I asked GPT-4o about the principle of ‘attachments’ that mystics warn about.
GPT-4o replied as follows:
The principle of ‘attachments’ that mystics warn about refers to the idea that being too emotionally or materially attached to people, objects, or outcomes can be a source of suffering and distraction from spiritual growth. This concept appears in various spiritual and philosophical traditions, such as Buddhism, Hinduism, and certain strands of Christian and Islamic mysticism.
Here are some key aspects of this principle:
- Impermanence: Many mystical traditions emphasize the transient nature of the physical world. By being overly attached to temporary things, one may experience suffering when these things inevitably change or disappear.
- Inner Peace: Letting go of attachments can lead to a greater sense of inner peace and freedom, as one learns to derive fulfillment from within rather than relying on external factors.
- Focus on the Present: Excessive attachments can keep individuals focused on the past or future, detracting from their ability to live fully in the present moment.
- Spiritual Progress: In mysticism, the goal is often to transcend the ego and realize one’s unity with the divine or the true self. Attachments can be seen as barriers to this realization because they strengthen the ego and create a false sense of identity.
- Compassion and Love: Rather than making someone indifferent or detached in a negative sense, letting go of attachments can lead to deeper, more unconditional forms of love and compassion, as one learns to care for others without selfish motives.
Overall, the principle encourages individuals to cultivate detachment—not as a lack of care or involvement, but as a means to achieve greater spiritual insight and emotional resilience.
MY COMMENT:
Much is known about people who are spiritually aware, experiencing this pull of Reality through solitude to Itself.
It’s been called “the dark night of the soul.”
The literature on this is plentiful but awful.
It seems when you’re still severely attached to humanity and its values the mystic process can be lingeringly painful.
(Even the Christian bible says their god is a jealous god, if that’s any indication of what’s going on!).
Sadly, it seems there are no recorded balms until Reality’s process is complete. Reality does not negotiate!
However, I can assert from experience, the process of spiritual detachment does work. We are eventually delivered to peace, contentment, even profound gratitude and humility on heights not generally known to man.
I was told there are no failures.
Mysticexperiences.net
Mystical Experiences of Reality 
All of this rings very true. I just wrote a piece on gurus inspired by a recent conversation with somebody hooked on Gurdradieff. All such nonsense. All these thought systems have an element of helpfulness (such as detachment – very helpful) and a whole lot of bullshit.
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“Reality” will continue in its merry way long after our species has gone. That seems highly likely. In that sense “all is well”. Where that leaves what some would call the soul is another matter. I have no intuition as to whether there is some sort of continuance of individual consciousness after physical death, or not. Our consciousness is, presumably, given rise to by a collection of atoms. These survive even though their particular arrangement which gave rise to “us” does not. Back I suppose to the argument that physical reality channels “something” non physical. I’m not bothered about any of this but I think your belief is that “we” survive in some way, despite physical death. I’m not so sure.
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Most humans seem to be stuck in a very shallow grasp even of their worldly existence let alone the realities of existence.
Best wishes,
Keith.
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