numbing the senses?
i'm having a difficult time trying to arrive at a fully cohesive understanding of detachment; what it really means in varied spheres of our daily life and how it may best be practised. while the overreaching objective does make sense to me, learning how to gradually proceed toward that ideal is a different beast altogether.
today, as i read chapter 2 of the bhagavad gita (on sankhya yoga), i wondered whether numbing or dulling one's senses to our environment was indeed a step toward attaining this goal. it struck me as a step that must come much later in the process of spiritual growth. that is, if today i were to numb my senses to all the forces that act around me, i may not be the happier for it. not even eventually.
as i understand it, it is important to be fully aware of the forces that act around us and on us. once we gain an awareness of these forces, we must then attempt to understand the impact of these forces within us. and only then, when we gain an awareness and understanding of the varied reactions within us, can we attempt to grow from this understanding, can we analyze who we are, where we are headed, and where we need to go.
feelings of anger, of love and hate, envy and jealousy, sadness and dejection - are bound to plague us. perhaps we were even born that way - with every individual being at a different point on the spectrum (but all pretty close). we mustn't condemn ourselves for feeling these emotions but acknowledge that they do not aid us in our path to progress, try to understand them and where they stem from. the cause necessarily lies within us, not on the outside. and that is the important point - that we can address the cause, understand it, fight it, and defeat it. it is merely a responsibility we owe ourselves, and this life that has been gifted to us.
this is one isolated thread of my understanding.
today, as i read chapter 2 of the bhagavad gita (on sankhya yoga), i wondered whether numbing or dulling one's senses to our environment was indeed a step toward attaining this goal. it struck me as a step that must come much later in the process of spiritual growth. that is, if today i were to numb my senses to all the forces that act around me, i may not be the happier for it. not even eventually.
as i understand it, it is important to be fully aware of the forces that act around us and on us. once we gain an awareness of these forces, we must then attempt to understand the impact of these forces within us. and only then, when we gain an awareness and understanding of the varied reactions within us, can we attempt to grow from this understanding, can we analyze who we are, where we are headed, and where we need to go.
feelings of anger, of love and hate, envy and jealousy, sadness and dejection - are bound to plague us. perhaps we were even born that way - with every individual being at a different point on the spectrum (but all pretty close). we mustn't condemn ourselves for feeling these emotions but acknowledge that they do not aid us in our path to progress, try to understand them and where they stem from. the cause necessarily lies within us, not on the outside. and that is the important point - that we can address the cause, understand it, fight it, and defeat it. it is merely a responsibility we owe ourselves, and this life that has been gifted to us.
this is one isolated thread of my understanding.
9 comments:
No, I do not think that detaching means becoming numb. But I completely understand why you're asking this question and it is one I have asked myself. The deeper question, for me, is how to detach from material things WITHOUT becoming numb...
I find this quote Shoghi Effendi quite helpful in illuminating the fact that of course we're supposed to feel and experience joys to their fullest. The difference is that, ideally, we experience these joys even more fully recognizing from whence they come, that God bestows these upon us.
“It must be remembered, however, that the maintenance of such a high standard of moral conduct is not to be associated or confused with any form of asceticism, or of excessive and bigoted puritanism. The standard inculcated by Bahá’u’lláh seeks, under no circumstances, to deny anyone the legitimate right and privilege to derive the fullest advantage and benefit from the manifold joys, beauties, and pleasures with which the world has been so plentifully enriched by an All-Loving Creator. ‘Should a man,’ Bahá’u’lláh Himself reassures us, ‘wish to adorn himself with the ornaments of the earth, to wear its apparels, or partake of the benefits it can bestow, no harm can befall him, if he alloweth nothing whatever to intervene between him and God, for God hath ordained every good thing, whether created in the heavens or in the earth, for such of His servants as truly believe in Him. Eat ye, O people, of the good things which God hath allowed you, and deprive not yourselves from His wondrous bounties. Render thanks and praise unto Him, and be of them that are truly thankful.’" (from The Advent of Divine Justice)
I think it's important to honor and be present with ALL that we are feeling, positive and negative feelings. At the same time, as you say, it's equally important to recognize that feelings of anger, jealousy, fear, etc. are less conducive to spiritual growth -- in fact, they hamper such growth. But I do think that we can use even these feelings because we can learn from and grow from them.
I also find it useful to think of detachment as a process. So perhaps we may first start with an emotion like anger, honor that feeling, honestly assess how it's serving us, move towards detaching from what is causing us that suffering... Here's something I posted re: this notion of detachment as a process: http://constantcuriosity.blogspot.com/2008/08/detachment-is-process.html
the link again: http://constantcuriosity.blogspot.com/
2008/08/detachment-is-process.html
Yes, detachment is definitely not numbness - in fact, quite the opposite. So we shouldn't think being truly detached means we have to go to the himalayas, give up everything, and live in seclusion like an ascetic. As the quote BB posted very clearly says.
Practically speaking, here're some ways to think about how we can apply detachment in our lives. Firstly, we need to be detached not from action, but from consequences of actions. So we should not stop loving people - but we should definitely move towards loving people without any expectation of something in return.
Second, we should try and be conscious as much as possible, as BB said, that all that comes to us comes to us from a greater source, and is not of our own making. This, when it comes to joyful circumstances, makes us humble, and when it comes to unhappy situations, makes us detached.
Third, we should try to view everything that happens to us as an opportunity to learn and become a better person. So rather than get embroiled in how situations affect us emotionally, we need to take a step back and see what we can learn from them.
Fourth, we have to learn to compartmentalize. To condemn the action but not the actor. And to keep things within context, and not let them affect other aspects of our life.
Five, keep our mind fixed on our ultimate objective, and the purpose of our lives - and never let anything make us lose sight of that. That will guide our growth, help us maintain perspective on situations, and serve us the ultra wide angle zoom lens u spoke about :)
Can anyone think of any more?? :)
What is the ultimate objective,purpose of our lives pray? What if it were to amass wealth?
C & N are absolutely right; undertsanding the divine source of all things that come our way. And I think the key really is not so much to cease to be happy from things that genuinely do make us happy, or attempt to fight things that make us sad. But it is to understand why it is those things affect us so. And more importantly to not let it affect our state of being to the extent that we can no longer be of service- and that is the true purpose of the gift of life, to be an instrument of peace and service. Over time, and with prayer and effort, such events that tend to have the incredible impact they have over us, will not affect us as much, because our understanding and strength to deal with it without it detracting us from being productive will increase.
bb/n/aa: nicely put - i agree wholeheartedly.
anon: if our purpose was indeed to amass wealth, when would we ever reach a state of equilibrium? when could we ever find ourselves at peace? and would it not lead to a never-ending downwards spiral because everyone was trying to amass enough of a finite supply of wealth?
the goal, as i see it, is to take ourselves out of this attachment to material being. to transport ourselves to a plane where these things do not matter.
Not that i have an opinion on any of this, but with regards to ur response to anon's question (and therefore tangentially):
(a) is wealth finite? there is no conservation of wealth law is there (so long as the earth can sustain us)? it is possible that(and it does seem like) all of us are much wealthier now than we were as cavemen.
(b) what if the goal were to amass a finite amount of wealth...this is an achievable goal. whether or not it brings a person peace...depends on the person.
adu: as i walked to school just now i was thinking of my response to anon. let me try to answer your question.
a. that is true. 1. it depends on how you define wealth, and 2. indeed there is a law of conservation of wealth, though i'm not sure what exactly it says :).
http://ideas.repec.org/p/wpa/wuwpgt/0502068.html
b. the goal of an individual can be to amass a finite amount of wealth, but what after that? and perhaps the goal of every individual could be to amass a finite amount of wealth, but if everyone did have that goal - would humanity progress towards a deeper, more harmonious existence? i think not. greed would become exaggerated, the self would be exaggerated, giving would disappear, etc. etc.
i think n/cc/aa might be able to give a more cohesive answer. i'm still trying to develop a feel for all this :).
Anon and Adu - for the purpose of this discussion I'm going to assume you mean only material wealth when you say wealth, and not other more intangible things.
Also, when it comes to talking about the ultimate objective of purpose of our lives, I must clarify that I mean that for which we are born - our fundamental purpose. Not a goal we choose to have for ourselves, but God's (or life's) purpose in creating us.
So the first possibility - the true intended purpose of life is to amass as much wealth as you can. This could of course be the purpose of life, but it just seems highly unlikely to me for the reasons that 8&20 gives in her comment above - it seems like such a selfish purpose would bring out the worst in everyone, and lead to a deadly spiral of slavering materialism. So just based on observing the world, on looking at how we consider certain qualities to be virtues and certain others to be vices, and conducting a simple thought experiment, it seems pretty obvious to me that such a purpose in life would promote mostly vices, and few virtues in us - and such a world seems just improbable to me. There is no logical proof to this, of course, but I think most reasonable people would agree that there must be more to life than just amassing as much wealth as you can.
Now what of a purpose where we are meant to amass just a finite amount of wealth, as u proposed, adu? So lets say the true purpose of life is for an individual to amass $x. If that were really the true and only purpose of life, then what would happen once a person acquired that much wealth? Should he/she not just cease to exist? I mean, if the only purpose of life were completely satisfied, what would be the point in continuing to live on? That situation seems bizarre to me as well, which leads me to believe that at the very least, amassing some finite amount of wealth cannot be the ONLY purpose of life.
Prosperity, I think, is important, and there is no harm in striving to achieve material prosperity. We should all be striving to get to a stage where everyone in the world at least has the basic necessities - and beyond that, there is no harm in people living luxurious lives. But it has to happen within a context, and for a greater goal, and has to be tempered by detachment.
Of course its entirely possible there is no purpose to life whatsoever, and all of life is just a random sequence of events. Again, based on my observation of the world, this just seems highly unlikely.
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