This is the whole practice. This is everything you are working at. Every one of the techniques that we are giving you will help you let go of attachment to the 8 worldly dhammas. It is that simple. Basically when you think about them, when you think of attaching, I want fame, I want praise, I want pleasure, I want gain (those are the four nice ones) you get Dukkha. And when we think, I don't want obscurity, I don't want blame, I don't want pain and I don't want loss, you get Dukkha. This is a big struggle, I want, I don't want, I want, I don't want. What are the Four Noble Truths? The first Noble Truth says Dukkha exists, the second Noble Truth says it comes from me, wanting, not wanting, my ignorance, my craving. So there you go, you're going to get Dukkha as long as you are wanting or not wanting these worldly dhammas.
Now, the 8 worldly dhammas are going to come to you whether you want them or not. It is just part of the game of life, it is part of living as a human being, the 8 worldly dhammas are going to come to you. They came to the Buddha, they come to everyone. The attachment to them is the area where we can do our work. It is not that we are going to stop blame and fame and everything else coming to us. But rather, we are going to stop wanting, wanting, wanting the nice four and hating, hating, hating the un-nice four. And sometimes wanting the un-nice four, also.
So we are going to work on this attachment with all of the different techniques, especially compassion, as this is the whole basis of the practice. What happens if a person gets really attached to fame, praise, gain, pleasure or the other four? Yes, they get big problems, making them full of greed, aversion and other unskillful qualities. Is that being compassionate? No, it is not. So we can see that compassion is a technique that can immediately balance the wanting, wanting or hating, hating. By working with compassion throughout your whole practice, you are going to help yourself let go of your attachment to the 8 worldly dhammas.