In the Light of Patanjali
By ViGo
Table of Contents
What does Vairagya truly mean?
Vairagya is often translated as non-attachment. It is actually a very poor translation, because there is no equal word in English for that Sanskrit depth. When the mind hears non-attachment, it immediately creates an idea; withdrawal, indifference, distance. But what the mind understands at first is only an indication; it is not the depth of the word.
Vairagya means associating properly with what is, not simply detachment. The right association of life with existence is Vairagya, meaning you are attached to what needs to be attached to, and you are non-attached to what need not be.
For certain things you need to be attached, such as what naturally comes with you into this creation. You cannot even say you have to attach to them; they are already attached to you. In fact, what is already attached to you is you.
Life and situations
Whatever is happening in life, however intense it may appear, it is happening outside. The beauty of creation is that everything is made to happen outside. Then why should you be affected inside?
If there is ignorance, outside happenings disturb you; you become attached and affected. But if there is clarity, outside remains outside and inside remains inside. Life has to go through situations, but what has happened until now is a reversal: instead of life going through situations, situations are going through life. That is ignorance.
When life goes through situations, experience enriches you. When situations go through life, you suffer and feel hurt or defeated. That suffering is created by ignorance. If there is clarity, every experience becomes enrichment. That enrichment brings strength, ease, and understanding. That clarity is Vairagya.
With what you are, you have to stay
Consider the body, you are constantly with your body as long as you carry your life on this planet. You cannot say, “I will not attach to my body.” But if you say, “I am attached to my body,” then who is that “I” who is attached? That itself gives a clear-cut understanding: you are not only the body.
At the same time, if something happens to the body, naturally life is affected. If there is pain in the back, you cannot run or lift weight. So what is Vairagya here? Proper alignment. What needs to be attached, attach. What need not be attached, do not attach to. It is not a fixed mental position, it is clarity.
Vairagya cannot mean moving away from what you are, because with what you are, you have to stay.
Abhyasa and the infinite
Practical guidance into asana practice during Yoga Sastra Sanganam, 9th International Conference on Yoga in Kanyakumari
That is why Patanjali speaks of Abhyasa (practice) and Vairagya together. If non-attachment were the teaching in a superficial sense, then why to practise postures? If you are non-attached to the body, why work with it? As you practice posture, the body is expressed in such a way that it moves towards Ananta Samapattibhyam; it becomes light, balanced, effortless. It begins to express an infinite dimension.
For something infinite, you cannot say whether you are attached or non-attached to it. Try to attach to something infinite, it is impossible. Or try to detach from it, that is also impossible. It is there, and you are that. For what you truly are, there is no question of attachment or detachment.
Attachment and detachment
Attachment comes into discussion only when something is seen as separate. For example, if someone carries a mobile phone everywhere, people say he is attached to his phone. But from birth until death you carry your hand with you, and nobody says you are attached to your hand. Why? Because it is understood as you.
In the same way, when something is understood as you, there is no question of attachment. When something is perceived as separate, attachment and detachment arise.
Even non-attachment can become an attachment if it is held as a mental position. Suppose you decide you are completely non-attached to relationships. If you meet your brother or a close friend on the street, will you turn away? Then you are attached to non-attachment, so non-attachment itself has become your attachment.
Non-attachment does not mean rejecting life; it means not getting attached to any kind of definition constructed in the mind. That is why Vairagya has an infinite dimension. It does not mean leaving home, clothes, or relatives. In its vast meaning, it indicates that you are attached to everything and, at the same time, attached to nothing.
You are ready to be nothing, and you are ready to be everything. In that readiness there is no conflict.
Aligning with what is
Right alignment is not based on personal liking or disliking, it means aligning with what is. What is there is there, tomorrow something else may be there. Life is not moving according to your concept. When you stop resisting what is already there, clarity is present, that clarity is Vairagya.
All these expressions, Vairagya, Aham Brahmasmi, Ishvara Pranidhana, Satsang, point towards the same understanding from different directions; they speak about life itself.
Thillai Nataraja Temple in Chidambaram, dedicated to Lord Shiva as Nataraja, the Lord of Dance
Life is open for every happening
Consider a container. If you open it and pour water, it accepts water. If you pour tea, it accepts tea. Juice, wine, any liquid, it accepts. It does not choose, it has no preference. In the same way, when there is openness, life is open to every happening. Such vastness must be there in you. A container that can contain truth is beautiful.
For what you are, you do not get attached, but for what you are not, you do. You may fear losing your phone, but you do not fear losing your hand while you sleep, because you know clearly that it is you. When you are open to being anything in life, you do not get attached to anything. And when you are not attached to anything, everything is already there.
Witnessing and knowing the Self
Human life is extraordinary because there is witnessing capacity; you can know the Self. That possibility makes human birth precious. It is a springboard to an infinite dimension; you can jump to any level you wish.
Such a possibility opens through the practice of Yoga. It opens through whatever path you choose to know yourself. That is why even in Greek philosophy, “know thyself” plays a very important role. Knowing the Self is essential in life.
See what possibility creation has given you. To reach the state of humanity, we have all made such a long journey. Even if you consider the evolutionary process from the angle of science – from amoeba and even less evolved forms, through millions and millions of years – now we are at the pinnacle, at the top of this evolutionary journey.
Having reached here, in what direction are we moving?
Do we merely adapt to life? Or do we understand the possibilities given in this human birth? Do we know the Self? Do we practice Yoga? Do we utilise time rightly?
If you are constantly engaged in actions, constantly engaged in life, where is the space for Self-reflection?
Actions are not so important. What action did you do yesterday? Who cares? In the same way, whatever action has been done, every action fades away. Actions are for the purpose of creating right experiences. If an action creates right experiences, it creates right alignment. Right alignment leads to Self-reflection. Without Self-reflection, there is no Self-improvement.
That is why it is very important in life to create space for Self-expression and Self-reflection, wherever you are. If you are travelling in a train, be present. Do not constantly engage; create space.
Ultimately, there is only one thing to be understood: life. Thoughts are part of life, worry is part of life, ego is part of life. Past and future are tools. When everything has its place, there is right formation.
Then the real nature of the Self is revealed
When there is alignment, what you are becomes evident
When everything has its place, life begins to form rightly. Formation is different from attachment. When life forms rightly, you become that form itself, you become life itself. You do not carry something else as an attachment.
When you are non-attached, things attach by themselves exactly where and how they need to attach, and right formation happens naturally.
In that formed life there is a place for thinking, a place for worrying, a place for planning, a place for visualising, a place for imagination. For everything there is a place. They are rightly aligned, and they create the right form. This becomes life in completeness.
When I carry this completeness with me, whatever action needs to be done, I do. I carry this hand completely. If I want to write, I write. If I want to lift a stone, I lift.
But suppose I say, “I will use only three fingers.” I will write with three fingers. Then, if a big stone appears that I must lift, can I lift it with three fingers? Impossible. Because there is no complete form.
That is why: do not accept anything and do not reject anything. Be with life in its totality, in its completeness, in being one with life. That is union.
This alignment is what Patanjali expresses as tada drashtuh svarupe avasthanam. Sva means Self, Rupa means Form. Then the real nature of the Self is revealed.
When there is alignment, what you are becomes evident. There is no confusion about attachment or detachment. The body is there, the mind is there, love is there, bliss is there. Nothing is denied and nothing is exaggerated, everything is in its right place.
Vairagya is clarity in life, not withdrawal from life. To align with what is, is completeness.
