Question: Can you please tell us about the importance of detachment on the spiritual path, the role it plays and how to cultivate it further?
Babaji:
Detachment is very, very vital for the mind to come back from its cravings and from the clinging on habits to some objects. As long as the mind thinks this world is real, this world is going to give it happiness, full contentment or any such imaginations, it will be after this world. It will not give up those objects, even if you try to remove this mind from one object, it will simply go and get stuck into another object, that is what happens. That is why detachment is very important.
This detachment can come to you when the mind can realize about the transitory phase of this world, this world cannot constantly give you happiness. It can never give you 100% peace or tranquillity. Just like, if you are sitting on a chair and there is a time bomb fitted underneath, the moment you are able to realize there is a time bomb which can burst any moment, you will put all your energy with full speed, you would definitely like to get up and run away from that spot to save yourself. In the same way, when the mind realizes this world is a time bomb, just ready to explode every time with unhappiness, tension, and simply a waste of energy and time, it can never give you true happiness and peace, when the mind realizes that, then the mind will go with its full thrust power towards the Self automatically. Just like a person getting up from the chair will run away, without any efforts from others, on his own he will run away quietly. Such a realization must occur to the mind, only then can the mind get into a total detachment and will come back towards the Self automatically.
