacred Business.