The idea of “well, that didn’t work, it is a distraction
to my leading a truly spiritual life; it is a hindrance to finding
that which will work for me or to my finding what I am seeking,
so therefore I will/must give it up” or something along
those lines is just a mind game. For some it is viewed as a rite
of passage to travel to India or some other far off land in their ‘quest
for enlightenment’. People are abandoning their relationships
and lives either temporarily or permanently (or thinking they must]
in the name of this quest or the search for their teacher, guru,
or spiritual community. In the western world this is becoming
a popular trend, especially in certain circles. For
many, it happens after having achieved goals and/or
attaining material wealth or possessions that did
not serve to give the inner-peace or happiness the attainer sought
through the achievement of such things, and thus they have become
even more depressed and disenchanted with life.
Embarking on a quest or journey with or without renunciation
is the belief that the ‘it’ sought lies out there
somewhere – outside self. It is like substituting one addiction
for another. If the material possessions, job, partner,
house, or whatever didn’t do it, a trip to India, a pillow,
guru, or renunciation might. For some renunciation
or the actual physical journey is part of one’s Dharma or
path, but either way, it is still simply a matter
of inner-Realization. No physical journey or renunciation of anything
physical is necessary.
As Ramana Maharshi said, “True renunciation is in the mind” and
is “neither achieved by physical renunciation nor impeded
by the lack of it.” It is as the Zen saying goes: ‘Before
enlightenment, chop wood carry water; after enlightenment,
chop wood carry water.’ It is having the change of mind and
awareness and bringing it into the ‘real’ or everyday
world with you, or as you.
That is the blessing and the challenge of it. I have often
said it is easy to find ‘enlightenment’ sitting
on a rock in a cave somewhere; away from civilization;
away from the noise, crowds, and myriad of
distractions and responsibilities. It is more
challenging to uncover the enlightened mind
right where you are, in the midst of everyday life with all
of its distractions, and is perhaps more impenetrable when
done so.
Having renounced his home and life at the age of 17, Sri
Ramana was often asked about renunciation.
His answer was usually unexpected. It was a matter of ‘Do as I say,
not as I did’,
which surprised many people and went against
common thinking.
The following is part of a conversation between a devotee who questioned
Sri Ramana about abandoning life to live as a sannyasin [One
who has renounced home. property, caste, and all
human attachments in the spiritual quest. The renunciation
is permanent.]
Devotee: I feel the urge to give up all attachments and renounce
the world as a sannyasin.
RM: Renunciation does not mean outward divestment of clothes and
so on or abandonment of home. True renunciation is
the renunciation of desires, passions, and attachments.
Devotee: But single-minded devotion to God may not be possible
unless one leaves the world.
RM: No; one who truly renounces actually merges in the world
and expands his love to embrace the whole world.
It would be more correct to describe the attitude of the devotee as
universal love than as abandoning home to don
the ochre robe… When you really feel
that equal love for all, when your heart has so expanded
as to embrace the whole of creation, you will certainly not feel like giving
up this or that; you will simply drop off from secular life as a ripe
fruit does from the branch of a tree. You will feel
that the whole world is your home” [Osborne, pg 72-73].
On a different occasion he was asked again.
Q: How is it possible to become selfless while leading a life of
worldly activity?
RM: There is no conflict between work and wisdom.
Q: Do you mean that one can continue all the old activities
in one’s profession, for instance, and at the same time
get Enlightenment?
RM: Why not? But in the case one will not think that it is
the old personality which is doing the work
because one’s
consciousness will gradually become transformed
until it enters in That which is beyond the little self, [Osborne, pg
75].
Another explanation can be found in Day by Day with Bhagavan,
by Devaraja Mudaliar:
RM: “It is possible to perform all the activities of life
with detachment and regard only the Self as real.
It is wrong to suppose that if one is fixed in the Self one’s duties
in life will not be properly performed. It is like an actor. He dresses
and acts and even feels the part he is playing, but
he knows really that he is not that character but someone else in real life.
In the same way, why should the body-consciousness or the feeling ‘I-am-the-body’ disturb
you once you know for certain that you are not the
body but the Self? Nothing that the body does should shake you from abidance
in the Self. Such discharge of whatever duties the
body has, any more than the actor’s being aware of his real status
in life interferes with his acting a part on the stage” [Osborne,
pg 74].
-end-
[Source: Ramana Maharshi and the Path of Self-Knowledge,
by Arthur Osborne Copyright 1970, Weiser Books, Boston.]
