Renunciation

“Renounce and enjoy. The real fruit, the real happiness, lies within. Learn to be content with that inner experience of happiness. When you eat a banana, you eat only the fruit. You don't eat the peel because it will give you a stomach-ache. Similarly, don't allow your wealth, status and reputation to be the very core of your existence. They may seem to provide happiness, but such happiness is transient and riddled with pain. But remember, your real existence lies within.”

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“As one's mind becomes more and more subtle, one will find that renunciation of desires is the only way to get rid of all sorrow and suffering.”

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“Any spiritual path, whichever it may be, involves renunciation. Without practising renunciation the desired benefit will not be obtained.”

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What is Renunciation?

"When your child is sick, you take it to the hospital. You'll walk to the hospital, if necessary, even if it's a very long way. You are ready to fall at the feet of any number of people to get your child admitted to the hospital, and if the hospital rooms are full, you are ready to sleep on the dirty floor with the child. You'll take time off from work for several days to stay with the child. But because all this struggle is for the sake of your own child, it cannot be called tyaga (renunciation).”

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“People are prepared to go up and down the courthouse steps countless times just to fight for a tiny piece of land. But they are doing it for themselves. People work late and give up their sleep to get overtime pay. This is not tyaga (renunciation). But if you sacrifice all of your comforts and come to the aid of another person, then you can call it tyaga. If you help a poor fellow human being with the money you have earned through hard work, that is tyaga. Say that your neighbour's child is sick, and there is no one to be with him in the hospital; if you stay with that child, expecting nothing in return from anyone, not even a smile, that qualifies as tyaga. If you reduce your expenses by foregoing some personal convenience, and use what you save from this for a benevolent purpose, that is tyaga.”

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“Through such acts of sacrifice, you knock on the door that leads to the realm of the Self. It is through such actions that you gain entry into that world. This is what is known as karma yoga. Other actions lead only to death. The actions you do with the attitude of 'I' and 'mine' can never be of any real benefit to you.”

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Give up all thoughts and feelings about whatever you have renounced

“Usually when people give up something they experience a lot of conflict within. They start having second thoughts about it and feel that perhaps they made a mistake. This is not real renunciation. After having given up something, if you still feel a mental attachment to it, that means you have not given it up. In fact, what you should give up is the attachment to the object. You can have the object and enjoy it if you are not attached. We give up something externally in order to be internally free from the bondage to that object. Detachment is what brings peace and happiness. Real renunciation and detachment come only when we give up all thoughts and feelings about whatever we have renounced.”

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“Give up something and feel happy about it. Forget that it was ever yours. To think that you have given up something is also wrong. Don't feel that. Just feel relaxed; be at ease. Realise that you are free — free from that burden. The object was a burden and now it is gone. Only if you can feel the burden of attachment of objects will you be able to feel the relaxation or bliss that comes with detachment and renunciation.”

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Learn Renunciation from Nature

“Look at Nature. Nature is a textbook from which we must learn. Each object in it is a page of that book. Each and every object in Nature teaches us something. Renunciation and selflessness are the greatest lessons that we can learn from Nature. Nature sacrifices Herself for humans whereas we not only exploit Her but destroy Her. Yet Nature continues to serve us.”

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Mahatmas and Renunciation

“Mahatmas (great souls) suffer in order to teach us renunciation.”

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“Sri Rama was the incarnation of Lord Narayana; nevertheless, didn't He shed tears when Sita was kidnapped by Ravana, the demon king? Sri Krishna was killed by an arrow shot by an ordinary hunter, wasn't He? What about Jesus Christ? Wasn't He tortured and didn't He suffer like a ordinary human being? They were all avatars (God descended in human form), yet when they were in human form, they wanted to experience everything that a mortal human being experienced. That is their greatness, to choose to suffer like a mortal even though they are fully aware of their Godhood. That is the greatest, most wonderful renunciation that a mahatma (great soul) will do. He takes and accepts the suffering by his own will for the good of others.”

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“The Guru has no selfish interests at all. He or she lives in tyaga (renunciation); his or her whole being is tyaga. The Guru burns his or her own body which he or she has taken by self-will, in the flame of tyaga for the uplifting of the disciples and for the good of the world. From that blazing flame of tyaga each one of us can kindle a wick so that we can also become a street light in the dark path through which the entire human race walks.”

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Real Renunciation

“Real renunciation is the renunciation of the past and the future. The past is the garbage can where you have dumped all the actions you have performed. It is a storehouse of everything good and bad. The past is a wound. Don't touch it or scratch it. Don't make it bigger. If you scratch the wound - that is, if you delve into your memories - the wound will get infected. Don't do that. Try instead to let it heal. Healing is possible only through faith and love of God. This is possible only in the present. Remember God, chant His name, meditate on His form, and repeat your mantra. That is the best medicine to heal the wound of the past. Take that medicine to forget the past and do not be anxious about the future.”

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How can I live without the comforts of life?

“The word renunciation scares some people. Their attitude is that if contentment can come only through giving up, then it is better not to be content. They wonder how they can lead a contented life without wealth, without a beautiful house, a nice car, a wife or husband, without all the conveniences and comforts of life. Without all these, life would be impossible, it would be hell, they think. But do you know anyone whose possessions make them really happy and content? People who look for happiness in life's many conveniences and comforts are the most miserable ones. The more wealth and comforts one has, the more worries and problems one will have. The more one desires, the more one will feel discontent, because desires are endless. The chain of greed and selfishness continues to lengthen. It is an endless chain.”

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“When you visit a friend that you haven't seen for a long time, you may give her a bouquet of flowers. But you are the first to enjoy the beauty and fragrance of the flowers, and you also experience the gratification of giving. In the same way, you automatically derive happiness and contentment from your selfless acts of tyaga (renunciation).”

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Self-sacrifice

“Human beings can learn many things from Nature. For example, take an apple tree. It gives all its fruits to others, taking nothing for itself. Its very existence is for other living beings. Likewise, a river. Everyone comes and bathes in it. It washes away everyone's dirt, expecting nothing. It willingly accepts all the impurities and returns purity, sacrificing everything for others. Children, each and every object in this world teaches us sacrifice. If you observe closely, you can find that all of life is a sacrifice. Each one's life is a story of sacrifice. The husband sacrifices his life for his wife and the wife sacrifices hers for her husband, a mother for her children and the children for their family. Each one of us is sacrificing our lives in one way or another. But all of us are limited to our own little world. Without sacrifice, there is no world. Sacrificing everything for the good of the world is the greatest sacrifice. This little world of ours should evolve until it becomes the whole universe. As it grows, we can see our problems also dissolving slowly.”

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“A real tapasvi (one who practices austerities) wishes to serve others through self-sacrifice, just like a candle gives light to others while it melts and burns down. Their aim is to give happiness to others while forgetting their own struggles. This is what they pray for. This attitude awakens the love for God within them. Mother is waiting for such individuals. Liberation will come searching for them, and will wait on them like a servant maid. Liberation will come flying to them like leaves in the wake of a whirlwind. Others, whose minds are not as expansive, will not attain realisation, no matter for how long they may be doing tapas (austerity). This place is not for those who come seeking only their own liberation.”

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“Real sacrifice is expansiveness of mind; that is becoming completely selfless. Real sacrifice is the sacrifice of our animal tendencies. That is what needs to be offered in the Fire of Knowledge. Interpreting this wrongly, people sacrifice animals.”

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“When all are plunged into the quagmire of illusion and desire, a true sadhak is the one who tries to emerge from it and know God. He is the one who offers his own life at His feet. He wants to sacrifice his body and mind for his own spiritual evolution and for the upliftment of the world. God is with him or her who is willing to do this.”

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“When we offer something that we are attached to into the sacrificial fire, it is equal to severing that attachment. The biggest yaga takes place when we sacrifice our ego for the love of God. That is what real jnana is all about. We should discard the idea of 'I' and 'mine', and see everything as the one Truth, as God. We should understand that nothing is separate from ourselves. By offering our ego into the homa fire, we become complete.”

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Comment: "Amma, I have given up many things for the sake of God, but I can't find peace."

Amma: "All of us talk about the sacrifices we have made. But what do we really have that we can give up? What do we have that is our own? What we consider ours today will not be ours tomorrow. Everything belongs to God. Only through His grace are we able to enjoy things. If there is anything that is our own, it is our likes and dislikes; these are what we need to renounce."