Withdraw from without, attach within vairagya is a key to progress on any path, more so on the path to the pursuit of the truth. This is from the root word vi-raga or vigata raga, one who is free from attachment. Raga or attachment is when the mind goes behind some object or person in search of pleasure and joy which is always short-lived. Vairagya is to withdraw the mind from the objects it runs towards, with the discreet knowledge that it is not going to give permanent joy as it promises to give. Not only that, all things that give joy and so-called happiness have sorrow as the other side of the coin.
Sage Ashtavakra says the seeker should be free of attachment to desires as if they were one’s enemy. In this context, dharma or performance of good deeds, to get wealth and achieve one’s desires as a result is the cause for desire in the first place. Knowing this, the seeker should be indifferent towards performance of actions seeking desired results.
This is also the essential message of the Bhagavad Gita where Sri Krishna tells Arjuna to do his duty without placing his attention on a desired result. This is not to be misunderstood for a weakling mentality of choiceless work. It is rather a smart way to live. If a student is preparing for an examination, application of vairagya or non-attachment would be to not let the mind wander into computer games, television, talking on the mobile phone with friends for long hours, watching films or participating in meaningless entertainment.
Besides this, even worrying about how the question papers are going to be, how much he or she will remember, how the papers will be corrected and what will the results be like, even while preparing for the examination, is a classic case of pinning the mind on a desired result or worrying about what would happen if it is otherwise. With all the energy lost in wasteful worry and imagination, the crucial time when the energy is needed for studying well in the present moment is lost and the results are bound to be shaky too as was the preparation and action.
Another step in the practice of vairagya is to look upon everybody like a magical vision in a dream—friend, land, wealth, spouse and all types of wealth, lasting for just three to five days. This again is not any negative statement of withdrawal but hitting the mind to force it to see reality right now and here. Why are all these called dreams? Take the example of any object that you see —a mountain. That big mountain is nothing but an impression in your mind caused through the medium of your eyes. That impression will stay as long as you are in its presence and vicinity, and when the next impression comes, this goes away just like a film on a movie screen. Vairagya or detachment helps you withdraw your attention from the objects and people outside, to the presence of that real self within—which is the only permanent thing that we can hold on to.
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