Chaplain’s Corner-

I met a Buddhist monk several years ago on a flight from Denver to Nashville. I was on my way back home and he was going to Nashville to become the religious leader at a Thervadan Buddhist community in East Nashville. Seizing my opportunity I asked him to explain Buddhism to me. He explained that Buddhism is centered on detachment. To illustrate he held up the coke bottle he was drinking from. “This is a very beautiful coke bottle,” he stated. “The liquid inside is very delicious. In fact, it is the most wonderful beverage in the whole world. I love it more than anything. Oh, I dropped the bottle. It broke. Now I am inconsolable.”  This simple story sums up the Buddhist principle of detachment, especially as it applies to material things. One Buddhist scholar elaborates that “non-attachment or non-grasping would therefore flow from the awareness that no possession, no relationship, no achievement is permanent or able to give lasting satisfaction” (Harris, 2005). As time went by I am by no means certain how detached this Buddhist monk was from coke because he would often call me up to offer meditation study and then ask if I would bring along a case of cokes with me.

Nevertheless, world religions often agree at least as far as core principles. Jesus Christ often taught about detachment from material things:

Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!" The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, "Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God!  It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God." The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, "Who then can be saved?" Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God." (Matthew 19:24-25)

It is important to note that Jesus considered that it is the love of money that is the obstacle to faith, not the money itself.  Materialism in our world has eclipsed spirituality especially in our media. Youth, beauty, health and riches are depicted as the means to ultimate happiness. By their nature though all these things are transitory and may pass away in a flash. Jesus says:

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.  (Matthew 6: 19-21)