Renunciation Changes Destiny

📖Master’s Reading

Many gravely misunderstand "renunciation," thinking that to give rise to it one must abandon family and flee suffering. In truth, renunciation is a renunciation of the "mind," not of the "body." True renunciation is not to passively flee the world, but for your mind to be no longer held hostage by the Sahā world.

We live each day in the red dust, often tightly bound by fame, gain and love. If we grip the worldly and will not let go, the soul is "dragged onward" by clinging and falls again into saṃsāra. True practice is, within the worldly, to "enter the setting and follow its customs, playing along." You can still care for family completely and work responsibly, yet the mind no longer revolves around worldly affliction. Your mind must be as firm as a vajra scepter, not easily shaken by outer people and things.

When you see through the nature of the six realms of saṃsāra as holding no ease, no longer bound by fame and love, and give rise to the longing for ultimate liberation, this "renunciation" becomes the compass that leaps free of saṃsāra. When the heart holds a higher goal, the world's eight sufferings can no longer entangle you. You still live in the world, but the direction of life has utterly transformed — this is the true opportunity to change destiny.

🌱Reflection for Daily Life

• In the red dust play your part; give rise to renunciation and leap free of saṃsāra.
• Understand that renunciation is of the mind, not of the body.
• Follow the customs and play along, but do not lose yourself in the play.
• Let the mind be as firm as a vajra scepter, unmoved by circumstance.
• Give rise to renunciation and seek the soul's liberation.