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Source: The Hindu (http://www.the-hindu.com)

 

Detachment, key to spiritual progress

 

CHENNAI, JAN. 26. The spiritual level of each individual is

different and the process of evolution takes a distinct course.

Hence what is applicable to one person may not be relevant for

another. A spiritual teacher (Guru) guides each one of his

disciples in a different manner.

 

This was seen practically in the life of Sri Ramakrishna who used

to prescribe the various means to liberation prescribed in the

scriptures like Bhakti yoga and Karma yoga, according to the

capacity of the disciple to receive it and benefit from it.

 

Spiritual evolution is a gradual process of development. Worldly

attachments will fall away on their own accord when the mind

attains the necessary detachment with the practice of spiritual

exercises. But the onus of actively engaging in spiritual life is

on the individual and there is no alternative to self-effort.

 

To develop detachment, which is the key to realisation of God,

one has to acquire good tendencies (Samskara) like cultivating

the company of saints, so that the mind acquires a taste for

spiritual life.

 

In his discourse, Swami Gautamananda said that a person could

assess for himself whether he had inclination for spiritual life

or not by observing whether he enjoyed the company of saints. The

analogy of a railway engine pulling along several carriages to

their destination is an apt one to understand how a Guru can

elevate all those who seek his guidance.

 

For householders who are engrossed in the demands of day-to-day

life, the spiritual goal may seem to be beyond their reach. But

the saints can make them realise this objective. Just as the wind

brings along with it the fragrance of the sandalwood trees from

the inaccessible depths of the forest to one residing in its

outskirts, so also, the saints bring God, who is beyond the reach

of the worldly, to those who cultivate their company.

 

Worldly attachments and renunciation are incompatible. It is only

when the mind becomes totally detached to the attractions of the

world that spiritual progress can result. But true renunciation

is in the mind and not in the donning of the ochre robe.

Ramakrishna Paramahamsa who had attained the acme of spiritual

attainment himself, used to cite the example of the Buddha to his

devotees.

 

Siddharta, as he was known before he became enlightened, was a

prince and he renounced his kingdom and family in the prime of

his life. This illustrates that when the bliss of realisation

results all worldly attachments will cease without any effort on

the part of the individual.

 

 

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