Love and Detachment

Real detachment is not merely running away and leaving everything. Rather, it is that pure state of the mind in which all desires are burnt up by going beyond all attractions of the world. But without understanding, detachment is an impossibility. When such a state is combined with the longing to meet the Lord, it is called love. Therefore, love and detachment are not two different qualities. They are two separate names for the same state of mind.

One may be termed a devotee or a lover in proportion to the degree of his detachment. Those who do not possess love for God in their hearts do not have even a particle of detachment. As the mind becomes free from desires, to that extent is it filled with love. One who is steeped in attachment for the world cannot be a lover. You should bow before God by saying good-bye to worldly desires; otherwise the prayer is not genuine.

Detachment and True Love are one and the same thing. So long as the mind does not have an aversion to worldly desires it cannot attract love. No doubt it has been noted that sometimes devotees, in the beginning, in spite of being detached, do ask God for material necessities. There is no harm in this, provided, one is treading the Spiritual Path with the proper attitude and not for the fulfilment of any desire connected with the senses.

I need only the bare necessities of life; that is, wheat flour, a pinch of salt, a little pulse – as much as will keep me alive. Then I also need a bed, a pillow, a mattress and a blanket to protect me against the wind and cold. I do not want anything else except the privilege of being devoted to Thee with all humility. I have no other desires except Thy Name.

Kabir

Actually, a detached devotee never seeks anything from the Lord. He asks for only Him, because everything else is transitory and is the cause of pain.

To demand anything from Thee beyond (Thyself) will cause nothing but worry and pain. Oh Bless me Thou with Thy Blissful Name that I am rid of the craving of my mind.

Adi Granth

Such a devotee does not ask for anything from the Lord, because he does not feel the need. His pains, worries and prejudices are all destroyed. Whoever has tasted the elixir of love will not run after anything else, and whatever he says will be acceptable in the Court of the Lord. This means that a devotee of this kind will not pay any attention to any material thing.

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