Sai Ram
How does one live in the world, but not of the world?
I believe the questioner is basically asking: “How to go through life, without
attachment.” Now, before I answer this question, perhaps I should explain why
at all such a question would arise. Clearly, whoever has asked this question
has done so because he or she has heard a bit of Vedanta, about giving up
attachment, and so on. I do not expect, for example, someone from the West who
does not know anything about Vedanta, or for that matter, even someone from
India, such as a present-day college student, to ask such a question.
The human spirit pushes us past our boundaries
That, by the way, was meant to convey the fact that most students in this
country today are almost completely cut off from their spiritual roots, and if
someone told them that while living in this world we must not allow it to
affect us, even as the water drops on the lotus leaf in the pond do not wet the
leaf, they would ask exactly the kind of question I am now venturing to answer;
hope you follow that.
The way I have introduced the question, clearly implies that detachment is a
virtue while attachment is not only a burden but a spiritual obstruction as
well. So, really speaking, I must explain why this is considered to be so; and
that is what I shall try and do by way of responding to this question.
Now, if you think about it a bit, the word ‘spirituality’ has a lot to do with
the word ‘spirit’. People may frown upon hearing the word ‘spirituality’, but
even an atheist would have no objection to the word ‘spirit’, the human spirit
that is. Why? Because that word refers to something within each one of us, that
all recognise it exists, and which also has meaning. Let us say that the Indian
cricket team has lost an important match not because they lacked the talent,
but because the players did not apply themselves.
I must here confess that like almost all Indians, I have a weakness for this
game even though many consider it absolutely foolish. Be that as it may, let me
get back to what I was trying to say. When say, our team loses, we often
condemn our players with remarks like, “Our fellows simply caved in; they
showed no spirit at all.” I am sure many of you have heard such comments. Or
else, people would say, “The human spirit is capable of tremendous drive; it
can help man achieve anything, like conquering Everest, taking him to the Moon
and outer space, to split the atom, to map the human genome, to unravel the
cosmos, and so on.”
Spirituality is the Science of the Spirit
What it all boils down to is that most people accept that one can talk of an
intangible entity called the human spirit, though one cannot actually see it;
and this includes believers, agonistics and even atheists. The problem starts
when one wants to know something more about this mysterious entity called the
spirit; and that is where all the arguments begin. Here, I must disclose that I
belong to the school that believes in what is called Spirituality, which is
nothing but the Science of the Spirit.
Spirituality - the 'Science of the Spirit'
I am a physicist by training, and indeed, my career has been closely connected
with physics in many different ways. Physics, chemistry, biology, and so on,
are all sciences connected with the material world, and there is a particular
methodology associated with exploring this world. Basically, the tools used are
the method of theory, combined with the method of experimentation.
These two are not disconnected, but feed each other. I cannot go into all that
here, but for the sake of completeness, let me add that in the 20th century, a
new tool has been added, namely computer simulation; a large part of what you
hear these days about climate change, comes via simulation performed using
various computer models.
Now what has all this got to do with Spirituality or the Science of the Spirit?
I brought in all this because many say, “In science as we normally understand
it, there are well laid down rules for exploration, hypothesis testing,
experimental verification, and so on. The way spirituality seems to be
practiced does not follow the rules laid down by us; so we cannot accept it.”
This is how non-believers tend to dismiss spirituality. However, spirituality
is not as hollow as many would have us believe; rather, it is based on its own
methodology of exploration, logical analysis, hypothesis testing, and so on.
Very great minds have been engaged in this kind of activity for thousands of
years, and their collective wisdom cannot be pooh-poohed or summarily dismissed
just because the system they followed happens to be different from what those
who explore the material world swear by.
Relying On Vedanta
The reason why I am going through this rather lengthy preamble is just to drive
home the fact that my responses would be based on Vedanta, the ancient Science
of the Spirit. Vedanta must not be confused with cults, creeds and the like. It
is a philosophy, indeed spiritual philosophy at its best that has grown out of
the collective wisdom of thousands of unknown sages, and has found expression
through the famous Upanishads.
Vedanta is the ancient science of the spirit
Indeed, so inspiring are its contents, that Mahatma Gandhi made them the anchor
of his entire service to humanity, while great physicists such as Erwin
Schoredinger and Brian Josephson, both of whom won the Noble Prize, literally
swore by Vedanta. I hope all that would lend credibility to what I would be
saying, since my responses would be governed mainly by Vedanta.
And to wind up this part of the argument, let me mention two other facts that
in a sense override all the above. The first is that the celebrated
BhagavadGita is nothing but a restatement of the essence of Vedanta by the Lord
Himself appearing as Sri Krishna, while the Divine Discourses of Swami are, at
the core, nothing but a reiteration of all that Vedanta stands for. In other
words, my responses would rely heavily on Vedanta, although I might, for
purposes of illustration, resort to modern examples.
By way of assuring you once more that I have not got lost, let me return to the
question I started with and face it frontally. Keeping in view all that I said
just now, let me rephrase that question:
We live in this world and we are connected with it in innumerable ways. What
sense does it make then to say that we must not be attached to this world? If
we become detached, then we would be going through life essentially in a
spiritless manner, if one might put it that way. It would mean that the purpose
of spirituality is to quench and maybe even kill the human spirit! What do you
say to this?
That would be the way the Devil’s Advocate would argue, and perhaps many
disbelievers in Vedanta also would! Let us try to answer this new question for
if that is done, then the original question would also get answered;
incidentally, this would also make the answering of questions that follow
somewhat simpler.
Vedanta’s response to all this is as follows: Yes, humans do have a spirit, and
this spirit resides in a body. However, while the body is made up of gross
matter, that is to say, of molecules and atoms, which in turn are made up of
protons, neutrons, and electrons, the spirit is not. The spirit of any
particular individual, says Vedanta, might operationally be regarded as a part
of the Universal Spirit or Universal Soul; it is just that a part of this
Universal Spirit finds itself “encased” in a gross human body.
Bursting The Balloon
The atma and jivatma separated by the 'balloon' of the body
The name that Vedanta uses for the Universal Spirit or Universal Soul is Atma,
while the Individual Spirit or the Individualised Soul is called Jivatma. If
you want an analogy, the Jivatma is like a balloon, in which the rubber casing
is like the body and the air within is like the spirit. A balloon has air
within it and there is also air surrounding it; however, while the air within
is “trapped,” the air outside is “free”.
As long as the balloon has an existence, the air within is trapped and cannot
mix with that which is outside and free. However, if the balloon bursts, then
the air within gets released and becomes free, and immediately mixes with the
air outside. Please keep this analogy in mind for it would come in very handy
in what follows.
Let us move on and link all this to attachment, detachment, and so on, for that
is the real core of the question we started with. The individual human soul has
two options; one is to remain “trapped” and the other is to become “free”; but
what exactly do these words “trapped” and “free” mean? Vedanta has the answer.
It says that the Universal Soul or the Atma is not only eternal, but its nature
is bliss. Thus, if the Individual Soul merges with the Universal Soul the same
way the air in the balloon becomes free and merges with the air outside, then
it becomes possible to be eternally in a state of bliss.
What happens if no such merger takes place? Well in that case, the Individual
Soul, being tied to the human body, has to face all the usual worldly
experiences. “So what?” one might ask. The answer is that life is never a bed
of roses; there are moments of pleasure and there are also moments of pain. As
Swami often reminds us, pleasure is an interval between two pains.
Duality: Two Sides of the Same Coin
Setting the jivatma free means dissolving connection with the body so that
our soul merges into the divine atma
The latter points needs a bit of elaboration. The world is a manifestation of
duality, which means that it is a mixture of opposites such as pleasure and
pain, joy and sorrow, success and failure, happiness and misery, and so on. In
other words, the opposites are tied together like the two sides of a coin are;
in turn, it means that one cannot have happiness forever.
OK, may be all this is true, but what on earth does all this have to do with
attachment and detachment? That is the point that I shall now consider. You
see, as long as the Individual Soul is trapped in the body, this alternation of
pleasure and pain is inevitable; that is to say, one simply cannot experience
eternal bliss.
If eternal bliss is what one wants [and who would not want that?] then, one
must make every effort to see that the Soul breaks free of the body and set it
free for ever; this is like making the balloon burst. I hope these remarks
would help you to see how the two words “trapped” and “being free” acquire
meaning.
To get back to the question we started with, the answer is that if one is to
live in the world and not be of it, then one must give up attachment to the
world. Clearly, I need to explain what precisely that statement means, but
before I do that, may be I should talk about the benefit we get by giving up
attachment. Basically, it prevents rebirth. This point would come for greater
discussion when I get down to answering the next question, but for now we may
take it that the less the attachment, the less the chance of being reborn. And
once, one escapes rebirth, one can become one with the Atma or God and enjoy
permanent bliss.
So the formula is: While on earth, do what you have to, but do not become
attached to the things of the world. The less the attachment, the less the
probability of being born again. If attachment is totally reduced, then one
escapes rebirth; and that means that the Individual Soul becomes united forever
with the Atma or the Universal Soul; in turn that means one would be in a state
of bliss forever.
The Answer is Equanimity
Now one might say, “Listen, I know all that; what I am looking for is a recipe
for how not to be attached, and not a long lecture on the Individual Soul
becoming united forever with the Atma.” I fully understand that my answer would
not be complete without some remarks concerning that issue. However, it was in
order to set the entire matter in a proper perspective that I took time off to
discuss the issue of permanent union with the Atma and other subjects.
Let me now deal with the issue under consideration head on. The first thing one
has to do is to ask oneself, “Am I interested in permanent bliss or not?” If
one says, “I don’t know whether at all there is such a thing as permanent
bliss, and therefore I shall not waste time seeking the non-existent,” then it
is a different matter. However, if one believes in the Atma, one believes that
the Atma is a state of eternal bliss, and that, as Swami has often told us,
happiness is union with God or the Atma, and further that this goal is worth
striving for, then one must go through life asking all the time, “Is what I am
doing detrimental to my goal or not?”
Now comes a very practical point. Let us say there is a person who is a company
executive. The question can be asked, “How can that person give up attachment?
Would it at all be possible? Should he not be attached to his job? Without that
passion, how can he do justice to the post he is holding?” and so on. Questions
like these would make it seem that giving up attachment is impossible, adding
that one simply cannot be in this world and not be of it.
Actually, that is not correct. One can be a good company executive; one can
work hard and so on, but at the same time, one could also do a few other
things. One could always take the view, “I shall do my best and leave the
outcome entirely to God; and I shall cheerfully accept the outcome of my
efforts whatever they be. If the outcome is a success, I shall not seek any
credit while if it is not a success, I shall not blame anybody or curse anybody
and not allow my equanimity to be disturbed.” That is the kind of attitude that
one asks for.
The key word is equanimity. In the twelfth chapter of the Gita, Krishna
strongly recommends equanimity; elsewhere He declares that equanimity is the
best of all Yogas. Thus, living in the world and not being a part of it boils
down to practicing equanimity. The less attached we become, the more easy it
would be to achieve equanimity. And the benefits are, firstly, it would please
the Lord immensely – He Himself says so in the twelfth chapter – and secondly,
it would move us closer to permanent union to God, which as Swami tells us ever
so often would bring permanent happiness. So, unless one is not keen on
permanent happiness, one would have to learn the art of living in this world,
and not being affected too much by it; no escape from it; and one word says it
all and that is equanimity.
It looks like my very first question has taken almost an entire talk, and at
this rate to deal with over hundred questions, you might think I would may be
close to two hundred Q and A sessions! Don’t worry, the responses won’t always
be as long and elaborate in the future. This being the first such exercise, I
thought I would work in a few extra points so that they serve me as an anchor
in my later sessions.
I hope I did not do too badly and that you would continue to read this series,
comment and supplement with your ideas and understanding. Thank you and all the
best till we get together again.
Jai Sai Ram!
