One of the most important laws to come to terms with when practicing yoga concerns detachment. There are two causes for attachment, fear and insecurity. These are the two ways that the ego-mind convinces you that you need something outside yourself to be happy and safe. The truth is that we need nothing outside of ourselves, because all the things we think are bringing us security right now are ephemeral. Your job, your car, your current body weight, your relationship -- they can change any time.Recall the last time you were practicing a difficult asana and pushing really hard to try to achieve the ideal pose. What happened? You probably fell over if you were practicing a balancing pose, or perhaps even pulled a muscle if you were practicing a stretching pose. That is the beautiful thing about yoga. It gives us immediate feedback. Yoga is not a competitive sport, and it won't allow us to make it one - even when we are competing with ourselves. We achieve the most profound progress in yoga when we simply allow a posture to happen, pushing ourselves just close to the edge, but dropping all expectations completely. The first time I achieved headstand without help, I was just having fun. That is an important message I can carry through my daily activities and even to my "important" responsibilities.
Patanjali talks about becoming free from things by applying oneself. He says that wholeness comes from abhyasa and results in vairagya meaning “supreme detachment.” The scholars of Patanjali’s work point out that it is our reactions to the things which happen to us which cause us harm or happiness and not the things themselves. A diamond ring will not bring pleasure to a starving man – what can he do with it? Eat it? Similarly, a bucket of water will not bring happiness to woman in a flood. Take those two items and give them to other people, and their value is completely changed. This is what Patanjali wants us to realize about our needs and desires.
n the Bhagavad Gita, detachment is also discussed. Krishna teaches Arjuna that we cannot define success on external things because they are transitory and limited. Our job may bring us great happiness because it allows us to afford a certain lifestyle, but attaching our happiness to this thing causes us to forget that the skills and talent we have which got us the job come from within. We start to externalize our success. This same thing can also be lost and can cause us great remorse, but only until we remember that our true Self is unlimited. We can find another job, perhaps even a better one. Swami Sivananda says, “It is the detachment from action that will dissolve the karmic seeds. Detachment from results also means detachment from the type of job itself. There is no job that is inferior or superior to a different job. Don’t be attached to your job. Be ready to give up your job if necessary.
Detachment is a difficult skill to practice and hone, but is worth it. The need to “own” something, to make that which is passing, eternally ours is the cause of great suffering. The great yogis knew that attachment derives from desire. Shankaracharya said, "Who is your wife, who is your son? This world is very peculiar. Brothers, think of the One who is eternally yours." He is pointing out that the woman who is our wife now may have at one time been our enemy, and the boy who is now your son may have at one time been your father. The karmic seeds that Swami Sivananda refers to are sometimes the cause of our desires in this life, as well as the cause of our repulsions. It is believed that very strong ties in past lives can also be carried into this life. Perhaps you owe a debt to someone. Perhaps you had a hard time leaving a friend who was not really looking out for your best interests. These karmic seeds result. Detachment is a way to deal with them. We want our wife to remain our wife, but we cannot possess people. We also cannot possess things. All attempts to do so are really lies to the eternal Self and that is what causes distress. At a very deep level, your True Self knows that the things we cling to in this life are not “real.”
Practicing yoga can begin to help to melt karmic seeds and diminish attachment. Inverted poses are especially good for diminishing ego. Ego is the seat of our grasping at things, so any practice we do which helps to minimize it is beneficial. We can also meditate. Doing so helps us to release our emotional attachments to things. We become less affected by others and their actions because we are less concerned with the outcome. Additionally, we can practice asana with patience. By allowing our body to take the shape of an ideal pose naturally, we are surprisingly able to stretch further than when we try to force into it. Also, depriving ourselves of the senses by taking our focus inside can help to diminish our attachment to things.
You may not be wondering does this mean that you cannot strive toward a goal nor have a preference for say, a favorite chair? The answer is no, learning detachment is about starting to become detached even as the colors and shapes of the world’s circus pass before you. You can begin to become detached internally. The sense-objects are like an infinite candy store for the mind. They keep us forever attached to this reality and never able to truly focus on that which is behind the scenes of the circus – the true backdrop of the Eternal. Detachment begins when we close our minds to those distractions and begin to focus within. It is only through this practice that we can start to become unhooked from the chaos the world will present us. If we are always touching the inner core of peace, it will not matter what objects we have or do not, or what circumstances occur around us. Detachment in its highest form is not so much about being able to give away your favorite pet, but knowing that you are happy with it and without it. Your true peace is not affected by the presence or absence of those things which you prefer. You become a witness to your life. You are still participating fully in it, but you see the circus for what it is. The big top will roll away, the trapeze artists will retire to their cabins and the candy man will sell his caramel apples in another town. By learning detachment you will watch in wonder as a vast field of green takes over the place where noisy chaos had just been.
(c) 2009, 2010 Christina Sarich
Detachment is a difficult skill to practice and hone, but is worth it. The need to “own” something, to make that which is passing, eternally ours is the cause of great suffering. The great yogis knew that attachment derives from desire. Shankaracharya said, "Who is your wife, who is your son? This world is very peculiar. Brothers, think of the One who is eternally yours." He is pointing out that the woman who is our wife now may have at one time been our enemy, and the boy who is now your son may have at one time been your father. The karmic seeds that Swami Sivananda refers to are sometimes the cause of our desires in this life, as well as the cause of our repulsions. It is believed that very strong ties in past lives can also be carried into this life. Perhaps you owe a debt to someone. Perhaps you had a hard time leaving a friend who was not really looking out for your best interests. These karmic seeds result. Detachment is a way to deal with them. We want our wife to remain our wife, but we cannot possess people. We also cannot possess things. All attempts to do so are really lies to the eternal Self and that is what causes distress. At a very deep level, your True Self knows that the things we cling to in this life are not “real.”
Practicing yoga can begin to help to melt karmic seeds and diminish attachment. Inverted poses are especially good for diminishing ego. Ego is the seat of our grasping at things, so any practice we do which helps to minimize it is beneficial. We can also meditate. Doing so helps us to release our emotional attachments to things. We become less affected by others and their actions because we are less concerned with the outcome. Additionally, we can practice asana with patience. By allowing our body to take the shape of an ideal pose naturally, we are surprisingly able to stretch further than when we try to force into it. Also, depriving ourselves of the senses by taking our focus inside can help to diminish our attachment to things.
You may not be wondering does this mean that you cannot strive toward a goal nor have a preference for say, a favorite chair? The answer is no, learning detachment is about starting to become detached even as the colors and shapes of the world’s circus pass before you. You can begin to become detached internally. The sense-objects are like an infinite candy store for the mind. They keep us forever attached to this reality and never able to truly focus on that which is behind the scenes of the circus – the true backdrop of the Eternal. Detachment begins when we close our minds to those distractions and begin to focus within. It is only through this practice that we can start to become unhooked from the chaos the world will present us. If we are always touching the inner core of peace, it will not matter what objects we have or do not, or what circumstances occur around us. Detachment in its highest form is not so much about being able to give away your favorite pet, but knowing that you are happy with it and without it. Your true peace is not affected by the presence or absence of those things which you prefer. You become a witness to your life. You are still participating fully in it, but you see the circus for what it is. The big top will roll away, the trapeze artists will retire to their cabins and the candy man will sell his caramel apples in another town. By learning detachment you will watch in wonder as a vast field of green takes over the place where noisy chaos had just been.
(c) 2009, 2010 Christina Sarich
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