

There is a search for happiness in everything we do. All experiences in life are designed towards experiencing happiness or avoiding sorrow. Happiness has become a transitory experience for many and an elusive concept for some people. Experience of happiness involves the practice of detachment. Great spiritual masters have emphasized the role of detachment and the devastating effects of attachment.
Decoding detachment
Detachment is the most misunderstood concept in life. People consider Attachment as a positive quality and detachment as a negative quality in dealing with life’s experiences. Detachment in the present-day world is considered as indifference, a lack of emotion, and an absence of empathy. So there is an aversion to practicing detachment. In fact, there is a fear associated with it when a person speaks about detachment. For the ignorant person, Detachment has created the thought of losing the person. Attachment in the modern-day world is considered as being involved and dedicated to your work, and to your relationships.
If you want to experience uninterrupted happiness, you need to understand Detachment properly. Let’s remove the misconceptions associated with it. Let’s also gain clarity with regard to Attachment and how we can raise ourselves.
What is detachment?
Detachment doesn’t mean that you don’t own anything you don’t have a position or refuse to have a relationship. Detachment means you may have possessions, you can have relationships and positions relating to work and society, yet none of these aspects own you. You have not made yourself completely dependent on any of these sources for your happiness. You remain self-sufficient and objective in all aspects of life.
Misunderstandings of detachment?
You are not supposed to detach from anyone or anything in life. The fact is nobody can get detached from a person, position, or possession. If we do it forcefully, we get suppressed and agitated. That’s probably the reason detachment is detested by many people.
How to develop detachment?
You are suggested to get inspired and become motivated with something beyond your self-centered interest. You must align yourself with a nobler goal, an unselfish ideal. This thought discipline helps you to focus on the present action and improve your productivity. This is the way to enhance process excellence. This discipline will help you to detach yourself from the anxiety of the result of action. It also helps to reduce the fear of the future. Detachment requires alignment with higher values of life and the confluence of a pure mind and a sharp intellect. The spiritual path helps you to develop a strong intellect and make your mind tranquil. Detachment means you may have possessions but you don’t have possessiveness towards your possessions.
Understanding attachment?
Attachment is a continuous, uninterrupted, and unintelligent flow of thoughts from your mind toward a person, position, or possession. This flow of thoughts results in the Attachment.
Facts about attachment:
• Attachment is sustained by continuous usage of the mind.
• Mind has the natural tendency to develop attachment.
• Mind can get attached to anything it indiscriminately associates with.
• Attachment leads to mental suffering
• it’s easy to get attached but extremely difficult to come out of it.
• Attachment makes you dependent on the source for your pleasure & happiness. Attachment is strengthened by possessiveness.
• If you have developed an attachment, it’s almost impossible to explain to the person that they are attached.
• Attachment in reality you may own nothing but in your own mind, you feel you own something.
• Wrong approach of detachment leads to indifference & attachment leads to result orientation.
Transcend Attachment
• Attachment & Detachment can work well provided we understand and use them properly.
• How it works well – First we fix a goal, an ambition. Then you get detached from the result, and goal and get intensely focused, dedicated, and attached to the process.
• Detachment creates process excellence.
• Process excellence means you get detached from the lower so that you can get attached to the higher. Eg. Climbing the staircase. You release one foot from the lower and place the other foot in the higher.
• Attachment makes you dependent on the source for your pleasure & happiness. Detachment creates freedom and power through self-sufficiency.
• The power of letting go arises out of detachment. You will hold on, cling to, and refuse to let go due to attachment.
•Detachment helps you to be happy in spite of everything that happens in your life. Through Attachment, you can experience happiness only when experiences go your way.
• Detachment helps you to fulfill the obligatory duties of your various roles gracefully. Attachment makes you neglect your duties.
In a Nutshell :
• Detachment leads to transformation. Attachment leads to trans fixation.
• Detachment is the effect of strong intellect and wisdom. Attachment is due to the mind’s indulgence in its own desires.
• Attachment is sustained through consistent use of the mind and its emotions.
* Detachment is possible through sat sang (the company of the good), scriptural study and contemplation, consistent effort, and meditation.
Text by S A Sreedharan
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