Detachment

[Amala]

Namaste,

English is a language ill-equipped to talk about spiritual concepts. In my Sanskrit studies, the entire margin can be filled with the definition of a single term. LOL One translation read "Let there be salutations." How stupid does that sound? But how to say it, truly, in English? It seems one would have to be a poet, using many metaphors and drawing analogies and such to truly bring across the meanings.

That being said, as you mention, JaiMāDurga, there is no other single word to hang on it. ...and yet it is far from withdrawing from life, as it is seen the the field of psychology. My experience of detachment is beautiful. It removes blocks from what I feel is a higher, broader and much deeper, fuller experience of life. ...and even those words are inadequate.

Sometimes writing on this in English leaves me feeling like a dog chasing her tail. lol

Namaste,

Yet there is no single English word which is an adequate substitute... in talks or books for English-speakers, there is not infrequently an added clarification along the lines of, "perhaps better to think of it as non-attachment" etc.

As for the true definition of "compassion"? Far wiser than I have addressed this many times, in many ways; all I will say is, "I bow to Her!"

JAI MATA DI

[Purana]

Detachment is one interesting emotion. Knowing religion, I understand the basic fundamental wheels of karma, or reincarnation. I know that I will meet my loved ones again in the other life so often I would simply smile and pray they have a good 'journey'. The only attachment that I am unable to break or even think about losing is my little girl. I love her very much and even if she isn't by my side (except the time when I am working and she is schooling), I would feel fidgety like thousands of worms wriggling in me.

[Mana]

Namaste All,

Here are a few ides for consideration.

Amala, I think you do a great job of expressing your self in English, I think I know what you mean! Sanskrit, I am slowly learning, is a fantastic language; as it obligates the understanding of concepts which are themselves imbued within the words as thy have evolved, I find that English is a shell in comparison. We can speak of love all day long in English, with out ever getting to the crux of what is entailed; Us Anglophones love to suffer in love; feeling it to be a necessary part of loving.
A common precept, for example, that an artist must suffer for their work for it to be of value ...

Detachment is a tricky concept; here is how I have come to see it, we must to our best be as independent as we can, this does not mean to ignore and remove an others presence from our lives; nor does it mean that we should leave all material things behind, but that they should not shape us. They should not become extensions of our selves as we project our love onto them. But we should not depend to heavily on anything, so as to have greater ease should we need to adapt to change, change which is always rather frequent in this beautifully dynamic world.

Motherly love is a difficult thing to measure, I find that women are often more severe in the severance of these bonds, as you must need to be when provoking/accepting flight from the nest after so much devotion.

This relationship is critical in the forming of a child's future ...

I have seen women smother their children with love, to hide the fear and angst that they them selves have inside, this is an unfortunate projection. Creating a much thicker illusion from which the child must emerge.

love is both the key and the lock. Balance in these doings are that which shapes our lives and eventually society its self.

Attachment to material goals are very much the way of the West, but are they really that; material?
It appears to me that the desires harboured by many are for objects of status, and are in fact, the many arms of the ego reaching out to shape us, rather like an ivy upon a tree; tools with which we dance for love, but usually love of the self in self affirmation!

If our material possessions are not related to our status and thus the competition that this entails, we will not waver if any misdeed becomes them. We are detached from them.

Now the tricky part might be realising that all these energies, are directly related to our perception of self, thus as such, our very thought process can be driven by this. With it, the feelings it creates within the biological engine that drives us; or should we so desire; we drive.

Purana, the wiggly feeling in your stomach, this is a perfectly normal reaction and is that which drives you to instinctively protect your child. Don't worry about that, if however you still have that feeling when your infant is 20 there may be a problem ...


praNAma

mana

[PatrickMB]

Many interesting thoughts.

Yajvan has once again prodded consideration yet further... for upon reading his reply, I could not help but have an imaginary conversation with a western friend who means well, but who does not quite "get it".

He would say, "But, it is the idea of utter solitude, of being truly 'alone in the universe', of coming from nothing and going to nothing, that is the great fear of man!"

I would reply, "You still do not understand- for in the very statement 'alone in the universe' there is duality- self and universe. Embodiment, this taking birth, this experienced boundary of spacetime; the predilection is strong! Consider the case of an infant who is frightened, startled by the sight of their own hand or foot waving in front of their face. They are too young to know their hand or foot as an extension of self; at that moment it is merely strange. How early, how firmly set a binary perception of existence is!"

I would add: "Consider one who is asleep, and dreaming; and, while in the midst of the typically unpredictable and haphazard sequence of events which constitute dreams, suddenly realizes: 'I am dreaming; were I to declare myself 100 feet tall, ageless,and made of butterfly wings, it would be so!' In the context of a dreamer fully aware of their state of dreaming, there is no fear, for all is self."

Perhaps this reply is a sort of matryoshka (Russian nesting doll) of idle thoughts, but considering my love for Maa, probably not too surprising.

My thanks to all for their forbearance and stimulating words

JAI MATA DI

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@JaiMaaDurga: This is completely off topic, but I truly love the marvelous image of the Divine Mother on your posts. Thank you.