Detachment

Detachment

Ashtavakra said:
9.1
Opposing forces,
duties done and left undone—
when does it end
and for whom?
Considering this, be ever desireless,
let go of all things,
and to the world turn an indifferent eye.
9.2
Rare and blessed is one
whose desire to live,
to enjoy and to know,
has been extinguished by observing
the ways of men.
9.3
Seeing all things as threefold suffering,
the sage becomes still.
Insubstantial, transient, contemptible--
the world is fit only for rejection.
9.4
Was there an age or time
men existed without opposites?
Leave the opposites behind.
Be content with what comes.
Perfection.
9.5
The greatest seers, saints and yogis
agree on very little.
Seeing this,
who could not be indifferent to knowledge
and become still
9.6
One who
through worldly indifference,
through serenity and reason,
sees his true nature and escapes illusion—
is he not a true teacher?
9.7
In the myriad forms of the universe
see the primal element alone.
You will be instantly free,
and abide in Self.
9.8
Desire creates the world--renounce it.
Renounce desires
and you renounce the world.
Now you may live as you are.