The Hindu : Detachment, key to spiritual progress

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, May 11, 2002

National

National

Detachment, key to spiritual progress

CHENNAI MAY 11 . Transmigration of the soul is a corollary of the concept of Karma. The soul in bondage is born in this world as a result of Karma that has started giving result. Theoretically speaking after exhaustion of Karma liberation from bondage must follow, but in majority of cases it does not happen. Why? A human being in the process of exhausting the acquired Karma by enjoying its result in the form of joys and sorrows, accumulates more and more by engaging in action. The latent tendencies in the mind acquired over several births drive man to action by fuelling his desires for sensory gratification.

This can be appreciated with the example of a greedy man learning about a philosopher's stone in a particular beach, which had the power of transforming anything that came into contact with it into gold. He went there and found the whole area full of stones and could not identify it. So he started testing each one and soon there grew a heap of stones leading to more confusion. He struck on the idea of disposing what he did not want and after testing each one flung it into the ocean. Soon the whole testing process became so mechanical that when he did chance upon the wonderful stone threw it also into the sea by sheer force of habit. Man's predicament is similar. Every human birth is a precious opportunity given by God to work out the acquired Karma and strive for liberation from rebirths. But the latent tendencies in the mind are so deep-rooted that it becomes very difficult to break their stranglehold and he engages in action to fulfil his insatiable desires and the opportunity is wasted.

In his discourse, Swami Mitrananda said no one could escape the operation of law of Karma and hence the attitude must be to understand how to work it out without getting entrapped in it. It is beneficial spiritually to remind oneself constantly that one has come to this world directed by one's past Karma and experience whatever life offers with detachment. Sankara in his Vivekachudamani points out that though human experiences are myriad, the resulting joy or sorrow is the same. One should hence ask, "Have I not experienced enough?" It is similar to a child delighting in sugar dolls. The various shapes give the illusion that each one is different but an adult knows that all of them are made of only sugar. Likewise, God has created the diversity in the world for human experience, but he should not get attached to it.

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