Power to withdraw

1. Power to Withdraw

• Ability to control attention inside

• Protects us from being influenced or controlled

• Enables pause before decision making.

• Open-eye Meditation helps develop the

ability to withdraw into peace.

• Leads to master of senses

• Develops controlling power

• Enables time to reflect

• Virtues: • Introspection

• Silence • Detachment

• Concentration • Color: Blue Questions to ask oneself:

• Do I have any habits that have negative impact on my daily interactions?

• How have these habits embedded them selves in me & become part of my personality? How can I start to shift, or dissolve, these bad habits? Many spiritual paths advocate a mental state called detachment, in which a person moves away from worldly concerns and becomes an observer of life. This is considered to be a means of reaching an inner goal, because it frees you from distractions and conflict. Raj Yoga also teaches ‘detachment’, but the image used to explain the concept is a Lotus flower. The main thing about a Lotus flower is that it has its root in the mud. It cannot grow without the mud and yet its petals are pure. The Lotus flower doesn’t turn mud into anything, Mud is mud. Yet mud also has nutrients needed to aid the flower’s growth. It is the same for us. We are in a situation that we don’t like – ‘in the mud’. And yet it is probably the most secure position there is if we could only recognize it, not distort it, and let it ‘grow us’. Detachment is freedom from slants and bias of this kind. It means seeing the whole picture. Or again, we made a mess of something, exposed ourselves to criticism: usually upsetting until there is the ability to be detached from the task at which we had failed, to stop progressing it and just appreciate its own inherent value and recognize that it will get done anyway. Detachment is to be free of time, and most importantly to be free of the distorting perspective which places ‘I’ at the center of the universe. Detachment is a very great virtue. It brings emotional safety, realism and refreshment. It makes others feel free with you, free to come and go without a fuss. But the moment you stop loving life, then detachment becomes impossible, because you begin to hold on to things that help. Detachment is best learnt from the supreme power, who sees everything but never stops loving. It is best demonstrated by the Lotus flower which touches mud, touches rock bottom but never loses its beauty. Beauty means to keep growing – always.