Should I practice detachment when situations anger me?.
When your mind and heart are truly open abundance will flow to you effortlessly and easily.
Question:
“I am enjoying a re-acquaintance with your writings, and discovering many of the new ones, since first reading Quantum Healing years ago.
I signed up for a workshop at your Chopra Center in New York City and am beginning to practice meditation.
But I have always come upon a real stumbling block in all Eastern religious philosophies, and that is the idea of detachment, and everything is unfolding in the Universe as it should, (“The Law of Least Effort” and “The Law of Detachment”: Seven Spiritual Laws of Success) when faced with human or animal pain and suffering at the hands of others.
How does one respond to seeing a helpless animal cruelly tortured (as they are daily by big agribusiness in factory farms: or a child forced into prostitution and raped, as they are in some countries.
Would you relax and let go, knowing that “this moment is as it should be because the whole Universe is as it should be” (Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, p. 63) and remain “open to all points of view and not be rigidly attached to any one of them?” Or would you personally step in and confront, remove, rescue, or otherwise impose your will upon the situation to try and alleviate the suffering?
Would you feel emotions of anger and rage, or would you be able to let go and experience complete detachment from the situation and the outcome?
How do you reconcile your stated philosophies when confronted by such situations? What if the child or animal was yours or related to you?
This is a major issue for me and actually has been keeping me awake at night, especially as I am trying to move into meditation and practicing the spiritual laws outlined in your books. But the pain and suffering of these creatures and children is something that can be helped, prevented, stopped, etc., by doing the opposite of what you recommend above: by confrontation, by force at times, by education of the public through exposure of the situations, legal suits, legislation, etc., all of which demand intense involvement and activism.”
Response:
The teachings of detachment and the law of least action do not imply you should be inactive in circumstances that demand action—far from it.
Detachment means you take whatever vigorous action that is in accordance with your true nature, not your ego mind.
Act, but without ego identification to the action. I encourage you to continue with the causes that mean so much to you, but if you can do them while remaining established in your silent witness, then your actions will have an even more powerful effect, and you will also be helping your own spiritual development.
When one comes to the understanding that everything is as it should be, that also includes your actions, motivations, and desires to help others.
It’s a common misunderstanding to think that finding detachment and peace means passivity.
For the spiritual aspirant, the trick is to carry on helping the less fortunate with all your passion and drive, but without ego and self-importance, that way you get yourself out of the way so Nature can come in to support the intention and accomplish the goal most effectively and with least effort.
Love,
Deepak
