Connection and Attachment … A careful approach in the journey of Self-Development

With an observant view of close associates, in personal and professional life journey, on the way each one of us lives our lives, and our response pattern to external stimuli and situation, I came to the realization that most of us begin with connecting and then develop a tendency to get “attached”, in case connection in a relationship is sustained over a period of time for a specific cause. Attachment often leads to stress and strained relationships as it binds emotionally.

In Human relationships, connection gets converted into attachment at subtle physical or vital level when one of the objects gets converted into subject due to affinity / preferences we develop when connection follows a pattern of repetition. This realisation worked very well with me to have a more objective view of relationships for improved mind body balance. On introspection, it looks that our relationships are akin to an object and subject connected with an energy flowing between the two. As electrical energy flows to a gadget till the gadget is connected through a connector to the source of energy. The same analogy is to be applied in our relationships as in each relationship, one is a receiver and the other is a receiver to facilitate flow of emotional energy. The important thing to understand is that while the energy flow at gross level stops when we get disconnected, but at the subtle physical or vital level the flow continues and this leads to the illusion of attachment.

During the course of my interactions with close family members and also professional colleagues, attachment caused a sense of clinginess to a close family member or a situation or an object, and this led to reactive mode of behaviour leading to emotional trauma. It happened when my parents left their moral body a few years back, as old memories of time spent together caused challenges to move ahead in life and living in the present. I faced this kind of situation in executing daily routine tasks, may be as simple as the route to be followed for morning walks or even watching TV shows or social media groups.

I tried to decipher the fine line of difference between attachment and connection by reading scriptures, thoughts of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother and listening to talks of spiritual leaders. A key learning has been that we need to be careful in ensuring that we attach with aspirational role models as this brings improvement in daily living and helps progress in the self-development journey.

- Pranav Srivastava (India) 

Comments

Post a Comment

Thanks for posting a comment.

Popular posts from this blog

A Spiritual Retreat and Seekers’ Delight in the Heart of Delhi – Sri Aurobindo Ashram

During a recent visit to Delhi, a one-night stay at  TAPASYA  Guest house in Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Delhi premises was a serene experience. This visit, after a gap of many years, after I moved to Ahmedabad many years back in year 2000, was a delightful witnessing of the exponential growth in Ashram activities in a serene environment. What continues are sustaining Core Values imbibed from the holistic approach of Integral Yoga for all-round development of Individual Self and also the Ashram community as a whole. I could notice many resemblances in the way of life of Ashramites in Pondicherry Ashram and Delhi Ashram. This is probably due to the legacy of Sri Surendra Nath Jauhar "Chachaji", an ardent devotee of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother, further nurtured by Sushri Tara Didi. My last visit to the Ashram was in 1996 with my father, Dr. Devaki Nandan Srivastava, as my father was also closely connected with Sri Aurobindo Society and Ashram. Though being in touch with activities o...
Read more

Let Go and Call Her

When you dig and dig some more to find out why something bothers you so much, it hurts. When you discover, or at least you think you have discovered, the real reason why something bothers you so much, it hurts. When you figure out that the real reason why something bothers you so much has to do with your egoistic preference, it hurts. When you understand that your egoistic preference is nothing but your unwillingness to accept what is happening in the present, it hurts. When you accept that you are unwilling to accept the present moment because you fail to surrender to the deeper wisdom that is guiding your life’s journey through all the veils of ignorance, it hurts. When you realize that you are unable to surrender to the deeper wisdom because you lack faith and trust in the Divine’s Plan for you, it hurts. It hurts because you now see clearly the working of the ego which kept you deluded as to how much faith and trust you had in the Divine and Its Working. It hurts because this is no...
Read more

Importance of "JAPA" in Spiritual journey to realise the Divine

Right from my childhood days till now, I have observed seekers on spiritual journey using "JAPA" (repetition of a mantra or a hymn) as a daily practice in most of the religions, be it Hinduism, Christianity or Buddhism or any other) across the different parts of the world during my travels to different places. It had been a curiosity in me in earlier days and now a realisation that this is perhaps a simple and proven way to connect and be in resonance with the chosen form of Divine (be it a Deity or a Sound or most cherished role model). This thought gets reinforced as we read the scriptures and stories of the transformational journey of Saints and spiritual leaders who chose "Bhakti Marg" (Sadhana through Devotion) as the path to tread in their spiritual journey and realisation of Self and its communion with Divinity in the form of the chosen Deity. Contemplation on JAPA as a Daily Practice and then self experince in doing JAPA in early mornings and late evening ho...
Read more