A test of detachment
Once, in the city of Rostov-on-Don (Russia) on a central street, I saw a young couple hugging and decided to offer them a book.
The man replied, "I don't need it. I know everything. It's very good, but those who have knowledge are detached. I'm also detached. Really! I don't have any attachment to my girlfriend."
I responded, "OK, but what about your money? Are you also detached from it?"
"Yes."
"So can you prove that?" I asked.
"Yes," he said.
"Well, then give me a hundred rubles [about three dollars]."
He gave me that.
"And can you give another hundred rubles?"
"Yes," he said and again gave this amount.
"Let’s see how detached you are. Can you give it all?"
He refused, saying that he needed money for some business.
I thanked him and gave him a book.
Your servant,
Vaninath Vasu Dasa, Minsk
