Sadhana Panchakam, Instruction 31

Translation and Commentary by Jayaram V

4.7 Practice indifference

The initiate who goes out seeking food from others through begging should not let any thought, person or situation disturb him. He has to ensure that the things of the world are left in the world and do not find their way into his consciousness. He can do that by becoming a gatekeeper of his own mind and consciousness, knowing that he is separate and distinct from him body and the world. By that indifference, he has to remain equal to how he is treated and whether he received any food or not.

He has to remain calm and contended, without desires and expectations and with his mind absorbed in the self, accepting all outcomes with equanimity and sameness as the will of God. Indifference is a great virtue and a divine quality, which is essential not only while seeking alms but also in other areas of spiritual practice. It is especially important to escape from the influence of the world and stabilize the mind in the self, developing mental stability and inner wisdom.

Udāsīnata does not mean indifference only. It also means apathy, inactivity, inertia, neutrality, passivity, or having no feelings, desires, preferences, likes and dislikes or attachments. It is the state of not showing any difference, regard, care or concern for the dualities of life. One may also describe it as a stoical quality in which one is neither a friend and nor a foe and treats everything with the same attitude. The condition is also known as nirveda (dispassion), which is great and desirable quality in yoga to remain detached from the world.

Indifference, freedom from attraction and aversion, detachment, dispassion, sameness and equality are interrelated. They all arise due to the absence of desires and attachments and lead to mental stability or pointed intelligence (sthitha prajna) in which one can discern things without the usual mental filters such as bias or desire or attachments. The Bhagavadgita states, "Who is undisturbed when there is adversity, who is indifferent to happiness and who is free from attachment, fear and anger, he is called a sage of stable and firm mind (sthitadhi).”

It is human to feel for things, show emotions and react and respond to the conditions of life especially those that seem to have power over our minds and actions. Much of human suffering arises because the we cannot process information without being affected by them. Due to desires and attachments, we keep reacting to situations and suffer in the process. When the mind is stabilized in the knowledge of self and when desires and passions subside, discriminating intelligence arises which gives us the sharpness to know truth from falsehood and reality from illusion. Knowing that the self only is real and the world is a projection filled with maya, one develops a distaste for senses objects and remains indifferent.

The first step to cultivate indifference is to know that whatever happens in your body or the world happens in the field of Nature but not to you. To think that something happened to you or you experienced something is the source of egoism and involvement. Knowing that the self is untouched by the world or the body, both of which are unreal, one cultivates detachment and sameness.

If we believe that the world is real, we become involved with it and develop an emotional attachment. However, when we realize that we do not exist in the world, and we have no real connection with it, we develop the attitude of renunciation and become free from all entanglements. Withdrawing the mind and senses into the self, renouncing desire-ridden actions and pairs of opposites, and practicing detachment and dispassion, we become indifferent to the world and its dualities.

The world is unstable, impermanent and full of misery. Just as our bodies, it is an aspect or field of Nature, over which we have limited control. Even if we establish some control over external events or the course of our lives, we cannot keep that control for long. Therefore, wise people do not try to control their suffering through action, inactions or avoidance. They realize that while they cannot control the world or external events they can control their thoughts and responses. By that realization, they renounce their desire for life, enjoyment, learning, wealth, power, etc., and cultivate detachment and indifference.

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