Nonattachment II

I have been diligently preparing for a workshop I am giving on the Yoga Sutras by Patanjali that runs from 9 to 6 PM - a couple of weeks from now.

After making the entry yesterday - I was struck by the translation of Sutras 1.11 - 1.16 on nonattachment by Alberto Villoldo in his book - Yoga, Power, and Spirit: Patanjali the Shaman.

Memory is when experience
continues to live within you,
haunting you
like a hungry ghost.

When you practice yoga and nonattachment,
all the stories your mind creates
through right knowledge,
through wrong knowledge,
through hearsay,
through dreams,
through memory...
will dissolve
like the images from a nightmare
that quickly fades as you awaken.

Practice yoga
and your single-mindedness will increase.
Bending like a bamboo reed in the wind,
you will become steadfast
and grow roots that extend deep into the earth.

Devote yourself to yoga.
Watch your practice flourish.

Let go of your attachments
and discover self-mastery.
Let go of your attachments.
Free yourself from desire.

The supreme nonattachment is
when you accept life as it is right now.
Your mind's drama does not distract you
as you dwell in your True Self,
needing nothing,
wanting nothing.

And finally, this passage from Yogananda's God Talks With Arjuna:

To engage in actions
without desire for their fruit
is true renunciation.
God is the Divine Renunciant,
for He carries on all the activities
of the universe without attachment to them.
Anyone aspiring to Self-Realization -
whether he be a monastic or a householder -
must act and live for the Lord,
without being emotionally involved
in His drama of creation.