If you have ever asked your children what they need for their birthdays, they have a long wish list. They want this toy and that toy, this gadget and that gadget, or money to buy whatever else they want. We are no different than our children. Our personal shopping list is filled with all our own wants and desires. We may want material objects such as furniture, electronic equipment more clothes, and whatever is a new fad to keep up with the neighbors, or new computers. We may want to buy one to keep up with the latest technology. We then find ourselves working harder to buy all the right software and equipment to make it work. We end up spending hours learning to use it. We spend hours exploring the Internet. The e-mail system that was supposed to make communications faster is taking more and more of our time. Suddenly, we find fifty people e-mailing us daily and they expect an instantaneous response. If we do not respond the right away they accuse us of being nonresponsive and indifferent. Soon, we are spending hours on the computer.
We have become slaves to our possessions. We are like prisoners in the jail of this physical world. W e spend all our time going after things that will not give us happiness. Whatever material gains we have in the world can lead us to more bondage if we are attached to them. We may desire money, name, or fame. Some may become good at a sport or hobby. We may wish to find a certain type of relationship, find a wife or husband, or have children. Some people may want pets.
How can we end our bondage? We need to let go and be free. It is only by letting go of the things of this world that we can be free. We can be so attached to something that all our attention is focused on this alone. If we lose that to which we are attached, the pain may be so great that we cannot concentrate on anything else. Or we may become so intent upon regaining what we lost, we seek fulfillment solely in the outer transitory world. Finally, we may become so obsessed with getting what we want, that we will stop at nothing to get it, even if it means being violent, stealing, cheating, deceiving, or lying. In the process we stop bothering to find our soul and never stop to look for the permanent happiness awaiting us within. The way to overcome attachment is to develop detachment. . Attachment is a quality of mind; non-attachment is the quality of soul. Lord Buddha instructed that one should ‘be desire less’. We need to be like lotus that lives in muddy waters but whose petal remains unsullied. Detachment means we live in this world, but we are able to rise above it when necessary to connect our soul with God. Detachment, in this sense, does not mean disinterest or apathy. Rather, detachment means that we live in the world like a swan lives in water. It can swim in the water, yet fly with dry wings. We live out our life making the best use of what we need to keep our body alive, to earn our livelihood, to make a contribution to society, and to fulfill our responsibilities to our family and community, but we are not attached. When we can let go our desires for impermanent gains, we can be free. To do so, we must turn our attention from the worldly enticements and listen to our soul. By sitting in meditation, free from all worldly desires and attachments, we can let go and gain eternal freedom.
Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj is an internationally recognized spiritual Master who teaches the oneness at the heart of all religions, emphasizing meditation on the inner Light and Sound of God as building blocks for achieving spiritual illumination. Social, civic, and religious leaders throughout the world have praised Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj for his deep wisdom and efforts in promoting inner and outer peace. Visit our website at www.sos.org
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