The Five Levels of Attachment: Toltec Wisdom for the Modern World by Don Miguel Ruiz

Author:Don Miguel Ruiz [Ruiz, Don Miguel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781938289125
Publisher: Hierophant Publishing
Published: 2013-02-28T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 10

The Biggest Demon

My father has always pushed me to question my knowledge, challenge my attachments, and discover new ways of understanding. And so, during my training, he would often present me with puzzles. One day he asked, “Miguel, do you know what the biggest demon in the world is?”

I thought for a moment, then shook my head no.

“It's love,” he replied, with a slight smile playing on his lips.

“How can love be the biggest demon in the world?” I responded doubtfully, feeling my emotional reaction coursing through my body, its epicenter somewhere around my belly. I felt the irritation of a child who knows his father is about to burst another one of his favorite bubbles.

“Solve the puzzle, and you will find out,” he said.

I looked at my father, the man who had written the book The Mastery of Love, in disbelief. “Love can't be the biggest demon in the world!” I practically shouted. “We are all love. We all share love. Love is all we are.”

To this, he simply replied, “Miguel, figure it out,” and he walked away.

I thought about this, but it made absolutely no sense to me. We are love. We are born into love. How could he even say that love is a demon—and allegedly the biggest demon of all? And if I am love, how can I be the biggest demon in the world?

The puzzle sat unsolved in my mind for quite some time.

Then came my moment of clarity, the kind that arrives out of the blue and sets you on the path that guides you through the rest of your life. It arrived while I was watching the San Diego Chargers play against the Oakland Raiders, two football teams that share a big rivalry. I am well aware of my level of attachment to the Chargers. When I watch them play, I make a conscious choice to engage in the game, and I quickly go to a Level Three attachment. Sometimes I even go to a Level Four. This is probably why my epiphany came during a football game.

In the first quarter of this particular game, the television suddenly went silent. Something was wrong with the television or the transmission, and the game had no sound at all. I couldn't hear what was going on! Sensing an opportunity, I decided to assign myself an exercise. I challenged myself to watch the game as if I had never watched football before. My goal was to unlearn, or let go of, what I knew about football and simply enjoy the scene in front of me. I wanted to detach from all of my preconceptions.

It took me quite a while to stop describing to myself what was happening on the field and just watch the game unfold. I saw two teams in battle and began to understand their plays and actions from a fresh perspective. I began to see each action as if it were truth unfolding. My mind went silent, and I simply watched. A deeper connection formed between me and what was happening on the field at that moment.

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