Technique to Achieve Aparigraha - Unclutch
How to create a bigger inner space? Whenever you feel that you are possessing something, decide very clearly to unclutch from it consciously. Visualize how your life will be without that object or that person. Sometimes you may think, 'Oh, I can do without it,' then perfectly alright. Sometimes you may have little suffering; then go through that suffering. That moment itself the suffering itself will purify you.
Understand, when you feel that you are too much attached or possessive of some person or object, sit and visualize your life without that person or that object. If you feel you can do without it, relax, nothing to worry. If you feel suffering, 'Oh god, I can't do without him or her or that object,' then sit and meditate on your life without that person.'
Create that pain, allow that suffering. Suddenly you will see that suffering itself is so powerful, the pain is so powerful, it will teach you , it will purify you. When you come out, when that suffering disappears from your inner space - because you can't be constantly suffering, at the most you can suffer for a few hours slowly that suffering will settle down, that depression will leave you, that pain will leave your inner space. When that pain leaves your inner space, already you would have learnt a lesson of aparigraha. This is a powerful technique to achieve aparigraha.
Understand, this technique is a very powerful technique. Try it. Whenever you feel you are possessive of somebody or something, sit, unclutch, disconnect, allow the pain, allow the suffering - now what can be done? Because anything can be taken away from you. It is not that the product or the person is going to be with you forever. No.
Non-Possessiveness Enables Risk-taking
A constant struggle to hoard stuff is an indication of the greed within a person. A person who continuously struggles to hoard stuff is just a householder, not a sādhu (saint). Understand, Mahāvīra is telling, having a constant struggle to hoard stuff is an indication of the greed within a person. When you are greedy, you will be constantly remembering even the things which are in your garage. You can't forget even the things which are under your control, which are inside your locker you will be afraid that somebody will take it away, 'Who knows if it will be there when I go back?' Too much greed constantly creates fear, and you struggle to hoard. When a person is non-possessive he is ready to take the risk, that is why all the majority of Mahāvīra's followers have become business people, because that needs risk, you need to take risk.
This great teaching of aparigraha gives you the courage and inner space to take that risk, to take bold steps.
See, only when you are non-possessive, you can do calculation. Usually doctors don't treat their own family because they will be too possessive, they can't see the Truth, the objectivity will be lost. In the same way if you are possessive of something you can't put that thing at stake. A person who is too possessive aboutHis life will not do anything which expands his life, he will not do anything which is risky. When we don't do anything which is risky we are nothing more than buffaloes - we will just be vegetating, just sitting and sleeping like couch potatoes, nothing else.
I have seen many people, they will not even climb some 100- 200 steps, they will tell, 'No, no, I have little pain, I may get wheezing, I may get breathing problem.' This idea that you may get this disease or that will completely put you in prison. I call this as psychological prison - not able to take risks. And the life without risks is not worth living.
Life without risks means you are not living, you are just waiting for death to happen. Because you don't have the courage to commit suicide, you just wait till it happens - now nothing can be done, death has to happen only by itself, so why not wait, that's all.
Aparigraha, the non-possessiveness, gives you such a big inner space to take risks whether it is related to business or related to your life. So I tell you, ahimsa is the greatest dharma. If you follow ahimsa others will live happily, if you follow aparigraha you will live happily - these two are the greatest Truths. If you practice nonviolence people around you will live happily, if you practice non-possessiveness you will live happily.