Anasakti and health: A study of non-attachment - Indian Psychology ...

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91Anasakti (the end state) has been explained in terms of anasaktaction or ’ni~kamakarma’ (which implies to achieve that end state).Anisakt action does not refer to physical abstention from activity.It is an intense, though disinterested action, performed with aspirit of dispassion, without nurturingconcerns about success orfailure, loss or gain, likes or dislikes. This results in a completeunification of the actor with the act and a consequent task excellence.According to the Bhagvad Gata, task excellence comesabout only when the . actor has understood that his concerns lieonly in actions and not in their results, that actions should notserve any personal motives and that these cognitions should notimply inaction. Being wedded to the piece of work at hand onlyimplies that while an individual is at work, he is not allowing hisabilities to run to waste in mental preoccupations and fears pertaining tothe results and consequences. Such an attitude towards work significantlyaffects the emotional response to success and failure.Following the relinquishment of desires, mental serenity is acquiredand the individual maintains greater emotional equipoise in theface of consequence, be it good br bad, desirable or undesirable.In other words, by way of recominending commitment andtotal absorption in the task, the doctrine of anasakt action offersan excellent way by which our worldly endeavours can becomemore effective.Although anasakti is extolled as an ideal by the Indian philosophicaland mystical literature, yet it is manifested through commoncultural expressions such as popular songs, idioms, phrase andfolklores. Depending upon the variety and breadth of their exposureto this ideal, people manifest anasakti in their day-to-day liveswithout perhaps being aware of its underlying metaphysical meaning.Since personality dispositions are partly conditioned by the dominantinputs contained in a given culture, anasakti is conceptualised as amultifaceted personality construct consisting of a set of beliefs,attitudes and cognitions consistent with the essence of the ideal.The causal linkage between anasakti and health can now beexplicated. It can be argued that the doctrine of anasakt actionconveys ,a message which is central to coping with life stressors.This argument is based on the psychological literature whichdemonstrates the significance of cognitive and attitudinalsystems in determining the manner in which stress inducingsituations are confronted (Pearlin, Liberman, Menaghan, &Mullan, 1981).Downloaded from pds.sagepub.com by Ajit Dalal on April 4, 2011
92/The distinctive characteristics of anasakti are effort orientation,emotional equipoise in the face of success and failure, a relativelyweak concern for obtaining extrinsic rewards, and an intense effortto achieve excellence. Therefore, those high on anasakti areexpected to experience lesser distress and exhibit fewer symptomsof strain. These arguments will be extended on the basis of conjecturesand empirical evidence.Frankl (1963) stated that people engage in an active search formeaning even in their sufferings. While studying the nature ofstressors and coping strategies of the physically handicappedchildren, Srivastava ’(1981) noted that in spite of the variousdisadvantages that the physically handicapped children face,they still view their own condition and that of their fellow beingsmore positively. It is also seen that commitment to some highergoal in life enables people to meaningfully reconstruct eventhose experiences which can be described as damaging. In thelight of these facts, anasakt action seems to offer an importantcoping resource. It may be reaffirmed here that anasakt action isnot without a goal, rather it has a very definite goal-the goal ofself-realisation. In performing actions in an anasakt manner, themore familiar and common goalsare subordinated to the lessfamiliar and less common ones. This results in recognising thespiritual value of action in addition to its material significance.If the goal is fixed inwards, the emotional impacts of externalsuccess and failure are minimised. Once this happens, theconsequences-good or bad-will be cognised as milestoiles inthe path to self-realisation rather than as reflections of personalcapabilities.One who has been able to relieve himself of the anxieties pertainingto success or failure can apply himself to any task moreeffectively as compared to others. An anasakt person would perhapsbe more effective in pursuing material goals also. For example, astudent high on anasakti, will not let the anxieties about success orfailure distract him when he is preparing for the examination. Theenergy thus conserved, would be directed to the task at hand and,therefore, he would be able to perform his task with reasonableexcellence. Since outcome concerns do not govern his actions, hewould be able to maintain greater emotional equipoise in the faceof success or failure and evaluate the causes of his failure moredispassionately.Downloaded from pds.sagepub.com by Ajit Dalal on April 4, 2011
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