Although we don’t truly own anything in this world, our education and experiences lead us to believe we are «masters.» We consider ourselves masters of houses, land, and fortunes, and even over the lives of others. This sense of dominion is a false power that arises from selfishness.

We become attached to things in our quest for illusory happiness, and we feel desperate when we don’t acquire what we believe will bring us joy. Perhaps the most troubling aspect is that we are taught we can «possess» other people, expecting their lives to align with our desires or demands. Recognizing that we do not control anything outside our own lives reveals how illusory everything around us is. This false attachment can lead to despair, a state that as C. S. Lewis describes, results in a drained soul.

Strong emotional bonds are known to be a basic component of human nature, and attachment is an enduring psychological connection between human beings that refers to intimate and emotional bonds with others.

Beyond this attachment, we humans have come to falsely attach ourselves to objects, money, houses and cars, despairing when we don’t achieve what we set out to do, trying to force it to happen. It’s just that the negativity that fuels this depression cancels hours of positive affirmations as Doreen Virtue points out, and our fear takes the negative form of a prayer that will attract the fulfilment of our «prophecies».

The roots of false attachment often lie in our childhood experiences. Those who have faced scarcity may cling to objects, driven by a deep-seated fear of lacking what they need. Our tendency to overstock food is often rooted in an irrational fear of hunger and poverty, often unnoticed. Thus, this false attachment shapes our notion of happiness.

In the book «Happiness Recipe» I recognized that I had been «attached» to the idea of self-improvement for a long time, living according to the idea that «if, then I will get…». I lived using the mantra «if… then…» because I conditioned myself to believe that achieving specific goals would lead to lasting happiness. Each achievement brought a fleeting sense of joy, only to fade and necessitate another pursuit of happiness. This is because selfishness is never satisfied; it is perpetually hungry and searching for false happiness, as it is.

We find ourselves in a constant rush to acquire things that we think will bring us joy, leading to homes filled with objects we rarely use, if at all. Closets overflow with clothes, many long forgotten. We seek out «friends» on social networks, equating quantity with value. We run and develop obsessions for a false value.

This obsession with collecting underscores a desperate search for worth in things that ultimately hold little significance. In all these pursuits—whether they involve clothes, items, or «false friends»—our quest for value reflects a deeper longing we struggle to identify. However, it is «just a click away» from our being. It is where we were not taught to look and where we were not told to look. It is in us, in our souls, where the light is. Looking in the outer world, says Thoth the Atlantean, «man only lives in darkness, the light of the great fire being hidden within himself«.

(Fragments from The Garden of Love – Our Inner Wealth)

References:

• Clive Staples Lewis – Advice from an old devil to a younger one
• Doreen Virtue – How to Hear Your Angels
• Manuela Timofte – Happiness Recipe
• *** – The Emerald Tablets of Thoth the Atlantean

Love, Manuela

Copyright © 2016-2025 manuela@inalove.world

The article was posted on https://medium.com & https://gobblersmasticadores.wordpress.com/

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