Cattāri Brahmavihārā

So my business partner and I are leaving today for a 4 day conference in Chicago and I am suffering serious pangs of separation anxiety brought on by my attachment to my wife and children. For me this anxiety is most apparent in its manifestation as my fear about what will happen to my kids should anything happen to me but there is also a touch of simply longing to be with them. It seems that the older my kids get the stronger the bonds of affinity and attachment become and I truly appreciate all of the venerable bhikkhus and bhikkhunis who have cut themselves loose from the cords of the household life in a way that I didn’t only a scant five years ago.

I think, though, that at time like these it’s important to remember just how delusive all of this thinking is and how nothing at all can be grasped and held onto. Even if I were to stay in physical proximity to my family during my every waking moment there is nothing that would prevent our eventual separation. There is no safety in samsara. So, where is the refuge? In the path taught by the Buddha which is the Dhamma and lived by the Sangha.

May we all seek true security from harm and tread the Lord Buddha’s path to release!