I want to renounce my life!

12-22-2005, 11:52 PM

I am 40.

I am highly qualified.

I have travelled and seen the world.

I have seen the futility of short human life.

I have seen the real face of every human relationship which is nothing but a suferficial mask.

I want to renounce my life to grow spiritually and serve humanity.

Is this the right thing to do or I am going insane? I don't take any intoxicants or alcohol.

Sephiroth · 12-23-2005, 01:31 AM

I want to renounce my life to grow spiritually and serve humanity.

And what do you expect to get (in return) by doing that, may I ask?

shravankm · 12-23-2005, 02:55 AM

Well, its easy to leave all your material posessions and family and friends, but what you cannot leave is your own mind?

Even after leaving, you will be sorrounded with same thoughts that are compelling you to leave now.

I think you should gradually (in span of few years) change your lifestyle and move towards spiritualism and social service instead of sudden renouncement.

These are my thoughts.

ranga · 12-23-2005, 03:17 PM

Hi,

It is good to have an idea of renunciation.But the practical part is very tough.You should not be biased by comforts or discomforts.

But our human stomach demands palatable dishes after being hungry for a long time.When flood comes we want ourself to be very safe and not amidst relief camp victims.This is the nature of the mind.Even with pilgrimage,we want to spend money for call taxis and comfortable AC train journeys.

I am not discouraging but these are common with most people.
Hence practice austerities among comforts first so that you can proceed to withstand discomforts.

Money when properly applied is really useful only.

Hence chant Hari's names and first get yourself refined and then proceed to sanyasa.

12-23-2005, 04:30 PM

If you want to renounce....i sincerely advice...

this is not the place to ask this question.

Renunciation has to take into consideration various factors dependent on the individual and there is no one cookie-cutter answer to this.

So, my sincere advice if you are really serious about renunciation, please seek an advanced devotee in whichever school of thought you will and get his or her advice.

Haribol!

anand

12-23-2005, 06:22 PM

well im not 40, but i definetly want to live full time spiritual life. my advice is find someone who is already Self-Realized, and ask them.

like, some reputable swamiji somewhere close...
find him/her and ask and tell everything!
it is destiny u know..

have fun becoming self-realized!

Om Namah Shivaya

ranga · 12-26-2005, 04:44 AM

Hi Ravi,

The problem really lies with finding someone who is genuine guru and not bogus or fake.At the current age of hypocrisy it is really risky to believe some swamiji like that.Ofcourse we cannot doubt everybody but even among genuine gurus we have to find one who is most suitable for our path.For instance a Shaivite cannot appreciate a Vaishnava Acharya or vice versa.A devotional sadhak cannot find solace in advaita guru or vice versa.

Hence in this Kali yug it is more than enough if we practice austerities in our home,visit pilgrimage places,study scriptures and lead a life of bliss,purity and love.

" have fun becoming self-realized!"
What do u mean by this?

12-26-2005, 08:04 AM

A paramhansa narrated this story,

A wife was scolding his husband, see that ... person.
Unlike you, he is real tyagi and wants to advance in spiritual life.
See he is renunciating one after one wife without any thought, otherwise you, you are hopeless doing nothing.
Husband replied--- is that so...
and immediatelly he started to Brindawan without looking back.

Moral of the story - If u want to renunciate, just go ahead and do it. Do not ask.
There was another vaishnav swamiji - whenever someone would ask him, whether I should remian a "Brahmachari"? He would advise him to get married. He would say, the one who wants to be a "Brahmachari" will not ask, he will just practice it.

SSD · 12-26-2005, 10:54 AM

Ravi,

You should not artificially renounce, thinking you are some sort of Gosvami or something. Rather, follow your dharma perfectly but ‘offer’ everything you do for the satisfaction of God (Visnu, Krsna….). When He is ready for you to “renounce” (living in the forest or ashram etc.), you don’t have to worry about it… because He’ll take everything away, whether you like it or not! (smile), and there’s not a darn thing you can do about it!

Until then, do your duty but don’t be attached. That’s REAL renunciation…. Not being attached!

Your servant,
SSD

12-26-2005, 11:56 AM

Hi Ranga,

i definetly agree with you! these days there are many many untrustworthy gurus... but do not worry about me! there is a very very nice swamiji, his name is Swami Tadatmananda, disciple of Swami Dayananda who was disciple of Swami Chinmayananda. i go to his vedanta and teenage classes... and i am freindly with him. He has an ashram close to the college i am about to go to (rutgers) and i have chosen him as my guru! it is almost as if fate brought us togehter! the bhakti i feel for him inside is very nice... i cannot wait to go see him everyday.

well i am a smartha, not a shaiva or vaisnava... he teaches advaita vedanta, so thats nice, it floats my boat. i think i have met the most perfect guru ever.

i know it is good to do all those nice things like pilgrimage and sadhana, but what use is it w/out guru? most ppl are not really wanting to be self-realized, so all those things u mentioned is just for them... but me... im a very different and wierd person. i really am in love with Hinduism and i really want to become self-realized. i am obssessed up to the point that i will do anything for it!

strange though... that these qualities find me at such a young age...

when i said "have fun becomeing self-realized" i was just being very enthusiastic. guru disciple relationship and the process of destroying the ego and silencing the mind IS fun!

--Ravi

Om Namah Shivaya

12-26-2005, 12:03 PM

Hi SSD,

i understand what you mean by "artificially renounce" - you mean externally renounce, like.... run away from everything and live idle life. well i know that doing that is just cowardice! i am doing all my duties without attachment here... for i am content with everything that comes to me without effort.

"When He is ready for you to “renounce” (living in the forest or ashram etc.), you don’t have to worry about it… because He’ll take everything away, whether you like it or not!"

i agree with your statement... it is seeming like all my friends at school are drifting away from me... i feel like i dont really have to do much at school anymore. i am more silent.. i practice dispassion... yes... very detached from all this... observation and inquiry into ego and mind...

japa

but then sometimes this ego feels very sad b/c it cannot have fun anymore. b/c it has already realized that there is no substance in this world. it already knows that there can be no happiness from outside.. so sometimes it crys, but bhakti solves that problem.

sorry for rambling.

--Ravi

Om Namah Shivaya

12-26-2005, 05:40 PM

One day somebody asked same questions like these to Swami Ramkrishna ... Swami Ji, I want to renounce everything. I don't like this materialistic world. I want to live with God and pass all my life in searching him and progressing spiritually. Should i renounce everything?

Swami Ji said : NO because such things happen automatically. You are asking this question, that means you are not yet ready for that higher stage.

12-27-2005, 04:01 AM

Hi,

Good that you are spiritually oriented.But pilgrimage and sadhana can be done under the guidance of a manasika guru who may have attained samadhi also.For eg,one may pray to Ramanujacharya or Very Late Chandrasekarendhra Saraswathi to guide in the sadhana.A powerful guru guides his disciples even after the disapperance from the material world.Hence when someone is puffed up with welfare activites and trusts in the name of current Acharyas,one need not get dejected but choose a famous true yogi who may not be with his material body currently.

Thats what I meant.A guru is essential for spiritual enligthenment though we can assume Supreme Lord Krishna himself as the Adi Guru as he taught Bhagavad Gita.

One thing I felt is
"strange though... that these qualities find me at such a young age... "
this is not something very rare to you alone.Even I felt like that when at my teens and in college.

But I failed to realize one thing -- until I fully control the passion which occupies every man of teenage, I cannot claim I am really inclined spiritually.

The difference between us and normal people is that we have just started to appreciate things while they appreciate wordly pleasures only.So we need to become more matured and more refined with body and mind before claiming ur words.

All the best in Sadhana.......but develop bhakthi before going to Advaita......else u will get misguided.

12-27-2005, 12:04 PM

Thank you for replying
I found this interesting: "A powerful guru guides his disciples even after the disapperance from the material world."

i certainly agree with you, for right now i feel great great bhakti for Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa! and he has left the material world, but he was the best most powerful guru heehehe and very cute also! (if u read gospel of sri ramakrishna u would know he is very cute!)

and this: "this is not something very rare to you alone.Even I felt like that when at my teens and in college."
-ofcourse i am not the ONLY person in the world with these qualities of viveka and sama! there HAVE to be others... i just have not met any of them.

and this: "But I failed to realize one thing -- until I fully control the passion which occupies every man of teenage, I cannot claim I am really inclined spiritually."
-yes, the passion of lust.. which consumes every youth for a short period of time. Well.. self-control comes easy to me.. i dont think i've masterbated for like a year now.. so its cool.

and this: "but develop bhakthi before going to Advaita......else u will get misguided."
-how will i get misguided?
and i have bhakti, but not like, overflowing bhakti which will make me cry a bucket of tears for god...

thankyooouu

Om Namah Shivaya

12-27-2005, 02:09 PM

In spirituality body doesn't matter. It's already rennounced.

Are you saying that your meaning of rennouncing life is to have a report from the mundane world that 'you are dead'. That's funny a spiritual person doesn't require that.

Jokes apart, reach for spirituality in experience and move forward with the help of guru to live by your own spiritual nature.

BTW, spiritual experience is different from the dialogue with god. Spiritually experienced submit that their dialogues with god happen in silence.

ranga · 12-28-2005, 01:06 AM

Sorry I did not login and replied as Guest to you earlier....

You claim certain things of celibacy like one year and all.It will be nice if we can discuss this more elaborately.People get illusion that simply abstaining from that will do everything.So many including nocturnal things are involved which might ooze out once feelings.It is not good to discuss these things elaborately because once self control is never going to get enhanced if not degraded by speaking of all the lower enjoyments.

Still I wanted to make certain things clear to you.Under gross ignorance we must not think that we are great tapasvis.

Tapas not only contain abstinence from that matter but involves several other austerites like abstaining from garlic and oninion,cakes,tour programs,beach time pass,party celebrations,cinema and TV attraction etc etc.

At the outset avoiding these things will look like nullism entering into life but the abstinence from all these make our consciousness go higher and higher.

Whenever vacation or leave is granted in office one can happy arrange for a spiritual tour,visit to temples,encouraging veda schools,involving in cow slaughter prevention by servicing farm lands etc etc.

These things one can happily perform.One must be very careful with the food.He should eat satvik foods and fruits & avoid all chat items.Eating in restaurants,gossiping,western music dance and many more distractions are there to move one away from spiritual life.

On reading all these,if one feels these are too tough then it means the mind of the person is not that much matured for sadhana.If one gets attracted by this tapas life but still not able to let off few things then it is OK and he is a madhayama adhikari.

A uthama adhikari happily follows all these.

Discuss and add your comments on this more.

12-28-2005, 01:50 PM

Dear ranga...
u discuss all these things about doing tapas and abstaning from all these foods and abstaning from all these material pleasures ppl take for granted.

but you are overlooking the TRUE abstinence... the INTERNAL renunciation of all those things you mentioned. Ranga.. the internal renunciation is what really matters. as long as the mind does not become agitated and restless... as long as the mind does not actively pursue all the things you mentioned then it is ok to have them. but if the mind is still immature and is adversly affected by the material things then the spiritual aspirant should avoid them.

you say that tapas is very important. but tapas is not even really required. all these things that are prescribed are not required. for ex. japa and meditation and mantra, and satva etc etc. for Truth is above and beyond ALL these. spiritual effort is the most contradictory phenomenon. all these efforts (japa, tapas, self-control, etc) have to made with full awareness that nothing can be achieved thru them. Effort has to be made to achieve no-effort, only to achieve effortlessness. But dont relax your effort, because if you relax you will never achieve that relaxation which came to all the realized souls.

what im trying to say is that... all these things that ppl do for self-realization.. do not directly bring the self-realization. self-realization is where the mind completely stop and the ego completely dissapears... how can the mind come to a stop, when it is doing sadhana and tapas? these things actively use the mind. it can only come to complete silience when all effort has ceased.

sorta confusing isnt it? but true..

ok, i have to get going.. getting my provisional liscence today.

Om Namah Shivaya

12-29-2005, 11:52 AM

ok... i was thinking it over and i guess it was wrong for me to say that tapas is not required. what i meant was it is not what brings silence to mind. effort does not bring effortlessness... only effortlessness does.

tapas and japa and pilgrimage will be required.. in the beginning! just as the spiritual aspirant must have LOTS of mumukshu... but then even that burning desire for liberation will have to be let go later on. even all the knowledge will have to be forgotten in order to completely destroy the mind.

yup..

yalgur44 · 01-06-2006, 10:26 PM

Renouncing one's own life is a great sin. Life came as He wishes and threfore, one has no right on one's life. One has to lead a full life as He wishes.

Sephiroth · 01-06-2006, 10:33 PM

You talk as if renouncing life is suicide. I didn't say anything about suicide.