There is nothing stationary in creation
There is nothing stationary in creation. One either moves up or goes down, there is nothing like staying at one place. The baggage we carry along with us when we leave this earth and our bodies decides which way we will go. If one thinks he/she is at the same plane, doing the same things, it is given that he/she is moving down. Let no one else judge you; just assess and evaluate your own actions through the day everyday and you will know whether you are moving up or sinking.
Physical creation comprising name, fame, money, sex and food has to be gone past to access the higher dimensions. Not left, but gone past. The difference in the two stems from attachment.
Attachment ties one to physical creation and paves the way to lower dimensions. Detachment liberates and helps one ascend to higher births in dimensions beyond.
When it comes to detaching oneself from the physical or mundane aspects of life, people often excuse themselves by saying they have certain responsibilities from which they cannot back out. This is lack of understanding of the subject. Yoga does not ask for you to leave your family or shy away from responsibility. It simply asks you to slowly increase your family and responsibility to include in its ambit all of creation. There is nothing wrong with having a job, making money, having kids or supporting your family; what is wrong is attachment to these things, which leads one to hoard, adding to their baggage.
There is a famous adage, “poot kaput to kyun dhan sanchay, poot saput to kyun dhan sanchay”. That is, if the kid is unworthy, then he/she will squander away whatever he/she gets, so why collect for them? And if the kid is worthy and able, then he/she will find his/her own standing, so why collect for them? Therefore, it is best to not collect, and to focus on one’s journey and path keeping the palms open to give. The problem is that man thinks it is he who has earned it and it is “his” earning and so finds it difficult to part with.
The reality is that you do not even have control on your next breath — even that is not yours, if it stops then what good will be family or wealth? If you don’t agree, then visit an ICU sometime. There everyone is praying to somehow get their life back, whatever wealth they have to forego for it, all relations forgotten. It is spellbinding research that people spend 10 times on medical bills in the final years of their lives than what they spent in their entire life. The events in life happen the way they have to, the way they are planned. The human being cannot decide what he gets, what he can decide, however, is to let go while there is time. Because if you don’t leave it, that thing will leave you one day for certain, but in the process, what you will lose is the time and opportunity to earn the entitlement to higher births.
Attachment to anything in the physical would takes the being to the lower dimensions, and based on an individual’s desire, the soul hovers around things that it was attached in pret yonis.
The kings who lived thousands of years back, who had gurus, gave up everything they owned — their large kingdoms, their land and their people. This was called vanaprastha. They took this step as they were aware of the fact that if they collected more and more for themselves they would inevitably sink. They knew that the only way to rise (evolve) is to give. Their gurus gave them the gyan that they must leave everything before the body leaves them. The gyan is as relevant today as it was thousands of years ago.