Detachment
Freedom from our Possessions

As spiritual beings that live within this material realm, many of us often struggle with detachment from the material things of this world. We think that we must deprive ourselves of material comforts in order to be fully detached. But, as we see in the quote below, detachment does not mean that we must give up everything that makes our lives more comfortable.

 “Detachment does not consist in setting fire to one's house, or becoming bankrupt or throwing one's fortune out of the window, or even giving away all of one's possessions. Detachment consists in refraining from letting our possessions possess us. A prosperous merchant who is not absorbed in his business knows severance. A banker whose occupation does not prevent him from serving humanity is severed. A poor man can be attached to a small thing.” 

(Abdu'l-Baha, Divine Philosophy, p. 135)

Rather, let us remember that we may own possessions, but they should not own us. Lately it seems as though we have seen a number of conflicts and natural disasters that have taken away so much from people who had already been living with so little. When we see these things happen it makes us think about our own lives and what we can and can’t live without. Perhaps we can use this as an opportunity to examine ourselves and figure out what we can do without. It may be that the latte we HAVE to have every morning isn’t really all that important, or perhaps we don’t really NEED to go out to dinner every night. Are the things that we ‘need’, ‘have to have’ and ‘can’t live without’ really necessities? Or are we just letting our possessions get the better of us?

Since we are already on the subject, we started considering a couple of ways in which we can think about or practice detachment.

• Pray or meditate at least once a day for ten days. At the end of those days reflect on how you feel. Have you noticed any changes?
• Think about a cause you are passionate about. How can you use your wealth, time, talent, etc. to help that cause?
• Do you keep a journal/diary? If you do, look back at the past few months. What takes up most of your writing? Are these things of a material or spiritual nature?
• Try to be conscious/more aware of how you treat others, even strangers, during your day. Are you treating those people in a way that you expect to be treated?

If you have already thought about some ways that help you stay detached please add a comment and tell us about them.