DETACHMENT

(Because of the Divine Teaching) My five cognitive senses have ceased
their wandering for the sense objects. Now together, in control,
they are established in the Higher Consciousness. Since my ten
senses have become detached from passions, they have become
obedient. Since then I have become an immaculate Yogi (sggs 208).
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Detachment or Bairaag (also spelt Vairaag or Vairagya) is the quality of shunning worldly attractions. The more one suffers, the more one learns to be detached from them. Only by cultivating this quality can one hope to seek the path to Mukti (liberation) from bondage. But, as time and again indicated in the SGGS (Sri Guru Granth Sahib), the irony of human existence is such that worldly attractions, in spite of their fleeting and unstable nature, far outweigh the sufferings people undergo and consequently many continue to long for sense- gratification and material gains rather than strive towards Mukti from the worldly bondage.

A spiritually ignorant person is not necessarily an illiterate or uneducated. Being immersed in various attachments by clinging to body-consciousness, cravings, passions, pleasure seeking, evil ways, fears, worries, doubts of the future and regrets of the past, and so on, the majority of us are spiritually ignorant. Overtaken by the deluded consciousness, we take the fleeting world and its gross objects to be real. Also, we take ourselves to be the limited body and its egotistical experiences (lust, anger greed, attachment, pride and their numerous variations such as jealousy, stubborn mindedness, enmity, unrighteousness etc.); and we think the ultimate goal of life is to eat, drink, and be merry! Being thus deep-rooted in sin, we do not see the need for taking on spirituality in our lives. In such delight of materialistic mentality (Manmukhtaa), we get carried away by worldly acclaim — we measures our achievement by the amount of money, property, material possessions, power, name, fame, titles, lifestyle, position and social status. A Spiritual Being (the Gurmukh) on the other hand measures his achievement by the amount of detachment he has from money, property, material possessions, power, fame, etc., as well as the degree of absorption he has in the Mool with (Source, Origin, Jot....). We can clearly see how attachment holds one's mind down and creates his Mayaic personality.

The Supreme Reality is Truth, Existence, Knowledge, Pure Consciousness, Infinite, Bliss (Anand). Spiritual Wisdom, also called Divine Knowledge (Aatam-Giaan or Brahm-Giaan), is an experience wherein the triad of subject-object-knowledge, which characterizes man's all objective knowledge, disappears; only the Pure Consciousness remains over. How can we reach that state of non-attachment from our current state of utter ignorance? Where to begin the Spiritual journey?

According to the Gurbani, the first step in attaining Spiritual Wisdom is detachment from the craving of the worldly pleasure or sensuousness. Hence, the criteria that determines one's Spiritual growth is not one's education, caste, class, creed, skin-color, nationality, religion, gender, age, social status, outer appearance, religious robes, titles, etc. One of the measuring rods of our Spiritual growth is our degree of detachment from the worldly objects of the senses.

Therefore, detachment is the key to Spiritual Unfoldment. Our preoccupation, however, is always concerned with undue worldly pursuits and sensory pleasures. Not happy and content with our lot in life, we seek more and more sensory gratification without paying much attention for developing interest in the pursuit of Spiritual Wisdom. Unless one develops dispassion for undue attachment to material pleasures and material comforts, his dependence on them will impel him to more and more reactionary action (causative Karma) and thereby fueling his desires and fears in the process. If we desire Mukti (liberation) from suffering (Dukha), we are urged by the Gurbani to learn to live with minimum comforts required for sustaining one's life in the world.

It's unlikely to suddenly reach the state of complete detachment for the worldly objects from the state of utter attachment. Mind needs to be prepared, which takes time. Accordingly, detachment must start at home; for to reach far one must start from the near. Therefore, to cultivate dispassion and thus cross over the ocean of Sansaar or illusory nature of the entire world-appearance, we must begin by developing non-attachment for those near and dear to us, as well as the life styles we have cultivated for us. With practice, day by day, selfish attachments will weaken and dispassion will become stronger and ultimately conquer the mind. As indicated in the Gurbani, once the mind is conquered, the Sansaar or Jagat stands conquered. The restless mind can be brought under control by constant practice and exercise of dispassion.

Due to subtle thinking arises the non-attachment, leading to subtlety of mind. Subtle mind is the Pure Mind (Aatamaa, Mool...). It's easier for the relatively subtle mind to become conscious of its own perversions, weaknesses, crookedness, falsehood, bad conduct, evil inclinations, wrong ideas, misguided feelings, prejudices, and so on. Knowing such faults, the seeker than makes consciousness effort to eradicate them from within, and engages in spiritual journey without regrets about leaving behind the old ways or doubts about the future.

Attachment clouds our sense of discrimination (Bibek Budhi), reflection on the Gurbani (Shabad-Vichaar). Detachment makes us introspective and discriminative (Viveka Budhi or discerning intellect), leading to virtues, righteous or truthful conduct. The reflective mind enables one to discriminate between the eternal (permanent) and the ephemeral (impermanent). This subtle sense of discrimination helps one to know the difference between Sat and Asat (truth and falsehood). Thus, the highest form of detachment is the one born of pure discrimination. A person of such pure discrimination knows that the Absolute Reality alone is eternal (Sat) and that everything else in this material world being in the framework of time and space is temporary (Asat). This state of detachment results in subtlety of the mind and intuitive or effortless wisdom (Sahaj).

We can conclude from the foregoing discussion that true detachment as the constant companion is the prerequisite to Spiritual or Divine Life (the Gurmukh); hence essential in realizing one's True Nature as Joti-Svaroopa (Mool...). In other words, both Mool-realization and cessation of craving for enjoyment of sense objects should proceed hand in hand, simultaneously. Any dispassion born of a circumstantial cause, frustration in life or an outer disgust will not last, thus useless. Therefore, that alone is valid religion, that alone is good company, that alone is genuine scriptures, and that alone is time well spent that awaken in our Heart the true detachment and also Divine Knowledge.

Simply put: detachment is "Being in the world, but not of it." In other words, it is having a mind open to everything, but attached to nothing. Hence, detachment is an attitude or perspective — letting go of the past and the future, and living in the "here" and "now". Therefore, to be detached does not mean running away from life, family, society or one's duty and responsibility. It also does not mean being less sensitive or loving to one's family. One neither neglects his family, nor society, nor duty or responsibility to them; but rather he loves and serves the Divine in them and expands that love and selfless service to all other beings without any sense of bondage. After cultivating true detachment and Divine Knowledge, even if one lives amidst the worldly activity, he will be unattached from it and thus untainted by it, just as the lotus flower is not tainted by the slimy scum it grows in or the eyes of the fish which remain unaffected by the salty sea-water. Thus, detachment makes us more sensitive, more caring, more warmer and friendly, more wholesome, more human, more closer to people, and greater love and compassion flow for them through actinic understanding and effortless wisdom.

When there is the total detachment from the restless mind (false ego-sense or Haume), there is no time and space. This is said to be the Ultimate Truth. If the mind is fixed on Truth and continues so, the senses will obey it. In this state of dispassion there is the absence of thoughts of inner and outer objects, and one thoroughly revels in one's Mool with (Source, Origin, Jot....). Since this is the highest achievement, the gorbani urges us to yearn for the delight in affectionate detachment from the body and mind and uplift ourselves to higher strata of the good virtues — performance of actions without attachment. In short, full absorption in the essence of the Divine Name — Shabad-Surti or Unconditioned Consciousness — is the ultimate detachment.

— T. Singh
www.gurbani.org

Updated on Tuesday, May 1, 2012 3:46 PM (PST)

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