I've worked with shenpa (ie, attachment or being hooked) in learning to be present, both with myself and in interacting with others. To be present, to attend to and be responsive to what is happening, is alive and exciting. It's very easy to be 'hooked." There are so many intrusions and distractions and side roads to be hooked by and taken for a ride away from the present. I get hooked often, particularly by my thinking or by some story that leads me away from staying with what is happening in me and/or with the other. l get hooked by my expectations and predictions and goal-directed efforts. Sometimes, after a few seconds or minutes of being hooked, I have caught myself and freed myself by getting back to the present. I have enjoyed many memorable instances of staying free and not hooked, usually for brief durations in between the times of being hooked. I overcome challenges to freedom by becoming more adept at seeing the hooks and more quick to let go of or side step them and get back to being present and free. The exhilaration that comes from the freedom and surprises of being unhooked compels me to develop the practice and stay the course.
On Dec 5, 2015 david doane wrote :
I've worked with shenpa (ie, attachment or being hooked) in learning to be present, both with myself and in interacting with others. To be present, to attend to and be responsive to what is happening, is alive and exciting. It's very easy to be 'hooked." There are so many intrusions and distractions and side roads to be hooked by and taken for a ride away from the present. I get hooked often, particularly by my thinking or by some story that leads me away from staying with what is happening in me and/or with the other. l get hooked by my expectations and predictions and goal-directed efforts. Sometimes, after a few seconds or minutes of being hooked, I have caught myself and freed myself by getting back to the present. I have enjoyed many memorable instances of staying free and not hooked, usually for brief durations in between the times of being hooked. I overcome challenges to freedom by becoming more adept at seeing the hooks and more quick to let go of or side step them and get back to being present and free. The exhilaration that comes from the freedom and surprises of being unhooked compels me to develop the practice and stay the course.