Cultivating Vairagya

Vanitha Vaidialingam talks about how the scriptures guide us in gaining mastery over our desires, to live life with equanimity

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Who would not like to increase mental clarity, reduce stress, and enjoy calm and peace in their life? The Vedas, Upanishads, and Bhagavad Gita offer numerous tools for achieving this state of being. I am not referring to any exotic methods of meditation or elaborate ritualistic prayers but, rather, to the simple self-control tools presented by these scriptures for practical living.

The Buddha asserted that "desire is the root cause of all evil" and that desire should be eschewed. However, desire is linked to our instinct for survival and is a significant biological drive that can be controlled but not eliminated. Even monks, like householders, must use sensory inputs for survival. So, the cultivation of dispassion, or vairagya, does not mean complete withdrawal of the senses and their functioning. It refers to the practice of consciously controlling and redirecting the flow of the senses and the mind.

In this context, the Vedas, Upanishads, and Bhagavad Gita prescribe a ceiling on desire or redirection of desire into spiritual living such that desires can be evaluated, emotions can be regulated, and senses can be withdrawn from stimuli. As a consequence, the individual will experience emotional control, stress reduction, sensory regulation, and peace of mind.

It must be noted that these scriptures are not prescriptive but, rather, suggestive. They provide a wide range of techniques and methodologies for achieving dispassion. It is for the practitioners to choose a method that suits them best.