Every day we renew our determination to be unattached. We
cast our eyes back and look at the past objects of our love and attachment, and
feel how every one of them made us miserable.
We went down into the depths of despondency because of our
“love”!
We found ourselves mere slaves in the hands of others, we
were dragged down and down!
And we make a fresh determination: “Henceforth, I will be
master of myself; henceforth, I will have control over myself.”
But the time comes, and the same story once more! Again the
soul is caught and cannot get out. The bird is in a net, struggling and
fluttering. This is our life.’
But the time comes, and the same story once more! Again the soul is caught and cannot get out. The bird is in a net, struggling and fluttering. This is our life.
Why do we end up trapped in this way? Though painfully aware of our pitiable condition, why do we not do what we know we ought to do? Why are we so tolerant of our weaknesses? Why can we not say ‘NO’ once and for all? Really, there can be no true spiritual progress until we develop the will to say ‘No’.
This turning away from nature, or saying ‘No’, has two dimensions. It is saying ‘No’ to ourselves, and ‘No’ to the world. The internal ‘No’ is the fight against our own pleasure-seeking samskaras. The external ‘No’ is rejection of the multifarious mundane demands of the world which continuously eats into our time and energies.
Swami Vivekananda