In my last article on detachment, I attempted to explore what detachment is and how it can lead to long-lasting peace and harmony within us.
The excerpt above elucidates what emotions a person of steady wisdom and inner peace have. He/she becomes a channel for peace, compassion, and love, which are based on self-knowledge. Such an individual finds equanimity in all circumstances, beyond the qualities of pain and pleasure, good and bad, dark and light.
On realising the Self in all beings, they understand the importance of selfless duty, forgiveness, and Ahimsa.
atmaupamyena sarvatra
samam pasyati yo ‘rjuna
sukham va yadi va duhkham
sa yogi paramo matah [Chap 6 v:32 ]TRANSLATION: He is a perfect yogi who, by comparison to his own self, sees the true equality of all beings, both in their happiness and distress, O Arjuna!
This verse talks of empathy towards all.
The person of wisdom becomes sensitive towards the subtitles of nature and the environment around them and acquires a great amount of empathy and intuitive knowledge.
Conversely, if a person is naturally intuitive, sensitive, and empathetic, he/she must practice detachment, meditation, and one-pointed concentration. Only then can they find balance in the chaos around them.
Unbeknownst to many, detachment brings more powerful and deep experiences than anything the worldly possessions could give someone. It also provides objective clarity, heightened intelligence, inner peace, and a great appetite for love, compassion, and empathy in our hearts.
Spiritual leaders from early times, rishis, munis, shamans, healers to Jesus Christ, Buddha, and Lord Krishna all have delivered this message to humanity. Yet, this is one of the most underrated and misunderstood concepts of all time!
Why are compassion and love important?
Detachment is not to be seen as a willing sacrifice of a life you wanted to live or escapism into the spiritual realm.
Rather, it is about letting go of everything you’re not, so you could come home to yourself! Like peeling away an onion, one is trying to go back to their core of existence, to the Source, Ishwara, or Paramatma: from where we all come and which is in each of us.
“Aham Brahmasmi” — I am Brahman
tattvamasi — “That thou art”
And when one delves deeper into their consciousness and reaches closer to the soul, they see that compassion, kindness, truth, and intuition are the core expression of human beings.
Through worldly attachments, we’re trying to replicate the joy, love, and compassion within us. But when these attachments fall apart, our natural ability for empathy and sensitivity take over, and positivity radiates from us without any effort.
On a less glorious note, this follows that if one’s detachment didn’t bring them to this point, then they haven’t attained it at all.
How?
Through Tyaga and Vairagya, one aims to control the senses, mind, and ego to see the soul within.
Say that one decided to stay away from worldly life: good food, sex, family, money, relationships, and so on (This may be for any reason, not just spirituality). But as long as your mind and ego are not willing to let go of them, a longing will develop. Even if one represses that longing, it will lead to emptiness, sadness, and anger. It can cause major emotional, physical, and financial damage to the person. Like I explained in the last article, such type of non-attachment gives you no peace or clarity.
The pent up sadness and anger can lead to a sense of unworthiness, servitude, and emotional imbalance. The desire and subsequent starvation of the body can lead to a lot of diseases or an enormous amount of anger and frustration. A person, deluded by the base understanding of spirituality can follow tricksters, manipulators, and cult leaders posing as spiritual gurus and destroy their lives!
Therefore, our aim must not be to show the world how much detachment we achieved but to find our inner core, which radiates with love, light, and compassion.
So, to anyone who is trying to detach from the world, or looking for peace and clarity in life, one of the first things they should do is cultivate compassion through meditation and one-pointed concentration. Without compassion and love in our hearts, nothing we acquired will suffice us, nothing we gave up will give us peace of mind.
