Saturday, March 30, 2013

Attachment

I think this is a still from a Hitchcock movie. Looks like the torch of the Statue of Liberty. What a powerful image.

It reminded me of Shri Mataji's elucidations on freedom and attachment.
We often think of detachment as something cold and uncaring. We conflate attachment and love.
The only attachment we should have is to the Self residing in all things. Through this pure attachment, this freedom of Selfhood, the Self can act for the benefit of 'others'.
Attachment blocks the flow of the all-pervading, intelligent providence of the Universe/Self, and helps no one.

“Attachment is the great fabricator of illusions; reality can be attained only by someone who is detached” 
 Simone Weil

Simone Weil has been described by many as a saint, and some have gone so far as to describe her as 'the greatest saint of the 20th century' (I think it was T.S. Eliot who said that).
Born into a Jewish family, she had mystical experiences that led her to accept the divinity of Jesus. However, it is unlikely that she would ever be canonised by the Church, because there is no evidence that she was ever baptised, and because of her involvement with socialism. She was deeply influenced by reading Hindu scriptures, and taught herself Sanskrit at a young age.

This is a recently published hagiography of Weil.

2 comments:

Kathleen said...

Thank you. I have a Simone Weil book in progress now; good to know of this new one. I appreciate your thoughts on detachment and attachment. The balancing act. Or the in between...

jeronimus said...

Hi Kathleen. People of her generation seemed to have much more conviction about things than we do now. I'm not sure if she would have liked being called a saint though.