Inter- Faiths Dialogue

Detachement > About detachement

47 quote(s) | Page 1 / 2

A man who lived by digging graves survived
To ripe old age. A neighbour said: "You've thrived
For years, digging away in one routine -
Tell us the strangest thing you've ever seen."
He said: "All things considered, what's most strange
Is that for seventy years without a change
That dog, my self, has seen me digging graves,
Yet neither dies, nor alters, nor behaves!"

quote 4522 | Attar
The Conference of the Birds, p96

F rom endearment springs grief, from endearment springs fear; for him who
is wholly free from endearment there is no grief, much less fear.

From affection springs grief, from affection springs fear; for him who is
wholly free from affection there is no grief, much less fear.

From attachment springs grief, from attachment springs fear; for him who
is wholly free from attachment there is no grief, much less fear.

From lust springs grief, from lust springs fear; for him who is wholly
free from lust there is no grief, much less fear.

From craving springs grief, from craving springs fear; for him who is
wholly free from craving there is no grief, much less fear.

quote 4406 | Buddha Sakyamuni
Dhammapada 212-16

T o many it is not given to hear of the Self. Many, though they hear of
it, do not understand it. Wonderful is he who speaks of it. Intelligent
is he who learns of it. Blessed is he who, taught by a good teacher, is
able to understand it.

The truth of the Self cannot be fully understood when taught by an
ignorant man, for opinions regarding it, not founded in knowledge, vary
one from another. Subtler than the subtlest is this Self, and beyond all
logic. Taught by a teacher who knows the Self and Brahman as one, a man
leaves vain theory behind and attains to truth.

The awakening which you have known does not come through the intellect,
but rather, in fullest measure, from the lips of the wise....

Words cannot reveal him. Mind cannot reach him. Eyes do not see him.
How then can he be comprehended, save when taught by those seers who
indeed have known him?

quote 4361 | The Upanishads

T hrough constant effort over many lifetimes, a person becomes purified of
all selfish desires and attains the supreme goal of life.

quote 4325 | The Bhagavat Gita
Bhagavad Gita 6.45

W hen a man is free from all sense pleasures and depends on nothingness he
is free in the supreme freedom from perception. He will stay there and
not return again.

It is like a flame struck by a sudden gust of wind. In a flash it has
gone out and nothing more can be known about it. It is the same with a
wise man freed from mental existence: in a flash he has gone out and
nothing more can be known about him.

When a person has gone out, then there is nothing by which you can measure
him. That by which he can be talked about is no longer there for him; you
cannot say that he does not exist. When all ways of being, all phenomena
are removed, then all ways of description have also been removed.

quote 4288 | Buddha Sakyamuni
Sutta Nipata 1072-76

B eyond the senses is the mind, beyond the mind is the intellect, higher than the intellect is the Great Atman [the totality of all minds], higher than the Great Atman is the Umanifest. Beyond the Unmanifest is the Person, all-pervading, and imperceptible.

quote 4115 | The Upanishads
Katha Upanishad 2.3.7-8

Y ou cannot see my face; for man shall not see me and live.

quote 4111 | The Torah
Exodus 33.18-23

A s for goods and possession, the great man does not compete for them.

quote 4029 | Tchuang Tzu
Zhuangzi, chap.17 (shool of Tchuang Tzu), trad. A.C. Graham, 1981, p.150

H e who after passing from order to order, after offering sacrifices and subduing his senses, becomes, tired with (giving) alms and offerings of food, an ascetic, gains bliss after death. [...]

Departing from his house fully provided with the means of purification (Pavitra), (1) let him wander about absolutely silent, and caring nothing for enjoyments that may be offered (to him).

Let him always wander alone, without any companion, in order to attain (final liberation), fully understanding that the solitary (man, who) neither forsakes nor is forsaken, gains his end.

He shall neither possess a fire, nor a dwelling, he may go to a village for his food, (he shall be) indifferent to everything, firm of purpose, mediating (and) concentrating his mind on Brahman. . . .[…]

quote 3960 | The Law of Manu
VI, 33,34,41-43, Translation by G. Buhler in Sacred Books of the East, xxv (Oxford, 1886), pp. 204-10

1 Construed as either his capacities after having completed three states of life, or his 'equipment' such as staff and water-pot.

B ut having thus passed the third part of (a man's natural term of) life in the forest, he may live as an ascetic during the fourth part of his existence, after abandoning all attachments to worldly objects. (1)

quote 3958 | The Law of Manu
VI, 33, Translation by G. Buhler in Sacred Books of the East, xxv (Oxford, 1886), pp. 204-10

(1) Reference here is to the ideal four stages (ashramas) of the Brahman's life: student (brahmacarin), householder (grihastha), hermit or forest-dweller (vanaprastha), and finally, ascetic or mendicant (yati, bhikshu, parivrajaka, samnyasin).

T he road and ascent to God, then, necessarily demands a habitual effort to renounce and mortify the appetites; the sooner this mortification is achieved, the sooner the soul reaches the top. But until the appetites are eliminated, a person will not arrive, no matter how much virtue he practices. For he will fail to acquire perfect virtue, which lies in keeping the soul empty, naked, and purified of every appetite.

... Until slumber comes to the appetites through the mortification of sensuality, and until this very sensuality is stilled in such a way that the appetites do not war against the spirit, the soul will not walk out to genuine freedom, to the enjoyment of union with its Beloved.

quote 3844 | Saint John of the Cross
The Ascent Of Mount Carmel, I.5.6; Kavanaugh & Rodriguez, 1973; p. 83

H ow is this to be accomplished?
Let all else go!

quote 3669 | Plotinus
Enneads, 49:5:17; in Porphyry, Life Of Plotinus, Turnbull, 1936; p. 163

W hen a man surrenders all desires that come to the heart, and by the grace of God finds the joy of God in himself, then his soul has indeed found peace.

quote 3619 | The Bhagavat Gita
2:55; based on Mascaro, Juan, 1962

W hen a wise man has withdrawn his mind from all things without, and when his spirit has peacefully left all inner sensations' let him rest in peace, free from the movement of will and desire. ... For it has been said: There is something beyond our mind which abides in silence within our mind. It is the supreme mystery beyond thought. Let one's mind and subtle spirit rest upon that and nothing else.

... When the mind is silent, beyond weakness and distraction, then it can enter into a world which is far beyond the mind: the supreme Destination. ... Then one knows the joy of Eternity.

quote 3600 | The Upanishads
Maitri Upanishad, VI.19-23; based on Mascaro, Juan, 1965

H e is seen by a pure heart and by a mind whose thoughts are pure.
... When all desires that cling to the heart are surrendered, then a mortal becomes immortal, and even in this world he is one with Brahman.

quote 3597 | The Upanishads
Katha Upanishad, IV ; based on Mascaro, Juan, 1965

T hat person who has detached themselves from everything and who is detached, never glancing even for a moment at what they have given up, who remains steadfast, unmoved in themselves and immutable -- such a person alone has truly attained detachment.

quote 3529 | Meister Eckhart
Selected Writings. Trans. Oliver Davies. New York: Penguin Books USA, Inc., 1994, pp. 170-180

N ow there are certain people who turn from things out of love, but who still have great regard for what they have left. But those who understand in truth that even when they have given themselves up and have abandoned all things, this is still absolutely nothing -- those who live in this way, truly possess all things.

quote 3528 | Meister Eckhart
Selected Writings. Trans. Oliver Davies. New York: Penguin Books USA, Inc., 1994, p. 186

W e should learn to see God in all gifts and works, neither resting content with anything nor becoming attached to anything. For us there can be no attachment to a particular manner of behavior in this life, nor has this ever been right, however successful we may have been.

quote 3526 | Meister Eckhart
Selected Writings. Trans. Oliver Davies. New York: Penguin Books USA, Inc., 1994, p. 40

W hoever, therefore, with a pure, simple heart lifts his intention up to God and empties out of himself all inordinate love or displeasure over any worldy thing will be the more ready to receive grace and will be the best worthy to have the gift of devotion. Where our Lord finds the vessel empty and void, there He gives His blessing, and the more perfectly a man can renounce himself and all the worldly things, and by despising himself can the more die to himself, so much the sooner will grace come and enter more plenteously into him and lift his heart higher unto God. Then his heart will see and be rich, and will marvel and be dilated within him, for the grace of our Lord is with him and he has completely put himself into His hand forever.

quote 3510 | Thomas a Kempis
The Imitation of Christ. Trans. Richard Whitford, moderenized by Harold C. Gardiner. New York: Doubleday, 1955, p. 231

S aid by God:) Think all the world as nothing and prefer My service before all things, for you cannot have your mind fixed on Me and at the same time delight in transitory pleasure.

quote 3505 | Thomas a Kempis
The Imitation of Christ. Trans. Richard Whitford, moderenized by Harold C. Gardiner. New York: Doubleday, 1955, pp. 184-185

K eep yourself as a pilgrim and a stranger here in this world, as one to whom the world's business counts by little. Keep your heart free, and always lift it up to God.

quote 3503 | Thomas a Kempis
The Imitation of Christ. Trans. Richard Whitford, moderenized by Harold C. Gardiner. New York: Doubleday, 1955, p. 65

W e must set our axe deep to the root of the tree, so that, purged from all passion, we may have a quiet mind.

quote 3502 | Thomas a Kempis
The Imitation of Christ. Trans. Richard Whitford, moderenized by Harold C. Gardiner. New York: Doubleday, 1955, p. 43

I will be a saint' means I will despoil myself of all that is not God; I will strip my heart of all created things; I will live in poverty and detachment; I will renounce my will, my inclinations, my whims and fancies, and make myself a willing slave to the will of God.

quote 3496 | Mother Teresa
Something Beautiful for God : Mother Teresa of Calcutta

L et us renounce our self-love and self-will, and our attachment to earthly things. Let us practise penance, prayer, mortification, obedience, and all the other good works that you know of… Let the skilkworm die -- let it die, as in fact it does when it has completed the work which it was created to do. Then we shall see God and shall ourselves be as completely hidden in His greatness as is this little worm in its cocoon…

quote 3477 | Saint Teresa of Avila
Interior Castle. Trans. E. Allison Peers. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc., 1990, p. 106, Fifth Mansions, Chapter 2, Paragraph 7

H e therefore who has died to the world -- for this is the cross -- and lives no longer himself, but it is Christ Who lives in him (Gal. 2:20); who has mortified his earthly members (Col. 3:5), that is, the passionate sensations of the body, such that he has become no longer a participant in any passion or evil lust: how, tell me, can he take in any kind of passionate sensation, or surrender to any movement of pleasure, or ever be troubled in his heart?

quote 3428 | Saint Symeon the New Theologian
On the Mystical Life : The Ethical Discourses. Trans. Alexander Golitzin. Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1996, (Vol. 2), p. 76

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