CHAPTER 2
HOW TO GIVE UP ATTACHMENT
Is Attachment a Gem or Grime
In attachment, every scene is a snake,
In Silence2, every scene is a ladder;
Let us not be blinded by attachment,
illusion or ignorance,
Let us be bonded to God.
Tejguru Sirshree Tejparkhiji
How will you give up attachment? You will give it up when you learn that attachment is not a gem, but it is grime. If you believe attachment to be a gem, you will take extreme care, keep polishing and holding on to it. In the glare of attachment, a person becomes blind. A blind man guides the other blind man into the muddle of obsession.
2 Silence or Moun is the state beyond sound and silence, beyond speech and thought. Words appear from this inner silence and also disappear in it. There is silence between every word. There is silence between every thought. On the paper of silence, the words of thought are written. To attain that silence is to attain Self.
In the light of ‘Tejgyan’3 or Bright Wisdom’ attachment will look like muck and then it would be very easy to give it up. For example, when dirt sticks to your hands, you rush to the tap to clean it up as soon as possible. When there is filth on your body, you immediately rush to take a shower for safety of your health. Why do these things happen? It is because you love to be healthy and you want to be free of infection. The sludge of attachment is an obstacle in this process. Hence, it is necessary not to be blinded by the glare and dazzle of attachment, but to see it with clarity. As soon as the attachment is brought to light, one realizes its reality and becomes free from the life of servitude and dependency.
When we sweep the floor in the house, all the rubbish collected is thrown into the dustbin. We do not call this activity as ‘giving charity’. We do not keep count of it either. Why don’t we do that? It is because when we are throwing away trash, there is no question of calling it a sacrifice. Sacrifice or giving up comes in when something precious is given away. Throwing away garbage is not sacrifice, but only common sense. If you can treat attachment and obsession as trash, it will not be difficult to give it up and get liberated from it. When you become a preceptor of the divine or Tej, you take a divorce from the slavery of attachment.
3 Tej signifies that which is beyond duality or polarities. Gyan means knowledge. Tejgyan is the wisdom beyond knowledge and ignorance – the knowledge of the final truth.