Remember that so long as one’s mind attaches importance to an object and is tempted by it, nay, as long as its possession is supposed to be the sign of good fortune or God’s grace and its absence is taken as a misfortune and its necessity is felt, and so long as its possession is supposed to be a source of joy and fulfillment, one cannot be free from desire: one cannot attain disinterestedness or desirelessness.

Nobody can attain ‘disinterestedness’ by merely repeating this word. One can attain it only when the objects desired appeared to be harmful and destructive of real happiness. Then the objects will appear unreal and of no significance. ⇲