LEARNING THE ART OF DETACHMENT

Just as you learn the art of cooking, dancing or painting, in the same way, you learn the art of detachment. Nobody has ever told you to learn the art of detachment. You have always been told to learn the art of attachment, to become attached, to collect, claim, own and possess. You think that if you become detached, you have to leave everything behind, but that is wrong. In order to become detached, you don't have to leave anything. You can still own, possess and enjoy, but with an attitude of detachment.

Why is it necessary to have the idea of ownership, of my wife, my husband, my children, my car, my house, my job, my money, my wealth and status? You can enjoy and have it without that idea, but you have to learn the art. In Sanskrit detachment is called vairagya. It is one of the prerequisites of yoga. In the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali (1:12), it says that to become accomplished in yoga there are only two things you need, one is abhyasa, constant uninterrupted practice for a long period of time, and the second is vairagya. Vairagya does not mean renunciation. We have this misconceived notion that if we become detached, we have to give up the person we love and the things we own. That is a wrong understanding.

Detachment is an important quality in order to improve the quality of your experience. If you have a negative approach to life and a negative experience of life, that is the quality of your mind. If you are unhappy, it is the quality of your mind. If you think everything is hopeless, that is the quality of your mind, and if you think everything is wonderful, that is the quality of your mind. If you cultivate detachment, you begin to enjoy life, because you don't have obsessions about things and you enjoy everything simply for what it is.

Detachment has to be attained while performing, not by renouncing your duties. You have to practise detachment wherever you are. You have to live life to the fullest extent because that is what you are born for, but live it with a different attitude, so that every moment is a joy and a learning experience even in difficulties. Life is definitely a struggle. Difficulties follow you, but with detachment you have the strength to face them and they don't shatter, destroy or unbalance you. They become an experience like any other by which you rise, learn and become stronger.