“Aparigraha” also means non- attachment with one’s body

I have just finished reading “Vivekachudamani” by Jagadguru Adi Shankaracharya ji, a renowned Indian saint and philosopher.

In almost all of his works, Jagadguru Adi Shankaracharya ji has strongly advocated practising “Aparigraha”.

What exactly “Aparigraha” means?

“Aparigraha” means “non-possessiveness”.

Our sages were of the view that there is no harm in enjoying material things, but to an extent.
However, one should neither be possessive nor have cravings for them.
Otherwise these would ruin one’s life.

If one is blessed with copious money, one should not sit over it like a deadly cobra.
One should retain some for one’s essentials and use the major part to educate poor children, provide medical care, food and clothes to the destitute.
Otherwise, trust me, abundant moolah will bring along all the evils.
It will indubitably make one’s life wretched!

Apart from material goods, I believe that one must also be nonattached with one’s body.

One should serve others as much as possible with one’s body, mind and heart.

One should dutifully take proper care of one’s body through adequate exercises, partaking “sattvik”, diet.
However one must remain detached from it.

Remember, body is nothing but only one’s temporary abode – abode of the soul.

Repeatedly we have been committing the same blunder – identifying ourselves with our bodies, leading illusory lives.

When the call of the Almighty comes, one should take it readily, equanimously.

Don’t try to evade His call and befool Him by buying useless medical insurance policies, unnecessarily undergoing costly medical treatments.

I have found that even the most sophisticated medical treatments for such terminal diseases as cancer only prolong one’s torture, incarceration.
In such cases, “non treatment” seems to me the best treatment as this would mercifully extricate one from miseries, expedite one’s meeting with one’s Maker.

I for one would not like to linger on, move around like a zombie and become a burden on my loved ones.

A free bird in the open sky is any day better, joyful than a cramped bird in a क़फ़स (cage)!

~ Sanjay Gargish ~