Yoga Shanti Focus of the Month :: Yogic, Buddhist & Spiritual Focus
'Detachment' by Dhruva Corrigan
sri-bhagavan uvaca:
asamsayam maha-baho
mano durnigraham calam
abhyasena tu kaunteya
vairagyena ca grhyate
The Lord Krishna Said:
The mind is restless and hard to master;
but by constant practice and detachment
it can be mastered in the end.
Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 6, Verse 35
The idea of detachment is something that is often taken to an extreme or viewed from a warped perspective. There has been talk for thousands of years about being detached from our bodies or our emotions or our intellects. It is important to understand what this really means.
At the core of us there is a Prime Intelligence. There is a spark of life. It animates us and inspires us. This Prime Intelligence is in all things. There is intelligence in Material with the organization of atoms and molecules. There is a higher intelligence in Plants with the ability to create and respond. There is a still higher intelligence in Animals, who can move and act and survive. Each step of this hierarchy brings us closer and closer to a pure representation of this Prime Intelligence, with the greatest known culmination being the Human Being. We have the ability to be inspired and imagine.
So often we become attached to, or rather identify with, our body or our mind (emotions) or our intellect. And yet we can know that we are something so much more. We are this Prime Intelligence, and the body, mind, and intellect are simply the ways in which this Prime Intelligence expresses itself. And we can remember that we are connected to everything else, all of nature, because all of nature is permeated by this Prime Intelligence. All of nature is simply an expression of this Prime Intelligence. Human Beings are just particularly special because we can be aware of this Truth, aware of who and what we truly are.
So detachment is, in my opinion, much more accurately expressed as dis-identification. It's about letting go of identifying with our bodies, letting go of identifying with our minds, and letting go of identifying with our intellects. We know the Truth, that we are this natural pattern of intelligence that has always existed. We feel connected to all things in nature and to other human beings because we see ourselves (Prime Intelligence) in all of nature and in other human beings. And we no longer need the false constructs created by the intellect, because we are fully connected in the present moment through the awareness of this Prime Intelligence. We see everywhere the Truth, which is unchanging and constant, which has always existed and will always exist.
So the next time you step onto your mat, the next time you chant the syllable AUM, remember that you are invoking this Prime Intelligence. Do your yoga practices as a means of cleansing your body, mind, and intellect the way you would clean carpentry tools or paintbrushes. Build your house and color your canvas consciously. Let it be a mansion of The Lord that you build, a home in which you may entertain others splendidly. Let it be a painting of the divinity within yourself, a portrayal of the beauty of the Life and Intelligence that permeates all things.
abhyasa vairagyabhyam tannirodhah / tada drastu svarupe 'vastanam
The fluctuations of the mind are restrained through practice and non-attachment... Then the seer abides in his true nature.
Patanjali's Yoga Sutras: Book 1, Sutra 12 / Book 1, Sutra 3