SPIRITUAL FREEDOM THROUGH NON-ATTACHMENT


Many spiritual traditions deal with not identifying and attaching to thoughts, emotions, or material objects. Let’s probe into this idea more deeply. In Hinduism, the pre-historic Bhagwat Gita mentions Nishkama Karma, which prophesies that one should perform their duties and responsibilities with total devotion and dedication while not being attached to the fruits of those actions. 

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This approach helps individuals concentrate and centralize on the effort of any process rather than by the wish for rewards or recognition. Reducing stress from expectations promotes and enhances mental peace. It fosters a sense of stability and honesty in one’s actions. It aligns with expressing and applying one’s best effort while accepting whatever the outcome, teaching the value-based significance of performance with unselfish action.

Inner liberation is realized by not identifying and attaching to thoughts, feelings, and actions – one transcends the limitations imposed by fear, outer demands, influences, and the ego—a state of being where one fully embraces the true self. Spiritual freedom encloses and enfolds social and spiritual liberation, cultivating prosperity in both material and spiritual realms. This concept is relevant and essential because there are always several dimensions in everyone’s thoughts of ‘me and mine,’ where one identifies and attaches, getting trapped to what one holds dear—social or material— more concerned about the favorable outputs of the results rather than being in the present entirely devoted into the present task at hand.

These attachments further restrict us to many feelings, behaviors, and self-concepts, swaying us from the actual task at hand depending on the emotional degree and relationships we feel and expect out of them. According to Webster, attachments are the complex emotional ties that involve a person and aim or nurture an individual securely. In contrast, identification is the action or process of identifying someone or something known to them or the fact of being identified: the association of linking one with another.

The above interplay is undoubtedly vital in the material world as it reveals a person’s sociological mental development. However, examining attachment styles and moving towards that core-centered identification enables the person to awaken that inner self, the soul, and to watch and witness how your thoughts are full of expectations, always demanding this or that from the outer world. 

On the other hand, while seeking spiritual freedom, one must gradually forgo identifications and attachments to everything that the mind selfishly desires and demands while transcending toward higher consciousness for the sake of selfless spiritual love leading towards absolute freedom. It can come from the mind only from within and not from outer influences, that too in deep connection with one’s soul, spirit, and divine self. In such a state, a person is away from emotional desires, societal expectations, or the need for outer recognition, permitting one to live freely, spiritually, and authentically with righteousness for a higher purpose.

Another critical factor in the journey of spiritual transcendence is the mind’s existence while functioning in a dualistic nature. In material life, we often have conflicts between positive and negative, good and evil, happiness and sadness, pleasure and pain, divine and devil, etc. The mind cannot operate without getting trapped in duality in a cycle of attachment/ detachment, lust, and greed, eventually leading to inner conflict and suffering.

Achieving spiritual freedom means moving beyond this dual-thinking mind and realizing life’s oneness or unity. Learning about absolute nature – how to surrender and accept happiness and sadness with equal respect and grace is the art of non-dual living. This state of being is commonly associated with spiritual practices while introspecting the mind going through a life of duality. In this case, the individual’s experiencing and realization of absoluteness takes you to a deeper connection toward that inner divine comprising universal awareness. In such nonduality, there is no separation into momentary this or that to appear and disappear for the mind’s likes and dislikes. We refer to it as the spirit vibrating within the mind in spiritualism.

Therefore, spiritual freedom entails a journey, and it requires ongoing inner work, patience, and a willingness to release old egoist patterns to embrace a deeper understanding of life. To gain spiritual freedom, one must adhere to some practices, such as constantly being self-aware through introspecting, journaling, or contemplation. Besides that, reducing dependency on wealth, status, and external validation authentically and morally confirms that your spiritual feelings or opinions are valid and worthwhile. Further, cultivating gratitude for what you have and not craving for what you don’t, recognizing that the ego is that false self, transcending in higher consciousness, and avoiding the mind’s characterizations like self-esteem, pride, and envy are necessary for experiencing spiritual liberation.

There are also a few other practices in the spiritual journey, where you practice mindfulness, forgiveness, selflessness, presence of mind, empathy, etc. However, most importantly, you must refrain the mind from identifying with what you are attached to. Because at the heart of spiritualism lies the idea of transcending the ego. The ego, often called the false self, is the totality of the ever-demanding, sensuous mind. This part identifies and attaches to your persona (false mask) concerning social status, material possessions, and personal identity. All this creates a sense of comparison, jealousy, possessiveness, bitterness, spite, discontent, dissatisfaction, resentment, and separation from others, further fuelling wants, fear, and anxieties. When you identify and attach too closely to your ‘me and mine,’ you fall into a trap in a cycle of suffering, constantly seeking something or the other from the outside world. Remember, you are not that body, mind, or the individual soul, but the spirit embedded in the mind, celebrating through the soul the dualities of a transitory life in male or female – creating, sustaining, destroying, and recreating from its enigmatic vibrations in multiple frequencies.

While practicing non-identification/ non-attachment, spiritual seekers experience the art of self-awareness, a fundamental requirement in spirituality to realize the ego’s influence on the mind. Non-attachment to the ego allows us to see our true essence, not bound by names or labels. Only then do we experience a deeper connection to our inner self and the Universe, understanding that the true self is part of a larger whole in unity and continuity? Experiencing such a realization leads to peace and harmony, and the individual no longer needs to defend or uphold a false sense of self.

Attachment is more of clinging to people, things, or experiences, hoping they bring extra happiness or fulfillment. The material world is impermanent—relationships change, possessions exchange and new circumstances develop. We should never forget that expectations emerging from attachments are proportional to hurt. The higher the expectation, the more will be the hurt. 

Spiritualism strongly emphasizes the practice of non-attachment, not to be cold-hearted or indifferent, but to accept and participate in the impermanent nature of life with equal respect and grace. Life will persist in duality, for us to choose between the divine or the devil. Always be cautious, and select the righteous path toward materialism to satisfy transient desires without identifying or attaching to anything, as everything is bound to appear and disappear in space and time. 

When we cultivate such a mindset of non-attachment, we learn to appreciate everything around us with due regard, not necessarily try to possess or control them in any manner. We step toward balancing the material with the spiritual with a higher sense of freedom, not being bound to external happiness. Instead, we realize contentment within, fastened with the feeling that it is in giving that we receive, and in divine deeds, we experience that divinity to awaken that divineness sleeping within.

The Vedas in Hinduism outline four universal goals or purposes of human life, wherein the last and the most important is the fourth goal: liberation, or spiritual freedom. In religion, we consider this freedom from the cycle of birth and death. In contrast, spirituality provides methods and techniques for non-identifying and non-attaching, which leads to this liberation. As we drop the ego from its identifications and attachments, we loosen up and gradually liberate ourselves from the fantasies and restrictions that bind us firmly to the material planes.

The importance of not identifying and attaching to what we feel, think, and act is of supreme importance. The methods to engage are standard and necessary for people who wish to find peace of mind and development or release from the pain of the ego and the emotional attachments to the world. Rising above selfishness, renouncing attachments, living in the now, and developing dispassion, one gets in touch with one’s universal essence. This path of awakening brings happiness, the feeling of freedom, and a deep connection to everything that exists.

I reiterate non-attachment does not imply not feeling, wanting, or not having it; it is a technique that assists one in developing the strength of being non-attached so that one does not become weak and suffer. Aiding oneself in letting go of all the attachments is learning to realize and remember that all features are impermanent in life.

Accepting that all things will have an end will also make it easier for us to let go of material possessions and even relationships. 

Do not be possessive to the one you love; remember that loving someone without expecting anything in return provides that freedom, which will make you rise in love; otherwise, you will – fall in love. This pure love for our children means accepting their individuality, not wanting anything in return, but only giving and guiding them to transcend righteously to balance the material with the spiritual.

Siddhartha Gautama Buddha, born as a prince in the Hindu Kingdom, lived a palatial life with a wife and one child. After encountering impermanence and suffering, he left his palace seeking spiritual enlightenment to find out how to end all suffering. Eventually, after strict fasting, asceticism, and penance for many years, he realized that neither luxury nor deprivation could lead one towards spiritual freedom or enlightenment. Nirvana- the path to liberation, the essence of his teaching primarily indicates that you can overcome suffering by not identifying and not attaching to any desire.

As we gradually learn the principle of non-attachment, the need to be mindful gradually gains significance in the overall scheme. Mindfulness promotes ‘now-ness,’ where one does not attach to brood over an event that has passed or one that has not yet occurred.
This capacity allows us to concentrate on the present, garnering all our strength centered and focused without wasting our energy considering the fruits of our efforts.

Apart from enlightenment, the freedom brought about by non-attachment is considerably uplifting. It inspires the human spirit to appreciate the essence of the present moment, to offer love without the need to possess it, and to understand that nothing lasts forever. By nurturing this attitude, we improve ourselves and help create liveable communities where all freely and fully give and receive love.

We should embrace the preciousness of every moment of our lives. Such an open perspective helps us realize our interrelations with all living organisms and opens the way to non-attachment. Every moment allows us to foster kindness and understanding, overcoming selfishness and anxieties. In the non-attachment environment, we understand the depth of the beauty of relations we experience – even without possession – and know when to let go of them.

Let us acknowledge and accept the waves of life energies in the physical, mental, and spiritual play with all its treasures, joys, and desirous dreams. In this show of existence within the realm of material and the spiritual, may we find joy in the now, love freely and peacefully without identifying or attaching with our ego mind, and resolve to exist without doubts to realize this fact that we are fundamentally spiritual beings going through human experiences?

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