Aug. 28, 2025
The Bliss of Non-Possession
reference: Sri Aurobindo and the Mother, Looking from Within, Chapter 5, Attitudes on the Path, pp. 158-160This episode is also available as a blog post at https://sriaurobindostudies.wordpress.com/2025/08/26/the-bliss-of-non-possession/
Video presentations, interviews and podcast episodes are allavailable on the YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/@santoshkrinsky871
More information about Sri Aurobindo can be found at www.aurobindo.net
The US editions and links to e-book editions of SriAurobindo’s writings can be found at Lotus Press www.lotuspress.com
1
00:00:00,560 --> 00:00:04,840
In the Titeria Upanishad there's
an interesting chapter often
2
00:00:04,840 --> 00:00:07,800
referred to as the Calculus of
Bliss.
3
00:00:08,520 --> 00:00:11,400
It starts from the measure of
one human being who has
4
00:00:11,440 --> 00:00:16,720
everything, health, strength,
all human opportunities fully
5
00:00:16,720 --> 00:00:20,960
available to him.
That is the measure of human
6
00:00:20,960 --> 00:00:24,040
bliss.
The recitation goes on to
7
00:00:24,040 --> 00:00:29,600
systematically increase the
amount of bliss 100 and 100 fold
8
00:00:30,400 --> 00:00:35,040
to reach the next successive
level, and this goes on for 10
9
00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:38,680
successive levels until the
bliss of Brahman is attained,
10
00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:43,800
representing a form of bliss
millions of times greater than
11
00:00:43,800 --> 00:00:47,040
the greatest experience of the
fortunate human being.
12
00:00:48,600 --> 00:00:52,080
Since the conception of this
quanta of bliss beyond the
13
00:00:52,080 --> 00:00:56,680
experience of the human being is
not able to be grasped by us,
14
00:00:57,360 --> 00:01:01,480
this is of course just
interesting until we come to the
15
00:01:01,480 --> 00:01:04,160
important part repeated at each
level.
16
00:01:05,239 --> 00:01:08,520
Quote.
And this is the bliss of the
17
00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:13,480
Veda wise, whose soul the blight
of desire touches not.
18
00:01:14,360 --> 00:01:18,560
End Quote.
If we consider for the moment
19
00:01:18,560 --> 00:01:22,720
the stress that arises from the
attempt to acquire, own,
20
00:01:23,040 --> 00:01:28,000
possess, or retain possession,
we can easily recognize the
21
00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:33,400
pressures and even suffering
that goes along with any attempt
22
00:01:33,400 --> 00:01:37,360
to own anything.
Ownership is a fiction of the
23
00:01:37,360 --> 00:01:40,920
ego and the illusion of the
external reality.
24
00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:45,160
If we reflect deeply, we
understand that we depart this
25
00:01:45,160 --> 00:01:48,800
world without all of the
accumulation of wealth or
26
00:01:48,800 --> 00:01:53,400
possessions, that we work so
hard and with so much stress to
27
00:01:53,400 --> 00:01:57,200
acquire.
If we condition our happiness on
28
00:01:57,200 --> 00:02:02,200
possession, we find that to be a
very transient, weak and
29
00:02:02,200 --> 00:02:07,000
variable thing indeed.
Someone wins a lottery and has
30
00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:11,039
$1,000,000 in their hands.
They are happy about winning
31
00:02:11,039 --> 00:02:14,400
that sum of money.
Then they find out that
32
00:02:14,400 --> 00:02:19,120
relations, friends and others
have expectations or at least
33
00:02:19,120 --> 00:02:22,200
attempts to 'cause that money to
depart.
34
00:02:23,160 --> 00:02:26,840
We have to deal with the
complexity of taxes, investment
35
00:02:26,840 --> 00:02:31,160
decisions, and all kinds of
pressures that either lead to
36
00:02:31,160 --> 00:02:35,600
dispersal of those winnings or
to struggles to hold on to them.
37
00:02:37,040 --> 00:02:41,040
During the Great Depression,
individuals who had accumulated
38
00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:44,400
great wealth and financial power
found themselves suddenly
39
00:02:44,400 --> 00:02:47,920
bankrupt.
Many were those individuals who
40
00:02:47,920 --> 00:02:51,520
were found on a sidewalk after
having leaped from a tall
41
00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:54,000
building window to end their
lives.
42
00:02:54,960 --> 00:02:59,880
At the end, assuming we have
maintained the accumulation we
43
00:02:59,880 --> 00:03:05,760
work so hard to achieve, we die
and cannot even use the assets
44
00:03:05,760 --> 00:03:10,240
we work so hard to acquire to
buy our way into some heaven of
45
00:03:10,240 --> 00:03:14,400
the afterlife.
This does not imply that one
46
00:03:14,400 --> 00:03:18,600
must adopt the attitude of the
renunciate, the ascetic, the
47
00:03:18,600 --> 00:03:20,640
monk who has taken a vow of
poverty.
48
00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:25,640
This is an extreme that our
mental logic frequently presents
49
00:03:25,640 --> 00:03:29,720
as the only true option if one
wants to avoid the suffering of
50
00:03:29,720 --> 00:03:33,040
possessions.
There is another way.
51
00:03:34,040 --> 00:03:37,400
Some people take the attitude
that they do not own or possess
52
00:03:37,400 --> 00:03:43,520
anything but act as trustees,
and as trustees they handle what
53
00:03:43,520 --> 00:03:47,760
comes to them with care and in a
proper and appropriate way.
54
00:03:48,200 --> 00:03:52,280
They work to put those things to
use in ways that enhance the
55
00:03:52,280 --> 00:03:55,160
overall well-being and purpose
of the creation.
56
00:03:55,960 --> 00:04:00,120
And when it is time to put those
things aside, they do it with a
57
00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:05,320
feeling of satisfaction and then
enjoy the new focus or tasks
58
00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:10,560
they are given to undertake.
When do we feel the greatest
59
00:04:10,560 --> 00:04:15,040
unalloyed joy in our hearts?
The moments are generally those
60
00:04:15,040 --> 00:04:19,680
that do not involve possession.
It may be when an individual
61
00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:24,040
walks along a beach, at the
seaside, the sun shining, the
62
00:04:24,040 --> 00:04:28,080
waves lapping at his feet, and
he does not feel a care in the
63
00:04:28,080 --> 00:04:31,360
world for anything other than
the experience of being.
64
00:04:32,720 --> 00:04:36,200
It may come when some light of
illumination descends on him and
65
00:04:36,200 --> 00:04:39,600
he sees and understands
something that was hidden from
66
00:04:39,600 --> 00:04:43,520
him previously.
Or it may come when he sees or
67
00:04:43,520 --> 00:04:49,000
experiences A selfless sense of
giving or a sense of surrender
68
00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:53,960
to the divine force.
The issue here is not the lack
69
00:04:53,960 --> 00:04:58,280
of involvement with the various
powers, forces, objects and
70
00:04:58,280 --> 00:05:03,000
activities of the world, but the
lack of any form of desire or
71
00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:07,360
attachment to them.
The secret, as the Upanishad
72
00:05:07,360 --> 00:05:12,920
told us, is to avoid the blight
of desire in order to achieve
73
00:05:12,920 --> 00:05:16,960
bliss.
The Dhammapada states.
74
00:05:17,840 --> 00:05:20,640
Quote.
Happy indeed are we who own
75
00:05:20,640 --> 00:05:23,720
nothing.
We shall feed upon delight like
76
00:05:23,720 --> 00:05:29,240
the radiant gods.
End Quote, the mother observes.
77
00:05:29,400 --> 00:05:32,840
Quote.
We could translate it the verse
78
00:05:32,840 --> 00:05:36,000
like this.
Happy is he who possesses
79
00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:38,400
nothing.
He will partake of the delight
80
00:05:38,400 --> 00:05:42,640
of the radiant gods.
To possess nothing does not at
81
00:05:42,640 --> 00:05:46,400
all mean not to make use of
anything, not to have anything
82
00:05:46,400 --> 00:05:50,200
at one's disposal.
Happy is he who possesses
83
00:05:50,200 --> 00:05:53,280
nothing.
He is someone who has no sense
84
00:05:53,280 --> 00:05:57,200
of possession, who can make use
of things when they come to him,
85
00:05:57,800 --> 00:06:01,920
knowing that they are not his,
that they belong to the Supreme,
86
00:06:02,480 --> 00:06:06,480
and who for the same reason does
not regret it when things leave
87
00:06:06,480 --> 00:06:09,640
him.
He finds it quite natural that
88
00:06:09,640 --> 00:06:12,280
the Lord who gave him these
things should take them away
89
00:06:12,280 --> 00:06:17,560
from him for others to enjoy.
Such a man finds equal joy in
90
00:06:17,560 --> 00:06:21,120
the use of things as in the
absence of things.
91
00:06:22,080 --> 00:06:25,440
When you have them at your
disposal, you receive them as a
92
00:06:25,440 --> 00:06:29,400
gift of grace, and when they
leave you, when they have been
93
00:06:29,400 --> 00:06:33,840
taken away from you, you live in
the joy of destitution.
94
00:06:34,680 --> 00:06:38,000
For it is the sense of ownership
that makes you cling to things,
95
00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:41,560
makes you their slave.
Otherwise one could live in
96
00:06:41,560 --> 00:06:45,360
constant joy and in the
ceaseless movement of things
97
00:06:45,360 --> 00:06:49,800
that come and go and pass, that
bring with them both the sense
98
00:06:49,800 --> 00:06:53,800
of fulness when they are there
and when they go.
99
00:06:54,480 --> 00:06:58,320
The delight of detachment,
delight.
100
00:06:59,120 --> 00:07:03,400
Delight means to live in the
truth, to live in communion with
101
00:07:03,440 --> 00:07:08,120
eternity, with the true life,
the light that never fails.
102
00:07:08,600 --> 00:07:13,160
Delight means to be free, free
with the true freedom, the
103
00:07:13,160 --> 00:07:17,440
freedom of the constant,
invariable union with the divine
104
00:07:17,440 --> 00:07:20,320
will.
Gods are those that are
105
00:07:20,320 --> 00:07:24,200
immortal, who are not bound to
the vicissitudes of material
106
00:07:24,200 --> 00:07:28,880
life in all its narrowness,
pettiness, unreality, and
107
00:07:28,880 --> 00:07:32,880
falsehood.
Gods are those who are turned to
108
00:07:32,880 --> 00:07:36,280
the Light, who live in the power
and the knowledge.
109
00:07:36,840 --> 00:07:40,680
That is what the Buddha means.
He does not mean the gods of
110
00:07:40,680 --> 00:07:43,400
religion.
They are beings who have the
111
00:07:43,400 --> 00:07:47,720
divine nature, who may live in
human bodies but free from
112
00:07:47,720 --> 00:07:51,960
ignorance and falsehood.
When you no longer possess
113
00:07:51,960 --> 00:07:55,960
anything, you can become as vast
as the universe.
114
00:07:56,880 --> 00:08:02,160
End Quote Reference Sri Orovindo
and the Mother Looking from
115
00:08:02,160 --> 00:08:07,600
Within, Chapter 5.
Attitudes on the Path, pages 158
116
00:08:07,600 --> 00:08:08,680
to 160.
00:00:00,560 --> 00:00:04,840
In the Titeria Upanishad there's
an interesting chapter often
2
00:00:04,840 --> 00:00:07,800
referred to as the Calculus of
Bliss.
3
00:00:08,520 --> 00:00:11,400
It starts from the measure of
one human being who has
4
00:00:11,440 --> 00:00:16,720
everything, health, strength,
all human opportunities fully
5
00:00:16,720 --> 00:00:20,960
available to him.
That is the measure of human
6
00:00:20,960 --> 00:00:24,040
bliss.
The recitation goes on to
7
00:00:24,040 --> 00:00:29,600
systematically increase the
amount of bliss 100 and 100 fold
8
00:00:30,400 --> 00:00:35,040
to reach the next successive
level, and this goes on for 10
9
00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:38,680
successive levels until the
bliss of Brahman is attained,
10
00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:43,800
representing a form of bliss
millions of times greater than
11
00:00:43,800 --> 00:00:47,040
the greatest experience of the
fortunate human being.
12
00:00:48,600 --> 00:00:52,080
Since the conception of this
quanta of bliss beyond the
13
00:00:52,080 --> 00:00:56,680
experience of the human being is
not able to be grasped by us,
14
00:00:57,360 --> 00:01:01,480
this is of course just
interesting until we come to the
15
00:01:01,480 --> 00:01:04,160
important part repeated at each
level.
16
00:01:05,239 --> 00:01:08,520
Quote.
And this is the bliss of the
17
00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:13,480
Veda wise, whose soul the blight
of desire touches not.
18
00:01:14,360 --> 00:01:18,560
End Quote.
If we consider for the moment
19
00:01:18,560 --> 00:01:22,720
the stress that arises from the
attempt to acquire, own,
20
00:01:23,040 --> 00:01:28,000
possess, or retain possession,
we can easily recognize the
21
00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:33,400
pressures and even suffering
that goes along with any attempt
22
00:01:33,400 --> 00:01:37,360
to own anything.
Ownership is a fiction of the
23
00:01:37,360 --> 00:01:40,920
ego and the illusion of the
external reality.
24
00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:45,160
If we reflect deeply, we
understand that we depart this
25
00:01:45,160 --> 00:01:48,800
world without all of the
accumulation of wealth or
26
00:01:48,800 --> 00:01:53,400
possessions, that we work so
hard and with so much stress to
27
00:01:53,400 --> 00:01:57,200
acquire.
If we condition our happiness on
28
00:01:57,200 --> 00:02:02,200
possession, we find that to be a
very transient, weak and
29
00:02:02,200 --> 00:02:07,000
variable thing indeed.
Someone wins a lottery and has
30
00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:11,039
$1,000,000 in their hands.
They are happy about winning
31
00:02:11,039 --> 00:02:14,400
that sum of money.
Then they find out that
32
00:02:14,400 --> 00:02:19,120
relations, friends and others
have expectations or at least
33
00:02:19,120 --> 00:02:22,200
attempts to 'cause that money to
depart.
34
00:02:23,160 --> 00:02:26,840
We have to deal with the
complexity of taxes, investment
35
00:02:26,840 --> 00:02:31,160
decisions, and all kinds of
pressures that either lead to
36
00:02:31,160 --> 00:02:35,600
dispersal of those winnings or
to struggles to hold on to them.
37
00:02:37,040 --> 00:02:41,040
During the Great Depression,
individuals who had accumulated
38
00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:44,400
great wealth and financial power
found themselves suddenly
39
00:02:44,400 --> 00:02:47,920
bankrupt.
Many were those individuals who
40
00:02:47,920 --> 00:02:51,520
were found on a sidewalk after
having leaped from a tall
41
00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:54,000
building window to end their
lives.
42
00:02:54,960 --> 00:02:59,880
At the end, assuming we have
maintained the accumulation we
43
00:02:59,880 --> 00:03:05,760
work so hard to achieve, we die
and cannot even use the assets
44
00:03:05,760 --> 00:03:10,240
we work so hard to acquire to
buy our way into some heaven of
45
00:03:10,240 --> 00:03:14,400
the afterlife.
This does not imply that one
46
00:03:14,400 --> 00:03:18,600
must adopt the attitude of the
renunciate, the ascetic, the
47
00:03:18,600 --> 00:03:20,640
monk who has taken a vow of
poverty.
48
00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:25,640
This is an extreme that our
mental logic frequently presents
49
00:03:25,640 --> 00:03:29,720
as the only true option if one
wants to avoid the suffering of
50
00:03:29,720 --> 00:03:33,040
possessions.
There is another way.
51
00:03:34,040 --> 00:03:37,400
Some people take the attitude
that they do not own or possess
52
00:03:37,400 --> 00:03:43,520
anything but act as trustees,
and as trustees they handle what
53
00:03:43,520 --> 00:03:47,760
comes to them with care and in a
proper and appropriate way.
54
00:03:48,200 --> 00:03:52,280
They work to put those things to
use in ways that enhance the
55
00:03:52,280 --> 00:03:55,160
overall well-being and purpose
of the creation.
56
00:03:55,960 --> 00:04:00,120
And when it is time to put those
things aside, they do it with a
57
00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:05,320
feeling of satisfaction and then
enjoy the new focus or tasks
58
00:04:05,760 --> 00:04:10,560
they are given to undertake.
When do we feel the greatest
59
00:04:10,560 --> 00:04:15,040
unalloyed joy in our hearts?
The moments are generally those
60
00:04:15,040 --> 00:04:19,680
that do not involve possession.
It may be when an individual
61
00:04:19,680 --> 00:04:24,040
walks along a beach, at the
seaside, the sun shining, the
62
00:04:24,040 --> 00:04:28,080
waves lapping at his feet, and
he does not feel a care in the
63
00:04:28,080 --> 00:04:31,360
world for anything other than
the experience of being.
64
00:04:32,720 --> 00:04:36,200
It may come when some light of
illumination descends on him and
65
00:04:36,200 --> 00:04:39,600
he sees and understands
something that was hidden from
66
00:04:39,600 --> 00:04:43,520
him previously.
Or it may come when he sees or
67
00:04:43,520 --> 00:04:49,000
experiences A selfless sense of
giving or a sense of surrender
68
00:04:49,000 --> 00:04:53,960
to the divine force.
The issue here is not the lack
69
00:04:53,960 --> 00:04:58,280
of involvement with the various
powers, forces, objects and
70
00:04:58,280 --> 00:05:03,000
activities of the world, but the
lack of any form of desire or
71
00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:07,360
attachment to them.
The secret, as the Upanishad
72
00:05:07,360 --> 00:05:12,920
told us, is to avoid the blight
of desire in order to achieve
73
00:05:12,920 --> 00:05:16,960
bliss.
The Dhammapada states.
74
00:05:17,840 --> 00:05:20,640
Quote.
Happy indeed are we who own
75
00:05:20,640 --> 00:05:23,720
nothing.
We shall feed upon delight like
76
00:05:23,720 --> 00:05:29,240
the radiant gods.
End Quote, the mother observes.
77
00:05:29,400 --> 00:05:32,840
Quote.
We could translate it the verse
78
00:05:32,840 --> 00:05:36,000
like this.
Happy is he who possesses
79
00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:38,400
nothing.
He will partake of the delight
80
00:05:38,400 --> 00:05:42,640
of the radiant gods.
To possess nothing does not at
81
00:05:42,640 --> 00:05:46,400
all mean not to make use of
anything, not to have anything
82
00:05:46,400 --> 00:05:50,200
at one's disposal.
Happy is he who possesses
83
00:05:50,200 --> 00:05:53,280
nothing.
He is someone who has no sense
84
00:05:53,280 --> 00:05:57,200
of possession, who can make use
of things when they come to him,
85
00:05:57,800 --> 00:06:01,920
knowing that they are not his,
that they belong to the Supreme,
86
00:06:02,480 --> 00:06:06,480
and who for the same reason does
not regret it when things leave
87
00:06:06,480 --> 00:06:09,640
him.
He finds it quite natural that
88
00:06:09,640 --> 00:06:12,280
the Lord who gave him these
things should take them away
89
00:06:12,280 --> 00:06:17,560
from him for others to enjoy.
Such a man finds equal joy in
90
00:06:17,560 --> 00:06:21,120
the use of things as in the
absence of things.
91
00:06:22,080 --> 00:06:25,440
When you have them at your
disposal, you receive them as a
92
00:06:25,440 --> 00:06:29,400
gift of grace, and when they
leave you, when they have been
93
00:06:29,400 --> 00:06:33,840
taken away from you, you live in
the joy of destitution.
94
00:06:34,680 --> 00:06:38,000
For it is the sense of ownership
that makes you cling to things,
95
00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:41,560
makes you their slave.
Otherwise one could live in
96
00:06:41,560 --> 00:06:45,360
constant joy and in the
ceaseless movement of things
97
00:06:45,360 --> 00:06:49,800
that come and go and pass, that
bring with them both the sense
98
00:06:49,800 --> 00:06:53,800
of fulness when they are there
and when they go.
99
00:06:54,480 --> 00:06:58,320
The delight of detachment,
delight.
100
00:06:59,120 --> 00:07:03,400
Delight means to live in the
truth, to live in communion with
101
00:07:03,440 --> 00:07:08,120
eternity, with the true life,
the light that never fails.
102
00:07:08,600 --> 00:07:13,160
Delight means to be free, free
with the true freedom, the
103
00:07:13,160 --> 00:07:17,440
freedom of the constant,
invariable union with the divine
104
00:07:17,440 --> 00:07:20,320
will.
Gods are those that are
105
00:07:20,320 --> 00:07:24,200
immortal, who are not bound to
the vicissitudes of material
106
00:07:24,200 --> 00:07:28,880
life in all its narrowness,
pettiness, unreality, and
107
00:07:28,880 --> 00:07:32,880
falsehood.
Gods are those who are turned to
108
00:07:32,880 --> 00:07:36,280
the Light, who live in the power
and the knowledge.
109
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That is what the Buddha means.
He does not mean the gods of
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religion.
They are beings who have the
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divine nature, who may live in
human bodies but free from
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ignorance and falsehood.
When you no longer possess
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anything, you can become as vast
as the universe.
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End Quote Reference Sri Orovindo
and the Mother Looking from
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Within, Chapter 5.
Attitudes on the Path, pages 158
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to 160.
