—Exploring the Nature of Attachment—
To take refuge is to return home. Children come into this world needing to take refuge. All children. To be born onto this plane of existence is to experience the vulnerability of being a stranger in a strange land. Hence, during the first years of a child’s life, the primary context in which he or she can take refuge will be that of the child’s primary caregivers…. [B]ecause our first experience of need and of sangha is in our contact with our first caregivers, the quality of this connection will affect our every future perception of relationship, as well as our perception of the world as good or bad, safe or threatening. If enlightenment is indeed a capacity to experience the inherent intimacy of all things, then it becomes useful to discover how our earliest relationships either enhance or block this intimacy.
—Download full article below—
—Read Jessica Stern’s introduction to the special section here—
The in-depth, long-read articles that we curate require a significant amount of volunteer labor on the part of our editorial staff. We hope that the gift of the author and the editors is of value to you, and we invite you to offer a gift in return to support our continued curation of articles.
For long reads, we suggest a donation of $5.00. If you are inspired and able to offer more, we encourage you to do so. If you cannot offer anything at this time, then please enjoy this article as a gift.
Download Article PDF: Taking Refuge in the Family of Things
Illustration by Alicia Brown
3 Comments