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I am possesed by my possesions; how can I let go of material trappings?
I have relatively few possesions; but relative to whom? The Nazi's where responsible to less deaths than the Russians during world war II does that make the Nazi's okay? I don't think so. I may be able to pack everything I own into a small car but really for me that is way too much stuff. I suppose it's not the stuff that bothers me it's the percieved "need". I can't bring myself to throw away things like my certificates of achievement (certificates from college stating I completed some course or another). What do they matter? They won't keep me warm at night, they wont feed me, I can't use them to defend my life from the savages of the world. Do I really need to feed myself? What is the point of protecting myself? How can I find enlightenment when I am looking for it externally? Where is my inner piece?
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Maybe give some free advice about: Random Weirdos?
How is your desire to keep certificates that acknowledge and celebrate your intellectual achievements interfering with your ability to find peace?
Why do you feel that your attachment to symbols of your achievements - the things which make up the story of your life and the person that you now are - are interfering with your happiness?
These things are only 'possessing' you if you let them. Keeping them, and acknowledged they have some value beyond being pressed and printed paper pulp, is not being possessed by them, and it's not ‘needing’ them either.
Some objects have importance because they come to represent the non-tangible achievements and narratives of our lives in important ways.
I don't see any reason to make yourself miserable over these pieces of paper. So long as you find them important, keep them. When you no longer want them, destroy them.
Your life will always include some degree of ‘material trappings’. Trying to find peace by rejecting all objects is futile. We exist in a material world and there is no true escape from that but death. So unless you intend on lying down and awaiting death, you'll need to find peace by allowing objects to be objects. It is entirely possible to appreciate an object’s personal value, and even utility, without becoming possessed or dependent on it.
Your problem is not your attachment to these objects. Your problem is that you are beating yourself up over a perfectly valid desire possess an object that symbolizes your achievements and a part of your life story.
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I'll take a different direction then Rainhouse68 did.
Do possession bring inner piece? To me that is both a yes and no answer. The certificates of accomplishments can lead to inner piece as they are a reminder of what you have accomplished. They also have some meaning in the today's world to future employers as they are a way for them to judge you.
Do things bring inner piece, do they feed you? Again the answer is both yes and no. They can if you have them and use them as support for what you purport you are.
I'm not the philosopher or the quoter of philosophy that others may be. Life is what you make of it. Material possession are a reminder of what we have accomplished in life. What we accomplish in life can lead to inner peace if we accomplish in life the goals we have set for ourselves.
Do we need possessions to have inner peace; no. Though we are judged by other by what we possess. If inner peace is gotten by how we are judged by others then possessions are a requirement. Inner peace then can be looked at as a circular problem of achievement depending on how we wish to attain it and how we wish to be looked upon and judged by others.
I'm not sure this is the answer you are looking for. Though I hope I have helped you.
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Here's an interesting one, it goes right back to the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus and his doctrine that physical and mental pleasure is the high goal of our life, the only thing worth pursuing. Now man 'makes things' and is unique in the animal kingdom for this fact. And he's 'proud' of it. So there is always a tendency for us to associate success, happiness and our 'standing in society' with the accumulation of, well....stuff! It gets worse, a phenomon of more recent human society is marketing. It's no longer about what we need (which as you're hinting at, is surprisingly little) but about what they can sell us. On the pretext that 'if you want to be happy....you NEED this. If you want to be a success you NEED that.' And so on. I'm sure you know how marketing/advertising works so I won't go on. Why is it effective? In all cases it's the same. They are taking something we DO want (the hedonistic pleasure and satisfaction old Epicurus was on about) and they are INSINUATING THEIR PRODUCT INTO IT!!! Want a random example? How is a 4x4 (the big outdoor utility type vehicles like Landrovers) marketed? Rugged outdoor type guy drives his rugged truck through vast wilderness. He's wild and free isn't he? We all want to be free, we'd all like to forget working and roam the spectacular mountains and forests wouldn't we? Now they can't sell you freedom, it's not a commodity. But they CAN sell you a Landrover! So they insinuate the Landrover into our desire for fredom. And you buy it. And of course, you find you're no more free our fulfilled than you were before you got it, in truth. So you start looking at what else you might buy that WILL satisfy that urge for the things you CAN'T. Part of the principle is that it not only fails, it HAS TO fail. Or we become 'satisfied'. And stop amassing stuff...and stop buying! Was Epicurus right? Is personal pleasure/gratification 'all we're here for?' Even if he WAS right you should be seeing by now that surrounding ourselves with 'stuff' IS NOT a sure (or even likely) way to achieve it. (He did not of course suggest that the high goal of a mans life is to acquire as much stuff as he can, that's just how it's been exploited by lesser 'thinkers' to suit consumerism and commerce.) Or are there other factors? The enlightenment you talk about? Is he partly right, but it's not the whole story? Afraid we're getting into deep philosophical water indeed here. Way beyond the scope of a 'question and answer' type advice web site. You and I could sit down and discuss and explore this for a very long time! The certificates? They're awards for some personal feat of physical or intellectual achievement. You were not sold them. You did not buy them. You earned them. So in this case, whatever else you discard in your paring away of the material you should KEEP these I reckon. And they don't take up much space....The basic needs (feed and protect) you mention stem from Maslowe's Hierachy of Human Needs. Quite simply, if you were parachuted into the jungle with no means of rescue you wouldn't be thinking 'Shall I get that new iPhone..?' Your first priority would be 'How can I protect and feed myself in order to stay alive?' Once you'd sorted that you could move onto other needs and desires. Which is why it's a 'hierarchy' not a list you can choose from in random order. If you see what I'm getting at? YOU are not particulalry worried about feeding and protecting yourself simply because they are 'already sorted' and you've left these steps in Maslowe's hierachy behind you and are moving up it. The final stage incidentally is 'personal development and fulfilment' which we pursue only when the more basic needs are already satisfied. So...'congratulations', in a way. You are looking for your 'last step'. But it's not a formality, not an 'easy last step' by any means. It's the hardest of all. Now, we absolutely MUST credit Epicurus for identifying the largely unarguable truth that when given a free choice man wil tend to 'choose the course of action which he believes will bring him the greatest pleasure & satisfaction'. (Bit of a 'no brainer' in modern lingo?? But how often do we say that without questionining why? Making a no-brainer of the no-brainer??). But whether his belief is valid and he reaches the desired end is far more complex. Man can, and does sometimes choos the altruistic path, putting the good of mankind before his personal perceived needs. How are we to reconcile this with the 'truth' of Epicurus? There are VERY MANY other factors in play here too. I would have to call up many more of the 'big guns' of Western philosophy to explore further, and as mentioned, we're going beyond the scope of what we can achieve here, and well outside the specific 'posessions' brief you introduced. Still, I hope I've shed a little light? Maybe identified one path which is NOT likely to get you where you want to be with yourself?Best wishes in your search for inner peace and fulfilment, by whatever path.
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