Attachment is harassment.

It feels easier to let go of things when you put it that way, doesn’t it?

This phrase comes from a little book of martial arts tales in the tradition of the tengu, a mythical, winged bird-man. The tengu has a long and winding history, but the ones credited in this collection of teachings are most closely identified with yamabushi priests. Like the priests, the tengu occupy the space between heaven and earth, sacred and profane. Tengu are like wise teachers, offering ancient wisdom, often with brevity and bluntness. Legend says the tengu trained the ninja, too- one of the reasons they were believed to have spiritual superpowers.

In this particular story, a swordsman asks the tengu why some of the swordsmen of old, when they encountered Zen monks, they became enlightened. The tengu responded,

It is not that the Zen monks were passing on the deepest meaning of swordsmanship. It is simply that when your mind is at peace, you can respond to things easily. You actually harass life when you are attached to it.

The tengu goes on to explain that these swordsmen had devoted their entire lives to the martial arts. They had disciplined their ch’i. They had great power and much practice. With this dedication, the mind becomes clear. Enlightenment becomes possible. So it’s not surprising at all that these elder swordsmen reached enlightenment. Of course they did.

For us, the idea of attachment as harassment is a powerful reminder for meditation. Those thoughts we refuse to let go, those hang ups and regrets we cling to, that future we’re white-knuckling into existence… We harass our lives when we do these things.

What if we chose not to harass our lives, but instead just…lived them? Allowed them to unfold? Stayed present to them?