Detachment is the most important spiritual quality that we practice. It comes from a clear understanding that nothing is permanent. Things arise , things go away. So there is no need to cling onto anything in life. There should not be any need to let go of anything if you don't grasp it in the first place. Only when you have grasped something, does the concept of letting go comes. However it doesn't mean that we should be blind , unfeeling of the world. It is a beautiful balance between not clinging , but yet responding compassionately that needs to be practiced.
There is a beautiful Zen story that reminds us of this beautiful quality of detachment with compassion.
"The Zen master Hakuin was praised by his neighbors as one living a pure life.
A beautiful Japanese girl whose parents owned a food store lived near him. Suddenly, without any warning, her parents discovered she was pregnant.
This made her parents angry. She would not confess who the man was, but after much harassment at last named Hakuin.
In great anger the parent went to the master. "Is that so?" was all he would say.
After the child was born it was brought to Hakuin. By this time he had lost his reputation, which did not trouble him, but he took very good care of the child. He obtained milk from his neighbors and everything else he needed.
A year later the girl-mother could stand it no longer. She told her parents the truth - the real father of the child was a young man who worked in the fish market.
The mother and father of the girl at once went to Hakuin to ask forgiveness, to apologize at length, and to get the child back.
Hakuin was willing. In yielding the child, all he said was: "Is that so?" ....."
See how compassionately Hakuin looked after the child even though he lost reputation about a sin he never committed and was forced. He didn't just sit there like a monk who was detached from everything though he could have done so. Also he gave back the child without even scolding why he was blamed . A true spiritual person never blames or is worried about blemishes in life. He acts with live responsiveness with total detachment. If you are affected by your detachment than it is still clinging. When you are detached without even a stain in your mind then that is the true detachment.
We need to be attentive of our own inner world to achieve this detachment. What are the happenings in me?. How am i reacting to situations. Where exactly is my clinging?. Am i affected when i abandon things?. It is not obvious when we lead our life of what these are. Only in deep meditation does it become apparent of what our attractions are , what our fears and anxieties are , what grips us, how do we respond to the events in life and so on. All this should become knowledgeable to you. The witnessing of them is important. We should learn to accept them and embrace them, but never act based on them. Rejecting it is not good enough.The mind comes back strongly if we just reject. See all as just arisings in us. We are not supposed to act for all of them, but we need to be aware of them.
Combining detachment with compassion towards acting is a very balanced view. All our reactionary energy can be channelized into compassion. We should learn to be compassionate to persons who hurt us more. A spiritual person knows the process of maturing. He can never have a grudge for a person who is hurting him due to ignorance. So the heart extends to that situation. This is why Jesus said "Love thy Enemy". If you just ignore the hurting person it is not proper detachment.
There is a beautiful Zen story that reminds us of this beautiful quality of detachment with compassion.
"The Zen master Hakuin was praised by his neighbors as one living a pure life.
A beautiful Japanese girl whose parents owned a food store lived near him. Suddenly, without any warning, her parents discovered she was pregnant.
This made her parents angry. She would not confess who the man was, but after much harassment at last named Hakuin.
In great anger the parent went to the master. "Is that so?" was all he would say.
After the child was born it was brought to Hakuin. By this time he had lost his reputation, which did not trouble him, but he took very good care of the child. He obtained milk from his neighbors and everything else he needed.
A year later the girl-mother could stand it no longer. She told her parents the truth - the real father of the child was a young man who worked in the fish market.
The mother and father of the girl at once went to Hakuin to ask forgiveness, to apologize at length, and to get the child back.
Hakuin was willing. In yielding the child, all he said was: "Is that so?" ....."
See how compassionately Hakuin looked after the child even though he lost reputation about a sin he never committed and was forced. He didn't just sit there like a monk who was detached from everything though he could have done so. Also he gave back the child without even scolding why he was blamed . A true spiritual person never blames or is worried about blemishes in life. He acts with live responsiveness with total detachment. If you are affected by your detachment than it is still clinging. When you are detached without even a stain in your mind then that is the true detachment.
We need to be attentive of our own inner world to achieve this detachment. What are the happenings in me?. How am i reacting to situations. Where exactly is my clinging?. Am i affected when i abandon things?. It is not obvious when we lead our life of what these are. Only in deep meditation does it become apparent of what our attractions are , what our fears and anxieties are , what grips us, how do we respond to the events in life and so on. All this should become knowledgeable to you. The witnessing of them is important. We should learn to accept them and embrace them, but never act based on them. Rejecting it is not good enough.The mind comes back strongly if we just reject. See all as just arisings in us. We are not supposed to act for all of them, but we need to be aware of them.
Combining detachment with compassion towards acting is a very balanced view. All our reactionary energy can be channelized into compassion. We should learn to be compassionate to persons who hurt us more. A spiritual person knows the process of maturing. He can never have a grudge for a person who is hurting him due to ignorance. So the heart extends to that situation. This is why Jesus said "Love thy Enemy". If you just ignore the hurting person it is not proper detachment.
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