Detachment - an essential subject

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One takes to spiritual matters when one realizes that there is more to this world than just what we can physically see and comprehend. In order for one to even reach this stage, one needs God's mercy. After reading scriptures and obtaining the transcendental knowledge from them, one should be able to understand that detachment from worldly affairs and attachment to spirituality (devotional service to Lord Krishna and guru) is the only way that one can progress spiritually, and ultimately achieve his goal of going back home, back to Godhead. Therefore, the key is total detachment from this material world.

Srila Prabhupada's books, lectures, conversations and letters offer a comprehensive presentation of this essential subject as seen in the Vaniquotes Detachment category. An introduction from his books is given below in the following 9 quotes.

Quotes from Srila Prabhupada's books


vanipedia.org 		Impersonal spiritual detachment is more difficult than attaching the mind to the activities of Kṛṣṇa. This is practical because by hearing about Kṛṣṇa one becomes automatically attached to the Supreme Spirit. This attachment is called pareśānubhūti, spiritual satisfaction. It is just like the feeling of satisfaction a hungry man has for every morsel of food he eats. (Bhagavad-gītā 6.35)



vanipedia.org 		In the first process, Sāṅkhya, one has to become detached from matter, and in the devotional yoga process one has to attach himself to the work of Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Factually, both processes are the same, although superficially one process appears to involve detachment and the other process appears to involve attachment. Detachment from matter and attachment to Kṛṣṇa are one and the same. (Bhagavad-gītā 5.5)



vanipedia.org 		A blazing fire is visible by its exhibition of heat and light; similarly, when the living entity within the heart becomes enlightened with full spiritual knowledge and detached from the material world, he burns up his material covering of the five elements—earth, water, fire, air and sky—and becomes free from the five kinds of material attachments, namely ignorance, false egoism, attachment to the material world, envy and absorption in material consciousness. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.22.26)



vanipedia.org 		A detached person naturally prefers to live in a secluded place, he does not eat more than what he requires, and he controls the activities of his body and mind. He has no false ego because he does not accept the body as himself. Nor has he a desire to make the body fat and strong by accepting so many material things. Because he has no bodily concept of life, he is not falsely proud. He is satisfied with everything that is offered to him by the grace of the Lord, and he is never angry in the absence of sense gratification. (Bhagavad-gītā 18.51-53)



vanipedia.org 		A person who is very eager to accept sannyāsa, who is detached from worldly activities, who has no desire for any kind of material facilities, and who is thus saved from repeated birth and death is known as Āśrama. When a sannyāsī lives in a beautiful, solitary place in the forest and is freed from all material desires, he is called Vana. A sannyāsī who always lives in the forest and renounces all connection with the world in order to be elevated to the heavenly planets, where he can live in the Nandana-kānana, is called Araṇya. (Caitanya-caritāmṛta, Madhya-līlā 6.73)



vanipedia.org 		Knowledge means to know that the mission of the human form of life is to end all the miseries of material existence and that in spite of having to fulfill the bodily necessities in a regulated way, one must be detached from such animal life. Fulfilling the demands of the body is animal life, and fulfilling the mission of spirit soul is the human mission. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 3.3.19)



vanipedia.org 		The jñānīs, by culture of brahma-vidyā, spiritual knowledge, struggle very hard to get out of the clutches of material nature, but a devotee, by dint of his advancement in devotional service, automatically becomes detached from his material body. When the devotee's spiritual body begins to manifest, he actually enters into his activities in transcendental life. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 4.23.11)



vanipedia.org 		The whole process of spiritual culture is aimed at changing the heart of the living being in the matter of his eternal relation with the Supreme Lord as subordinate servant, which is his eternal constitutional position. So with the progress of devotional service, the reaction of change in the heart is exhibited by gradual detachment from the sense of material enjoyment by a false sense of lording it over the world and an increase in the attitude of rendering loving service to the Lord. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 2.3.24)



vanipedia.org 		The bhakti cult is meant for realization of the positive form. When the positive form is realized, the negative forms are automatically eliminated. Therefore, with the development of the bhakti cult, with the application of positive service to the positive form, one naturally becomes detached from inferior things, and he becomes attached to superior things. (Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 1.2.7)


Detachment - explore more within this category.

Vanipedia has now over 903 introductory articles compiled from Srila Prabhupada's books under the series titled Essential Subjects. All these articles can be seen in the Table of Content on the right side of this article and also here in this Umbrella Category. Browse through them to relish the breadth and depth of Srila Prabhupada's teachings - There is a subject for everyone.


   
 

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