Detachment
Spiritual practice helps us live in a space of sanctity and serenity—in spite of all the filth and turbulence around us. Though born in muddy waters, the lotus maintains her pristine purity, without suffering from any intrusion. Every morning she begins as a bud. When caressed by the rays of the sun, she opens. Water cannot wet her. Self-contained and illumined, she serves as a living example of our own possibilities.
	He who offers his actions to the eternal, relinquishing all attachment, is not affected by sin, just as the lotus leaf remains untouched by water. 5:10 (Bhagavad Gita)
O ice mountain of Shiva eternal source of the nourishing Ganges your detachment brings equalminded love and your discrimination bestows detachment
Adi Shankara(8th c.) tells of the bird with two wings, who transports us to liberation. His wings are: detachment from believing in the reality of the world, and the capacity to discriminate the Real from the unreal. When this soaring bird becomes our down-to-earth companion, our way is spontaneous and whole.
	Abandoning all desires born of egocentric will, restraining the senses by the mind—slowly and gradually—let no thoughts come, while the mind is held steadily in the Self. 6:24-25
The tree of life with root above helps us live in loving detachment. When we mistake the body for ourself, when we are identified with our opinions, emotions, thoughts and actions, our individual lives become limited, alienated, unconnected with the whole. Then the whole cannot nourish us and our soul sinks underground. When we are conscious of the root of life our body, opinions, emotions and actions are seen simply as part of one whole. We no longer need to be "right". We accept others. We accept ourselves. And the repetitive merry-go-round ceases. With the sword of Knowledge, may we cast away all ignorance—and live.
	The real form of this tree—its essence and foundation and end—is not seen by worldly people. Cut this firmly rooted tree of samsara with the strong axe of non-attachment. Then take refuge in that inner state from which there is no return. I seek refuge in that primeval Purusha, from which this universe was projected, from time immemorial. 15:3-4
True detachment never comes from withdrawal or not caring about the world. Detachment stems from very great love-a state that includes all. By attaching our aspirations to the higher, the higher supports us in every aspect of our lives, until we come to act without egoism. This separation of mind from matter leads to oneness with the universal spirit, and an ongoing sense of well-being and beneficence.
	The light of consciousness comes to him through infinite powers of perception, and yet he is above these powers. Though unattached to matter, he supports it all, while still experiencing it all. 13:14