In Part I, I explored abhyasa (practice) and what it looks like on retreat. You can read that post here. Now, in part 2 of our 2024 Retreat theme digestible tidbits, we explore vairagya.   Sit down, have a favorite beverage and take in a few minutes of either anticipation for our gathering or pondering these concepts for your life.

Now, pause and breathe in. 

Breathe out longer……  ahhhhh  that’s better.

View the triangle.

Note abhyasa and vairagya on the sides.  They are supported by a foundation of scriptural study (including following an ethical code and other practices for growing spiritually).   Inside - all of it - is held together by radical trust in God.

Pause and breathe in. 

Breathe out longer……

Next, read how vairagya is described in the Yoga Sutra of Patanjali as the state when “… the mind ceases to thirst for anything it has seen or heard of; even what is promised in the scriptures.  It acquires a state of desirelessness which is called non-attachment (also translated as freedom or dispassion).   This is the triumphant state of consciousness that is beyond the influence of desire.  Higher non-attachment, (freedom, dispassion) is a total absence of craving for anything material, which comes by discriminating between spirit and material nature.  It is the complete liberation from the world of change that comes from knowing the unbounded Self.”  Yoga Sutra 1.15-16 *

Living in the world and having desires is part of being human.  How we manage and respond to desires will reveal our level of attachment or freedom from it.  It will also reveal our true focus.  

Pause and breathe in. 

Breathe out longer……

No one can serve two masters; for either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other.  You cannot serve God and mammon. Matthew 6:24

Often, attachment or gripping is revealed in negative or unuseful thought waves - conscious and unconscious thought patterns that develop into negative habits. By exploring places in our lives where we have gripped or attached so much that we have stopped the flow of peace, joy and beauty we can discern where to let go. This requires self-study (swadhyaya), effort & courage (tapas), and trust in something beyond our desires and own understanding (Ishvara Pranidhana). **

Vairagya dances with abhyasa.  Both support the release of attachment to worldly desires, leaving more space.  We are then more free and available to hear the Holy One’s plans in our life. 

Pause and breathe in. 

Breathe out longer……

It is obvious that this path is not at all an easy one.  Jesus warned us that the path is hard.  Many are called but few succeed.  Many of his parables and teachings referenced this difficult spiritual growth process (e.g. Sower and the Seed, Camel through the Needle).  

How might we experience vairagya on retreat

We create time and space to step away from habits which gives perspective to explore what the scriptures advise:  discriminate between spirit and material nature - to see where desires and clinging arise.  

For instance:

• We experience different daily routines and habits - different foods, different bed for sleeping, new ideas, new people, new ways to practice on (and off) the mat all fodder to see where we grip.  

• Our identities as caregivers, parents/guardians, and business owners are left aside for a few days, which may highlight negative thoughts and habits in life. 

• We are exposed to new hymns, perhaps an unfamiliar shape of worship, and different interpretations of scriptures, which might lead to some clinging.

• We are invited to discern how far into yoga philosophy is it ‘okay’ to go… 

• We are invited to let go into the Grand Silence.

• With this opportunity for space and time to rest we might discern best practices upon the return to daily life. 

Vairagya dances with abhyasa - two sides of a triangle that are held up by the sacred scriptures and infused with Radical Trust.  In Part 3, we will explore Radical Trust, then put it all together.  

*Sources:  B. Stoler Miller, M. Stiles, Bengali Baba, A. Shearer

**See Yoga Sutra 2.1