Detachment and Liberation (THE HINDU)

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Detachment, key to liberation

 

CHENNAI, NOV. 22. It is a paradox that man is curious to know about

everything in the world but rarely pauses

to enquire ``Who am I?''. It is an exceptional person who directs his query

inward and persists till he discovers the

Self (his true nature). It is not possible to explain anything about the

Self to one who does not know anything about

it as this knowledge is a matter of experience. So the scriptures try to

take the spiritual aspirant step by step

through the process of negation of the non-Self to indicate the nature of

the Self.

 

It is a unique situation that man finds himself in, as far as the knowledge

of his Self is concerned, as he does not

know his nature fully, but, at the same time has the underlying awareness of

``I'' in all his experiences. The

hesitation to make an effort to gain Self-knowledge in most cases is either

due to ``the fear of the unknown'' or due

to ignorance. It is similar to a person who shies from public speaking.

 

In his discourse, Swami Gautamananda said that it was imperative that one

made a beginning at some point of

time. Saints who realised God by following the path of Self-enquiry say that

this method involves following the ``I''

consciousness closely. It is a very difficult path which leads the aspirant

on by negating first the body, then the

breath (Prana), the senses, mind and the intellect one by one, till the Self

is discovered. In recent times it was the

Sage of Arunachala, Ramana Maharishi, who attained realisation by this

method. But all cannot adopt this path.

 

Saint Ramakrishna Paramahamsa while explaining the path of Self- enquiry to

one of his devotees advised him that

it was not easy to realise the Absolute Reality by treading this path and

that it was possible for all to follow the

path of devotion with success as the Supreme Being can be envisioned with a

form through devotion. When

Self-knowledge dawns the ego gets obliterated. This results automatically

when the Self is discovered by Self-

enquiry, and for one who adopts the path of devotion, the ego is effaced by

the constant reiteration that one is

God's devotee and vassal.

 

Another insight that the saint made about the relative merits and

feasibility of these two paths was that devotion

was more suitable for this Kali yuga. This is all the more true for

householders because of their attachment to their

family and belongings. In the case of a recluse, attachments of the world

drop away on their own accord, whereas

a householder must slowly get over them by accepting everything he enjoys in

life as due to God's grace. Such an

attitude will enable him to develop detachment.

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