“I am a renunciate, so I will not work,”says the biggest spiritual hypocrite! There is a misconception that every man has about spirituality and becoming spiritual. It’s about silence, renunciation, inactivity, running away, dispassion, detachment and sanyasa.
Most people believe that they should not be involved in activity or work. They believe money is the one thing you should shun, you should not have relatives, you should shut away or run away somewhere.
None of this is true. Can you eliminate your thoughts altogether anywhere you go? So even if you go away to Himalayas know that you haven’t gone away from your objective. It kills you softly and surely. You can never become a renunciate.
Let’s examine the lives of great people and see whether they actually did what you believe you should do. Buddha went away to Bodhagaya and meditated to arrive at Buddhahood. Jesus left his family and disappeared to reappear again to teach. Krsna gave up His kingdom to His grandfather but took up the reigns once again. Sriram went on vanvass(sojourn in jungles) but returned to civilization to rule His kingdom once again.
Do you even for a moment believe they never taxed people or collected money? Their world was not filled with opulence. Take Buddha for example, his sangha comprised of thousands of Bodhisattvas and Arhats. Do you think they all went hungry or begged in the streets? No way. They were taught to live in penury and in abundance too. Have you ever visited a Buddhist monastery? You will first observe a golden Buddha and the surroundings will be better than your own middle class colony.
Similarly take Jesus for example. He had huge followers who went on to make an opulent church. The Church is one of the richest institution in the whole world. Same case with Hindu temples.
Go to Ramanna ashram or Shirdi, Tirupati or Ramakrishna Mission and tell me if you see poverty or people begging. Do you see well manicured lawns, grand libraries, opulent entrances, sandstone or marble architecture and so on.
Now we come to the sages themselves. They may be living frugally but they managed big institutions. Money flowed and there were charitable activities there. They wore simple clothes but they were decorated with silk and flowers.
Now comes the true part. You should know, these great people never had desires or needs. They were completely detached from what was happening around them. Whatever people around them did, it never affected them. They were never carried away with gold or jewelry. They never asked for expensive gifts or flower garlands. The money came and went but they never for once hoarded or coveted it. These people could not be bought by grandeur or opulence. They were simple and unassuming. They never bothered about notoriety or prominence.
Above all they never said don’t give. They never stopped the Goddess of Wealth anywhere. She flowed in ceaselessly. Only our hypocritical spiritual aspirants believe that they should oppose Her. Who are you to stop Her anyway? God Himself never did so who are you to say She shouldn’t come?
Renunciation means renouncing the fruits of action. Actions, you should do but don’t look at results. Whatever the results, don’t wait. Keep on going ahead. Dispassion doesn’t mean throwing away gifts but not desiring them passionately. Don’t let your saliva drool on that piece of sweets. Take it and eat it, but don’t possess it. Detachment doesn’t mean running away from your near and dear ones or throwing them out. It means don’t be overly attached just because they are related to your perishable body. You should consider every human as your blood relative. So love everyone without bias. Just like Mother Theresa.
Silence means silencing the constant chatter of the mind and not physically keeping your mouth shut. All sages are always talking, right? So talk but silence that silly jumping to conclusions stuff or judging others by your stupid mind.
Inactivity means not pursuing after money or gains for personal benefits. You should be over active in helping those that need help. Running away means not allowing sinful thoughts or gainful or motivated actions. Run away from non virtuous actions or those that will entrap you in this material world. Get out of bondage and be free.
Now let’s see how all you spiritual beings go about. Don’t you stop yourself in the middle to question me. Go on, do what you got to.
Image Courtesy by Bkcolombia
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