The Joy of Detachment

I've often spoken about this with dad, because he is one of the people who think detachment is something that makes you cold and un-bothered, and so on.
I've just been reading Lazy Yogi's blog for a bit. He is 25-year-old guy, and he is awesome, and so I decided to post this.

Peace.
M.

Detachment is an often advised quality to cultivate on the spiritual way. But this advice is frequently misunderstood as remaining cold, aloof, and indifferent toward life. It is anything but. 

Real detachment may be recognized by the arising of joy. Detachment, happiness, and contentment are one and the same. 

Suppose you really love strawberries and currently have a massive craving for strawberries. It just so happens that you discover a fresh and beautiful carton of these berries in your refrigerator. So you sit down and savor them, one by one. 

Someone comes and offers you chocolate, soda, popcorn, all sorts of snacks. But you don’t feel any desire toward any of that because you are so filled with your enjoyment of the strawberries. That is like true detachment. 

But that detachment doesn’t come because of strawberries, or anything for that matter. It comes when you discover that your happiness, your peace, your joy, are nothing else but your Self and it is found nowhere else but within. 

Then detachment naturally happens toward the transient play of this world and body. It doesn’t mean that you have distain for them or aloofness or rejection. It simply indicates that you are no longer seeking the right things in the wrong places.

In your own company, before mind, body, and ego, shines the company off all beings as the Self; One without a second. Therein is always peace, freedom, and happiness.

This doesn’t mean that you don’t have compassion and love toward the people you meet and the events in life, but you do not depend on them for any form of happiness. Then you can really enjoy what comes since there is no element of need or insecurity involved. 

Practice detachment. Remind yourself that all of this need not be taken as the end all be all of existence. Go within, practice meditation and mindfulness throughout your day. Discover the joy that is your awareness endlessly beholding itself. 

Then detachment is found to be a blessing beyond all blessings. 

Namaste, sangha.
/Lazyyogi.org

lazy yogi

There's this guy on tumblr, calls himself the Lazy Yogi.
And he dishes out some wisdom alright.
His website is really good, too.
http://lazyyogi.org/

This was a response written to some babe, but there's a lot of clever stuff in there which applies to many many people I know.

Hope you are all going to have a peaceful Monday.
M.

Before you open up to others again, open up to yourself. It sounds as if you are still carrying around past pain. 

Instead of dwelling on and reliving how things went in the past, take your attention deeply into this moment. What traces of the past do you bring with you into the here and now?

You don’t need to fight it or change it but rather to become abundantly clear and aware of it. Then you can see it for what it is: past thoughts you are continuing to react to. If you continue to react to a past which no longer exists, there will be no end to your pain. 

Time erases the past on its own and you will move on, but you don’t have to wait for that to happen. Awareness practices such as the one I describe above in combination with daily meditation will help you to let go. 

“There is no remedy for love but to love more.” ~ Henry David Thoreau

The more you close yourself off, the more you will feel isolated. It is to your own benefit that you remain open and loving, of anything be it a flower or a puppy or another human. 

Just because things played out one way in the past doesn’t mean you should assume it will be so forever into the future. Although it may be worth re-examining the kinds of boyfriends you feel attracted to and why. 

Namaste :)