My dog Buddy, is an animal, so obviously he does not really approach life from a spiritual state of mind, striving to acquire heavenly virtues and be detached from the material world...see below...
That's ok though, I don't think he is much of a theologian. But as I grow older I find more and more value in being detached and I feel more capable of being detached - from food, from possessions, from politics, from expectations of others. The list could go on and on - really anything worldly. I mean, don't all religions teach that this world is fleeting and that our focus should be on a spiritual level, even while yet on this earth? Since my blog is focused on scriptures, here is a Baha'i quote to ponder...
"No man shall attain the shores of the ocean of true understanding except he be detached from all that is in heaven and on earth."
(Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 3)
What do you think about detachment? Do you find value in it? Do you have a favorite quote about detachment to share from your religion?
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4 comments:
I love this quote from the Hindu teachings. Anyone? Anyone?
"Humbleness, truthfulness, and harmlessness,
Patience and honour, reverence for the wise.
Purity, constancy, control of self,
Contempt of sense-delights, self-sacrifice,
Perception of the certitude of ill
In birth, death, age, disease, suffering, and sin;
Detachment, lightly holding unto home,
Children, and wife, and all that bindeth men;
An ever-tranquil heart in fortunes good
And fortunes evil, with a will set firm
To worship Me- Me only! ceasing not;
Loving all solitudes, and shunning noise
Of foolish crowds; endeavours resolute
To reach perception of the Utmost Soul,
And grace to understand what gain it were
So to attain,- this is true Wisdom, Prince!
And what is otherwise is ignorance!"
(Hindu, Bhagavad Gita (Edwin Arnold tr))
I had to add something. ;-) There weren't any comments on this post and detachment is currently one of my favorite topics.
While searching for a quote for my newest topic today, I ran across this quote from the Bible that fit perfectly in this thread. So here it is...
"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him."
(King James Bible, 1 John)
This is what I am hoping my friends from different faiths can help me do - find quotes that relate to the different thoughts.
Not a faith based quote but still a good one.
"A man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to let alone."
-Henry David Thoreau
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