Secret of Life-12

You can practice renunciation in two ways:

1. Negation of little self: You have your ego.
It makes to say the following sentences:
„« I am doing this
„« I feel this
„« This is mine
„« I possess this
„« I enjoy
„« I sense this
„« I suffer

It is this ego,I and mine,that you have to renounce.

If you don't feel happy over a sensual feeling, you
will not feel sad either on the opposite happening.
If you enjoy, you will suffer. Do not enjoy, you
will not suffer. You are not enjoying or suffering or
feeling. It is your body or mind which does so. You
are not your body or mind. Remove yourself from such
acts, feelings, possessions, enjoyment, sufferings,
etc. You will be happy, because, YOU, the atman¡the
self¡the truth¡is always blissful.

Feelings and actions and belongings pertain to the
body and mind, which is not You. Renounce all the
above, and you shall be yourself.

2. Assertion of Reality: You are the Supreme
Self. You are the Reality. You are all pervading.
You are infinite. You are the Almighty. Assert
yourself. Renounce everything else in this world.

The spirit of renunciation purifies action. Action
attains respect when executed with a renounced mind.
There should be renunciation in action, not of action.
Renunciation can also be sattwic, rajasic or tamasic
in nature. Tamasic renunciation arises out of
ignorance. You do not perform an act out of your
ignorance. Rajasic renunciation is a qualified and
conditional one. You may not do it because it may
cause physical pain to you. That is not real
renunciation.

Real, sattwic renunciation is action that is carried
out of pure sense of duty, obligation and
responsibility, unmindful of the fruits and rewards
arising out of the action.

Great sages or rishis retired to forests to discover
truth. That was a means to their end. Retirement to
forests was not the end. That was their way of
finding the truth. Scientists retire to their
laboratories to make new experiments and inventions.
But their findings are not meant for use in the
laboratory. They are meant to be used in the outside
world. Similarly, what our rishis find by retiring to
the forests are not meant for usage in the forests,
but for the outside world in day to day life.

There was a king who wanted to meet a true sanyasi.
He asked his minister to find a true sanyasi for him.
The minister could not find any. So, he approached a
young man and requested him to pretend like a sanyasi.
And one day he got the king to meet the fake sanyasi.
The king, the queen and his children fell at his
feet. The king offered the sanyasi lots of money and
gold. The sanyasi did not take them and asked the
king to take them away. The minister was happy and
when the king left, he came to the sanyasi with the
promised bag of gold. The sanyasi refused to accept
it saying "If I could be adored by the king and his
family and offered lots of wealth, just for pretending
to have renounced everything, what will I not get if I
actually renounce everything?" That is the power and
experience of renunciation.

Then there were two travelers, who happened to be
childhood friends. One of them was now a businessman,
and the other, a sanyasi. They had to cross a river.
The boatman refused to ferry them across, as it was
late evening. After a long conversation, the boatman
agreed to ferry them, for a large sum of money. In
the boat, the rich man asked the sanyasi: "Why did you
take sanyasa? Is it of any help to you? Has it
helped us now? Was it not money that saved our lives
now?" To which the sanyasi replied: "What saved our
lives? Money's possession or resignation?" That is
renunciation. It will save lives.

Renunciation heralds meditation. The essential
prerequisite of meditation is concentration. An
agitated mind is not fit for meditation. If a mind is
filled with desires, it is agitated. Your mind will
be calm and composed if it is free of desires. You
can get rid of your desires by following the three
yogas- action, devotion and knowledge.