Throughout the average life, a person dies many times. We die to childish things, to a self squandered in the mayhem of youth and to those obses – sions and preoccupations that once held us captive. Detachment is a form of death that renders us less reliant on the material things of this world. Contemplative people stand at a distance from their cares, knowing that ‘life is more than food and the body more than clothes’.

Throughout the average life, a person dies many times. We die to childish things, to a self squandered in the mayhem of youth and to those obses – sions and preoccupations that once held us captive. Detachment is a form of death that renders us less reliant on the material things of this world. Contemplative people stand at a distance from their cares, knowing that ‘life is more than food and the body more than clothes’.