The encouragement to practice nonattachment can apply to material
things. This is one of the reasons monastics own very few things and
must depend on the generosity of laypeople each day for their meals.
Consequently, giving is encouraged by the Buddha, who said to his followers:
“If people knew as I know the results of sharing, they would offer
up everything they had” (Itivuttaka). But this attitude is also meant
to extend toward immaterial things. Reality, as taught by the Buddha,
is fundamentally empty and impermanent. Things are constantly in
flux, and our lack of control over our reality is the source of much of
our anxiety and suffering.