Renunciation...

Renunciation is always for a purpose; it is to kindle the soul that nothing may
hold it back from God, but when it is kindled, the life of renunciation is not
necessary.

Bowl of Saki, October 3, by Hazrat Inayat Khan




Commentary by Pir-o-Murshid Inayat Khan:

Renunciation has an automatic action on the heart of man, an action which very
few realize because very few arrive at that stage where they can renounce. By
this action a spiritual spark is kindled in the soul; and when a person has
arrived at that stage he has taken the first step on the path of spirituality.
The spark produced by this action in the depths of the heart culminates in a
flame, a torch in life; and this changes the whole outlook on life. The whole
world seems changed, the same world in which one has lived and suffered and
enjoyed and learned and unlearned -- everything appears to change once
renunciation is learned. ... He alone is capable of renunciation who finds a
greater satisfaction in seeing another eat his piece of bread than in eating it
himself.

Only he whose heart is full of happiness after an act of renunciation should
make a renunciation. This shows that renunciation is not something that can be
learned or taught. It comes by itself as the soul develops, when the soul begins
to see the true value of things. All that is valuable to others a seer begins to
see differently. Thus the value of all the things that we consider precious or
not precious, is according to the way we look at them. For one person the
renunciation of a penny is too much; for another that of everything he possesses
is nothing. It depends on how we look at things. One rises above all that one
renounces in life. Man remains the slave of anything which he has not renounced;
of that which he has renounced he becomes king. This whole world can become a
kingdom to a person who has renounced it. Renunciation depends upon the
evolution of the soul. One who has not evolved spiritually cannot really
renounce. Toys so precious to children mean nothing to the grown-up; it is easy
to renounce them; and so it is for those who develop spiritually; for them all
things are easy to renounce.

Be obstinate in the path of success. Nothing should keep you back from your
effort when your resolution is once taken. Renounce your object of attainment
only when you have reached it and you have a better one in view. But when you
have attained the object and you cling to it, then you hinder your own progress,
for the object is greater than yourself. You are greater than the object when
you are able to renounce it after attaining it.

Some lead the life of renunciation, others have family, friends and all things,
because renunciation is always for a purpose. It is to kindle the soul, that
there may be nothing to hold the soul back from God, but when the soul is
kindled the life of renunciation is not a necessity.

It is as Fariduddin Attar, the great Persian poet, says, 'Renounce the good of
the world, renounce the good of heaven, renounce your highest ideal, and then
renounce your renunciation.'