Understanding Renunciation

So,

Today I want to talk about something that Kurt touched on last Thursday and that is renunciation.

Renunciation is not a very popular topic.

It doesn't have a positive connotation associated with it in our culture.

So,

I want to bring a wider understanding to it today.

And so instead of using the word renunciation,

I'd like to use the word simplifying or simplification.

You know when you hear that many people would say like,

Oh yeah that's great.

I want to simplify my life.

That sounds good.

But when we hear I'm going to renounce something,

Then it's like,

Oh,

Sorry to hear that.

You know,

I think there's often a strong reaction to this word renunciation.

So simplifying,

You know.

So maybe it's appropriate to flush out renunciation a little bit.

So the Pali word,

The way it's written in the ancient text is nikama,

Nikama.

And the ni,

The prefix means out.

And the word kama means to walk or to go.

So nikama means to go out or to come out,

To come out.

So the focus is not on what's being left behind,

What you're renouncing,

But rather where you're going.

Coming out of a confinement,

A confining situation,

A confining decision.

Some situation where the heart and the mind is contracted or confined.

And you're coming out of that into a new situation,

Open space,

Expansive,

Peaceful.

So that's the connotation of this word nikama,

Coming out into an expansive open space.

So the association of this word nikama is more on what is gained in the act of renunciation.

Whereas the English word for many people,

I think it's associated with a kind of depressing,

You know,

Depending on your religious background,

It's kind of a self denigrating or self diminishing in a way that's kind of painful and difficult.

So to focus on this Buddhist idea of renunciation,

On what is gained rather than what is lost.

So this renunciation is an act of coming out of confinement.

It's something someone chooses to do in a conscious way.

And in our tradition,

The Insight tradition,

We're kind of a retreat tradition.

There's a lot of emphasis and value on going on meditation retreats.

And retreats even day longs could be,

You know,

You could title it renunciation retreat.

But I don't think people,

So we don't really title it that way.

But what happens on retreat is that you're giving up your schedule,

You know,

For the day or for the week,

You don't sleep in.

You're giving up speaking.

You're giving up social conversation are in silence for a time.

While you're on retreat,

You're giving up alcohol and sex and your iPhone.

So I think it's fairly,

I think it's fair to say that the majority of people who do retreats by the end of it,

Really appreciate it a lot.

They appreciate that putting down of the habits and kind of look forward to the next one.

It's so nice to be simple and not have a lot of pressure and demands of life.

You know,

All the responsibilities that we have,

And to really just be able to spend time to be to focus internally with ourselves and really connecting with ourselves.

There's a wonderful way in which we start paying attention to kind of what's going on here.

And sometimes,

Especially if the first time of retreating,

You start to see the limitations of being self centered and self preoccupied.

And that kind of turning kind of inside out kind of dropping away at this selfishness that's often invisible can be really satisfying and really meaningful for people.

So just to say that all of you who are local,

You'll have this opportunity to practice on retreat.

I'm offering a day long retreat on Sunday,

September 11th at Flying Dog Ranch in Carbondale.

So that's an opportunity that's available and there are details on the website if you're interested.

So we sit down to meditate for 30 minutes.

And there's a renunciation of many of the common things that we kind of put aside.

You know,

We put aside our concern with food,

Our concern with things involved in our social relationships with other people.

We might have thoughts,

But we're not really involved.

You know,

We put aside the use of our money.

We put aside our entertainment.

We put aside our role that we live by.

You might have all kinds of roles and self images that are important to you,

Identities that are important.

And to some degree,

These roles,

The image you want to live by,

How you see yourself,

You put that aside to sit together.

So we're learning to simplify,

To simplify your mind.

So it's quite phenomenal to have the mind get very still and peaceful.

To have a sense of well-being that isn't dependent on anything that's going on.

You know,

Our well-being is often tied to the things we're preoccupied with.

And so as you start to practice,

And maybe even some of you have experienced this,

You start to feel the benefits of this like radical simplicity of mind where you're putting down desires and aversions,

Resentments,

Past and future.

And for this time,

There's just this really simple way of being.

So to close,

I want to offer you one of the simplest meditations that I know.

And it's really pleasant.

And you can practice this before our time again.

And the instruction,

The instruction is to set yourself at ease.

So you sit down to meditate,

And you set yourself at ease mentally,

Physically,

Emotionally,

You cultivate some ease.

And it doesn't have to be dramatic.

Just be easy with yourself.

Set yourself at ease.

And then notice whatever happens that takes you away from that ease.

Simple,

Right?

And the idea being,

If you notice really carefully,

What takes you away from ease,

That somehow,

You'll find your ease again,

In a variety of ways.

Maybe like one is you realize that what takes you away from your ease isn't really worth it.

Like losing your ease over concern or preoccupation,

That same old worry that grabs the mind,

It's not worth losing your ease over.

So maybe you're willing to let that go and come back to yourself.

You might also notice that what you pay attention to,

What takes you away from your ease,

You need to start to notice that it's easeful to it's easeful to just even look.

You know,

As you pay attention to what's taking you away,

If you're lucky that attention that notices,

Oh,

Look at that.

That's easy.

Look at how I'm pulled by this preoccupation.

So sometimes when that happens,

That very act of noticing that's a peaceful quality of the mind.

Oh,

Look at how I'm getting pulled.

And that's peaceful.

So as you set yourself at ease,

And you start to notice what takes you away from it,

It can open up a great study of yourself,

A great discovery of some aspect,

Some different aspects of who you are.

Like rather than thinking that you're supposed to push certain things away,

Just notice and become familiar with what takes you off your ease.

And what does this have to do with renunciation?

Well,

The idea is you're setting yourself at ease points to a capacity,

A possibility of peace,

Of deep well being.

And that can exist.

You know,

That possibility.

And what does it take to gain that possibility?

Seeing all the ways we're pulled off our ease and being willing to let them go for a time so that we can have this higher quality of aliveness,

A higher quality of being.

So just to remember that the focus of renunciation is on what is gained instead of what is lost.

Thank you for your kind attention.