Yoga Sutras
By Kristin Tomlinson
Sutra I,15
“Non-attachment is the mastery of consciousness, wherein one is free from craving objects of enjoyment, whether they have been perceived or imagined from promises in scriptures.”
Alternate interpretation: “When the mind loses desire even for objects seen or described in a tradition or in scriptures, it acquires a state of utter desirelessness that is called non-attachment.”
This sutra articulates the importance of letting go of attachments, including aversions, to find freedom from them and to help better experience one’s own True Self. Although it is important to recognize and begin to let go of our recognized attachments on numerous levels, the part about being “perceived or imagined from promises in scriptures” is particularly intriguing to me from my own experiences.
Those who are drawn to various religious and philosophical pursuits can become extremely zealous that they have found the only true path, particularly when they have experienced personal change based on the teachings. Their way suddenly becomes the only way. They begin the process of becoming attached to the promises outlined in the texts, whether it is the Sutras, the Bible or the Koran, and the promises of the outcome whether it be the kingdom of heaven, martyrdom or self-realization.
When I first began to really dive into the study of yoga, I became very attached to the outcome and longing for the next level or experience. I became almost obsessed with whatever text or teaching that I was studying at the time. I was convinced it was the only way because I had personal experience of transformation. I became very rigid in my practice and hardened and defensive of this attachment whenever it was challenged or questioned. I wanted my family and friends to be as taken by it as I was and acknowledge in me the changes that I recognized in myself.
At the same time two of my brothers were equally taken by their religious conversion. They were equally attached and zealous about their text – the bible. You can imagine how closed down we became with each other as we defended the very texts that we clung to equally convinced this was the only path. I became what I accused them of being – hardened and blindly attached to only their way of thinking. We became attachment to the greatest promise of our teachings – non attachment!
It took time and practice to begin to overcome my jealous hold on my way of thinking as I began to recognize how clamped down on it I was. It even required me distancing myself from the teachings for awhile to find more balance in my practice. There is a danger to having the carrot dangled in front of our noses by the promise of the scriptures – or our own perceived outcome – and wanting it so badly we miss the point. But these attachments are the very things that teach us the important lesson of non attachment and I believe necessary steps on our journey.
I learned to let go of the attachment to outcome and therefore rigidity and self judgment in order to not judge others. There is no place to be but right where we are until we recognize through our practice that we have arrived somewhere else - without attachment.
