Human beings have a duty to dispel ignorance by learning, by studying, by thinking in depth, by investigating, and by doing spiritual practice and keeping a daily diary. By reviewing your diary you can find out whether your ignorance is being removed and you are growing in wisdom. If your daily journal shows that, then you know you have been following a path with a solid foundation, one you would do well to continue following throughout your life.
Ignorance is one side of a coin and egoism is the other. They go hand in hand. Ignorance can be overcome by learning. But egoism is overcome only by offering what you have, that to which you are most strongly attached. This can be your spouse, your children, your job, your intellect. Whatever it is, that is what has to be offered to the Divine. You are only a caretaker for these, anyway. They have been given to you as temporary assignments. The real work is done by your Divine Committee. And it’s not so easy to tune into that unless you really want to and put a great deal of effort into it.
There are so many things we can be attached to. We can be attached to smoking, and we can be attached to not smoking. We can be attached to the idea of becoming a swami, and we can be attached to the idea of remaining just where we are.
We can be so attached to things that really they possess us. Many years ago in Germany I had a lot of very valuable antiques. I had to take great care of them. They had to be cleaned with special little brushes that could get into the fine carvings without scratching them. I didn’t realize then that my antiques possessed me. It was only after I lost them that I could see how free I was without them.
We can be attached to people, too. A wife, for example, can be like a piece of property which is possessed, guarded, protected and kept within limits, so nobody else can have it. Life shows us what attachment does when we want to put someone into a straightjacket. Trust, love and affection do not grow if we try to possess and limit another person. An undue attachment should be replaced by true concern.
Concern is something quite different. It is not limiting. You can be concerned for all and everyone who needs your concern. True concern can also lead to a non-possessive love. To be non-attached does not mean to be separated. It means to be aware of where the attachment is, how strong it is, and how you can rise above it. You can love without possessing the other person, and you can possess things without an attachment to them.
If you can walk away from fame and self-importance, then you can be pretty sure that your attachment is small or nonexistent. My Guru said that the fault or the defect of karma is in the expectation of the fruit and in the attachment.
Yoga teachers often have deep attachment to their work. They have to ask themselves, “Can I let it go? Can I do something else?” Time away from their teaching is often necessary. It’s like taking a sabbatical to do research—they need to take a sabbatical to do some more work on themselves.
After wearing the orange robe for seven years, I thought it was time to take the robe off, so that in my own mind I would not be linked to the teachings through the robe. I should be able to do the work with the same conviction, without the robe as a protection for myself or as something that marked me as being different from other people.
At another time I asked myself, “Can I walk out of the ashram?” I had lots of emotional investment there and years of work. But if you offer all that investment and work, and consider yourself—man or woman—to be just a handmaiden of Divine Mother, there is very little chance you will attach yourself to the results.
Sometimes we have to learn to renounce our deep desires the hard way. We get knocked on the head to make us wake up and think. We get catapulted out of comfort and attachment to make us think. But if you cooperate with the course of your own evolution by doing your daily reflection to find out where your attachments are, you won’t need to get hard knocks. Instead of being sad, disappointed and hurt, it is better to accept the challenge to give up your attachments. Look at each challenge and say, “Well, here’s my opportunity now. Can I do it? I think I can.” Do it.
Do not hesitate to sacrifice anything you are holding on to in the mistaken belief that it is what keeps you secure. Getting rid of attachments is really no sacrifice. It is what sets you free. Give with joy whatever must be sacrificed, because when you can function from your heart rather than your mind, you have a place in the heart of the Divine.
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