Dr. Vijai S Shankar MD.PhD.
Published on www.academ-advaita.com
The Netherlands
11 January 2020
Attachment (3)
“Freedom”
That which is closest to you brings the greatest attachment only to you. That is the ‘I’ or the ego. If the other insults you, you are hurt, but the other who insults you is not hurt.
The next closest to you is your body. If you break your bone, you feel sad. But if another man breaks his bone, you feel sad but not to the extent you are when your bone is broken.
So, as you keep going further away, your attachment to it will be less. You are less attached to what is in another nation; it is far away. There is no point in your being attached to it at all.
That which you are close to brings you attachment. The first point you will observe is that there are so many things close to you: your wife is close to you, your children are close to you, objects which belong to you are close to you etc.
How on earth can you be without being attached to them, is the question?
You see there is no possibility. There is no chance for you not to be attached.
Why are you attached more to human beings but less to objects? How come? If you observe an object, you will be attached to it for some time.
Then afterwards you have forgotten it. You buy something new and you are attached to it. Is it not so?
Why is it that you are attached and why do you miss these attachments?
If you observe very closely, wherever you live, with whomever you live, don’t you observe that they come close to you and they move away, because there is movement?
Whatever comes and moves close to your eye and goes away, you will get attached to it. This is because the ego and what it likes is the greatest attachment which you have.
You see your children; they come close to you and they run away. Your wife comes close to you and goes away to do her work. Your husband comes close to you and goes away to do his job. Movement is there.
Once the ego extends itself on to that movement, that movement becomes mine. Whoever comes close to the ego and you think this is mine. Once the ego gets extended outside to the object or to the subject, you become attached to it because there is movement.
Anyone who comes close to your ego you will be attached to because of the movement. If anyone comes close and does not go away, you will want them to go away because you want to be left alone.
The moment you understand that there is only movement in every moment and you will meet or get who you are meant to meet or get in any moment, you will not be attached to anyone or anything.
The enlightened realise that life is a singular, spontaneous and unpredictable movement.
Author: Dr. Vijai S. Shankar
© Copyright: V.S. Shankar, 2019
Editor’s Note:
Experience is a common factor in the life of every human being and it implies a degree of contact with whatever presents itself in the waking state. Attachment may well be experienced if the ‘I’ or the ego becomes involved with the contact. The degree of involvement, as is revealed in this article, will be determined by the proximity and momentum of the contact made. Understanding, as the wise do, that whatever happens within any moment of the waking state, will happen only if it is meant to happen, may dissolve any possible attachment. The path towards understanding is gradual and requires patience and trust.
Julian Capper.UK