Let Go Of Attachment

One of the division heads at a large consulting firm asked me this recently.

People find this hard to understand. How can we not be attached the result? Don't you want us to succeed or win?

I have been reading The Gita ever since I was a small boy, and the essence of The Gita is this. Krishna is telling Arjuna to forget about the results, and simply do whatever he is doing with complete devotion.

The thing is, by not being attached to results you free yourself up. You free your mental energies to focus on the task at hand.

Let me share an example. Let us say you are an actor. And you have been given a role to act.

Now while acting if you are constantly attached to

"What will people think of me? Will this movie do well? Will it be a hit or a flop? If it flops, what will happen to me? Will I get more work? Will people make fun of me? Will people insult me? Will I get the awards? Will people write good things about me if I get the award? Will I discover love? Will I become richer? Will I become even more famous?"

What do you think will happen to the acting process? It won't be all that good. Because you wouldn't be giving your best to the process of acting.

Once you give it your best, the rest is not in your hands. You can't control how the audience reacts. You can't control what people write or think about you. All you can do is when you are acting, give it your best.

Make sure every cell in you is focused on acting and nothing else.

Once you start doing this, you will be surprised at the results.

This applies to everything. From sports to business to leadership. Once you are not attached to the results, you suddenly free yourself.

People get attached because of their ego. But remember that everything is temprary.

Look at Alexander of Macedonia, he branded himself as Alexander The Great, though he did many things that weren't so great - such as wiping out villages with innocent people, children and women.

He wanted to conquer the world. But look what happened to him in the end. For 10 years he fought battles, he finally was defeated in India. His army revolted and he headed back to Greece.

But on the way back, he died a lonely, frustrated and broken man. He was so frustrated with himself that he became an alcoholic. To wash away his inner miseries and numb his mind he resorted to alcohol. The man who some say was the richest man in history, died miserably. He died when he was 33.

So from 23 till 33 all he did was fight wars and try and conquer lands. He killed his best friend. He killed his brothers. He even killed his own father. I'm sure once more people know this they will stop calling him "Great".

Why did he do all this? Simply because he was attached to power.

His attachment to power led to his destruction.

Today too I see so many people attached to power, wealth or fame. And yet these are the very things that lead to their downfall.

Instead of being attached, be free. Be free to follow your dharma.

Do whatever you are meant to, with full devotion. And every moment you do it, consider it an act of worship, an act of service.

You will feel this powerful energy within you, that will help you connect deeper with your inner divinity.

Be free. Be blissful.

Yogesh Chabria

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