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.
Please chant:
Hare Rama Hare Rama Rama Rama Hare Hare
Hare Krishna Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna Hare Hare
and your journey to self will start for sure to reach the state beyond Wake, Dream, Sleep and reach the 4th stage of Turiya which is our real nature.
