Some who claim to understand the teachings of Zen tell their followers that detachment from the world around us with its pleasures and struggles is another kind of escapism which, in itself, is just a form of desire. They want us to understand that Zen teaches: Just keep doing what you are doing. No need to change yourself or dig deeper into your being to see your true nature which is unconditioned and transcendent.
But this is not what Zen says or for that matter, Buddhism. First, the notion of attachment means the condition of being attached to someone or something which in Buddhist terms is attachment to suffering, impermanence, and what is not our self or anātman (in this sense, what is not our Buddha-nature). In the widest sense, attachment denotes attachment to the conditioned.
On the other hand, when it is understood what the unconditioned is, which has many different names such as pure Mind, unconditioned Mind, nirvana, Suchness and so on, then the degree of our attachment to the conditioned changes and becomes less because now we see the conditioned as a composition of the unconditioned which is unchanging; not subject to birth and death.
Our attachment becomes less as we understand more and more that things and events in our life are transitory as is this body we inhabit which daily grows older. It is somewhat like a young child who is attached to a blanket or a special stuffed animal who eventually outgrows their attachment. In a way, detachment is outgrowing attachment. Buddhism just helps us along by reminding us that we are attached to the conditioned which is suffering and transitory and not really who we are. So why become so attached to this?
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