Jesus said, “Whoever finds the world and becomes rich, let him renounce the world.”
Renunciation of the world means very little to one who has had no success in the world and desires to escape living life on account of his or her perceived poverty, failings, and inadequacy, but renunciation on the basis of such self-consciousness and insecurity has little or no meaning and cannot lead to anything noble or good. In fact, much of what motivates renunciation of the world could easily be called cowardice! However, the authentic spiritual aspirant seeking to become a servant of the Lord and spiritual warrior is anything but a coward. Rather, the soul that seeks the mystical path must be strong, courageous, and driven to success, wheth-er in mundane or supramundane pursuits.
“I renounce the presidency of the United States of America in order to seek God for the sake of heaven!” How can I renounce what I do not have and never have had a real chance to obtain? Indeed, I can renounce nothing that I do not have in my own experience. Just the same, I must have a life to surrender it to God. It is as though the Master is saying, “Get a life so that you have something to offer up to God.”
Let us consider more closely the meaning of renunciation. It does not mean that we avoid, abandon, escape, or deny anything. It is not a self-denial of any sort, at least not of the kind that considers the denial of the enjoyment of life somehow more holy. No. Renunciation simply means letting go and no longer viewing things as one’s own personal possessions. It means no longer grasping at whatever is renounced as a means of feeding and sustaining egotism. It is about renouncing the false claim of ownership over people, places, and things—and even more, renouncing ownership of subtle objects such as thoughts and feelings and so forth. In this sense, whatever we have is to be renounced, and what must be renounced is different for each individual. Everyone has different things in life to let go of and offer up.
Interestingly enough, such renunciation leads to greater enjoyment of everything in one’s experience of life and increased freedom to be oneself.
We may also speak of renunciation in terms of letting go of our limited world view, cherished beliefs, preconceptions, preconditions, and expectations, all the things that obstruct us from seeing reality or God as it is. Hence, renunciation is a term for the emptying of oneself so that one might be Spirit-filled. These are the two ways we understand renunciation in the teachings.