How to Develop Vairagya

How to Develop Vairagya

Study of Vairagya-Satakam of Bhartrihari, and the company of dispassionate Sadhus and Sannyasins will also help one in developing Vairagya. The temporary Vairagya which one gets when he is attending the funeral of a dead person and the Vairagya which a pregnant lady in pangs gets cannot help one to attain spiritual exaltation. The mind will pounce upon the objects when it gets opportunities.

Aspirants generally complain to me "Swamiji Maharaj, we are meditating for the last 12 years. But we do not know the reason why we have not made any substantial spiritual progress." This is due to lack of intense Vairagya only. The mind will be ever thinking of objects even during meditation. Intense Vairagya only can help the aspirant in attaining Self-Realization.

"Tarparampurushakyateh gunavaitrisnyam: Para-Vairagya or supreme non-attachment is that state wherein even the attachment to the qualities (Sattva, Rajas and Tamas) drops, owing to the knowledge of the Purusha." (Patanjali's Yoga Sutras : 1-16).

The Vairagya described earlier is Apara-Vairagya (lower one). Now comes supreme Vairagya. In the former state, there is preponderance or Sattva. Sattva is mixed with Rajas and Tamas. The Yogi gets Siddhis and becomes a Videha or Prakritilaya. But the Yogi with Para-Vairagya rejects the Siddhis also and gets Sakshatkara, or Darsan, of the Purusha.

In ordinary Vairagya there is a trace of Vasanas and desires. But in Para-Vairagya all Vasanas, Samskaras and desires are fried in toto. In Para-Vairagya there will be no desire at all. Perfect desirelessness is Para-Vairagya. In the Bhagavad Gita you will find: "Objects fall away from the abstinent man, leaving the longing behind. But his longing also ceases, who sees the Supreme." (11-59).

Note how Vairagya arises in the mind. The transitory, evanescent and perishable nature of all things creates a sort of disgust in all minds and in proportion to the depth and subtlety of nature, this reaction from the world works more or less powerfully in the mind of every individual. An irresistible feeling arises in our mind viz., that the finite can never satisfy the Infinite within us, that the changing and perishable cannot satisfy the change-less and deathless nature that is ours.

When you are not impressed with rich living, rich style of living cannot attract you. When you are impressed with the idea that meat and wine are not at all pleasurable, meat and wine cannot tempt you. When you are impressed that a woman is nothing but a leather-bag of pus, blood, urine, bones and flesh, woman cannot tempt you. In that case, if you fail to get meat or wine or woman, or to have a rich living, you will not be agonized at all in your mind.

Why are you attracted towards a young, beautiful lady? Have you ever seriously thought over this life-and-death problem? The answer is: because owing to your ignorance you vainly think you will get pleasure from her. If you have Vairagya and Viveka, it will at once tell you that you will get immense pain from her rather than pleasure. Then your mind will recede or withdraw from the object, viz., woman.

It is only when the mind, being divested of all its desires is indifferent to pleasure and pain and is not attracted by any object that it will be rendered pure, free from the grip of the great delusion like a bird freed from the cage and roaming about freely in the Akasa.

As soon as Vairagya arises in the mind, it opens the gate of Divine Wisdom. No true and lasting satisfaction comes from the enjoyment of worldly pleasures. Yet, people rush headlong towards objects, even when they know full well that the objects they are trying to seize are unreal and that the world in which they live is fraught with miseries of all sorts. This is Maya. When the mind rests in Atma then the only Nitya-Tripti, or eternal satisfaction comes. Because the Atman is Paripurna (All-Full). All desires are gratified by realization of Atma or Self.

Sometimes the mind gets disgusted with one kind of Sadhana. It wants some other kind of Sadhana. It rebels against monotony. The aspirant should know how to coax the mind on such occasions and to extract work from it by a little relaxation of mind. The cessation of Sadhana is a grave blunder. Spiritual practices should never be given up under any circumstances. Evil thoughts will be waiting to enter the gates of the mental factory. If the student of Yoga stops his Sadhana, his mind will become the devil's workshop. Do not expect anything. Be sincere and regular in your daily meditation, routine and Tapas. Do not deviate from the path you have chosen. The fruit will come by itself. Your efforts will be surely crowned with roaring success. It takes a long time to purify the mind and get one-pointedness. Be cool and patient my child.