Aparigraha. Mysore Indian 2007
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Living in India has made me more aware of this ‘Yama’ (or abstinence). Aparigraha is non-possessiveness, non-hoarding, not desiring more than we actually need. But this I feel (and from what I am witnessing on a day-to-day basis) is that this is not only in material things but in our minds and attitudes.
With attachment to our possessions (car, home, clothes, jewelry, people we love, children, husbands, wives) comes with more time spent worrying about them and hoarding onto them than considering the deeper dimensions in life. It seems that the more ‘things’ we acquire, the more time we spend ‘protecting’ them.
I know that I for one have caught myself doing this. Upon acquiring a new laptop, for instance, I became protective of it. And what good did that do me? We come into this world with nothing and we leave with nothing.
Perhaps, then, that with the mental mind stuff this is true too? We hoard and hold onto our identity with such force. Our energy put into the bonus, the bigger house, the bigger garden etc. With it more responsibility, with it more stress. This has certainly been something that I have sat back and thought about over the past few days. As I sit watching and observing the life around me.
“When the mind becomes calm and clear by being free of desires and obligations, we gain the capacity to see how our desires caused our present birth. We directly see the relationship because we are detached from it; we are no longer bound up with it.”
- Translation Yoga Sutras II:39 Sri Swami Satchidananda.
In some ways I suppose this thinking (of having things especially that show status) has stemmed from the life I live at home. Lots of energy placed into things that ultimately will not be ours when we leave this world. Here there seems to be energy and effort put into the bare minimum because most here only have the bare minimum.
“What do we gain from the ideas that we hold about ourselves, our families, our community, and the world around us? What options do we eliminate by holding on to these ideas?When we are busy holding on to our perceived accomplishments and failures, we become attached to these as part of our identity. The act of holding onto identity formed in the past blocks us from forming new identity in the present and future. In areas that we consider ourselves to have some expertise (work, hobbies, even familiar emotional states), we can come to believe that we are knowledgeable and accomplished, rather than continuing to foster a sense of curiosity and seeking new experiences. “
- Mr. Desikachar’s translation of Yoga Sutras II:39:
As I live in this dual world I understand more and more and with each day all that India offers
New feelings come to light each and everyday. My aim is to watch them, acknowledge them, and then release, let them go. Non - hoard. Apraigraha.
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