There should be no feeling of aversion or attachment towards any person or place. By remaining in the center between the two, one is liberated from the duality of aversion and attachment. Then, one experiences God spreading everywhere.
Verse 126, Vigyan Bhairava Tantra
Ego & Attachment
When you feel aversion or attachment for any person or place, it means that you are living life through your ego. It is the ego or our body that likes or dislikes. Our true self or our soul, does not like or dislike. Our true self is awareness and joy. Awareness and joy is what is in the center between aversion and attachment. When we live life through our Real Self, we remain a witness. We observe all the events of our life without being affected by any of it. We also give joy or love to every person. We love every place and moment of our lives. There are no conditions to this joy or love. It is freely given every moment to every person, place or thing. To be liberated, one has to set the ego aside. The way to do this is to be a witness, and to accept whatever life brings us. It is our ego that sometimes resists life. It likes some things and dislikes others. When you accept life fully, you no longer live life through your ego – you live life through your soul, or your Real Self. This does not mean that one should not have desires or goals in life. One can have desires and work towards them, but one should not be attached to them. Our happiness should not depend on our desires being fulfilled, or on us being able to change our external life situation in a particular way. One should accept whatever life brings us. This is one of the most important messages that Krishna gave in the Bhagavad Gita. He said, don’t be attached to results.
The Maitri Upanishad also says that if we are attached to things of this world, we are bound. If we are free of them, we are liberated. Neale Donald Walsch explained all this in a modern context, in his book, Friendship With God. Friendship With God says that one should elevate our addictions to preferences. We should not be addicted to a particular result, we should prefer a particular result. Next, we should elevate our preferences to acceptance. We should accept whatever appears in our lives. Events in life take place, so that we can rapidly realize our true nature. Whatever events are taking place in our lives are only taking place to help us realize our highest nature. There is no other reason for them to take place. It is the same with people. Whoever enters our life, good or evil, does so only to help us evolve. There is no other reason for them to enter our life. When we understand this, we immediately let go and stop resisting life. We drop all our fears, and instead flow with life, enjoying every moment of it, knowing that it is all for our highest good. When we do this, every event becomes a blessing, every person becomes a saint, and every moment becomes joyful. God is in every person, place or thing. Therefore, the nature of every person, place or thing is the same. When we understand this, why would we prefer one person or place to another? Why would we like one person and dislike another? To do so would mean that we have got lost in the world of dual ity or illusion. Instead, one should not judge by appearances. One should be of even mind to all people and places. One should love all people, all places and all events equally. That is how one rises above the world of dualities – by being singular in our behavior, and our response to all situations in life. The ancient sages of India used to explain all this with the example of a lotus flower. The lotus flower grows in mud and water. Mud is ugly, and the lotus is beautiful. From something so ugly, comes out something so beautiful. It just goes to show that the same energy (God’s energy), is in what we call ugly and what we call beautiful. When we understand this, we stop judging things (persons, places, etc.) by their appearances. Instead, we see them for their essence. Appearances may differ but the essence of everything remains the same. When you understand this truth, you respond in the same way towards different people and different places. Then, as the verse says, you become liberated from the duality of a version and attachment, and you experience God spreading everywhere.
Give a Reply