"To renounce the attachment and the desire, not the action. "
A simple sounding task, but perhaps the most challenging and with deepest impact.
3 Likes
Yes! In the past I have experienced the beautiful state of renunciation- sometimes spontaneously but usually when I am actively in practice. Lately I am that flame being blown every which way and only occasionally do I suddenly find myself in a moment of that space. Itās hard to remember to even try most of the time- that is why I am so grateful for this course right now. 
3 Likes
Yes, this quote resonates with me. Another way of saying the same thing for me to understand on several levels, is not to let go of expectations and desires, but to release me attachment to them. I nthe releasing or surrendering I am set free form the bondage of my mind wanting to control outcomes.
1 Like
Renunciation is a fierce commitment to finding inner alignment and truth. So much so, that all things that distract from the path are deliberately not chosen. Self numbing or addiction comes to mind.
iām working on not clinging to how I think things ought to be! I know this, but I forget it so often when iām struggling with the current stressors in my life. I want to offer this fear and this need for control to Kaliā¦ allow myself to trust that I am being taken care of, and REMEMBER the truth that everything is going exactly as it needs to, just as it always has. Iām learning the lessons I need and am ready to learn
2 Likes
āEvery moment of time has enormous energy in itā - This portion of the quote deeply resonates with me because when I get caught up in the busyness of the material world I completely forget this! I feel like I am starting to see more clearly how I pull away/close off in my life, and need to invite more love and compassion into my being when I notice this instead of feeling bad about being a human.
Contraction and expansion are a natural part of the universe, so it only makes sense that we, as humans, experience our own peaks and valleys of contraction and expansion. I am grateful for my spiritual practice as it allows me to remember this as truth!
3 Likes
I hope I donāt insult anyone ~ I donāt mean to ~ but I am talking about my own experience. I already felt myself pulling away yesterday by some things that were said. I consider myself a recovering Christian and I thought Ram Dass was a Buddhist which I consider myself, although that has only been for a few years and I donāt believe in reincarnation. I was quite surprised that āChristā was brought up and then again today with āprayerā and āgodā. I am going to stick around and see what else happens but I certainly donāt want to go backwards. I am an athiest and one of the most freeing things I ever did was to stop trying to believe things (for 30+ years) that I didnāt really feel or believe. It doesnāt feel ārightā to me revisiting these words that I donāt believe in. I kind of feel like Iām back where I started and that isnāt really what I thought I was signing up for. But, I like Ram Dass and Iām going to keep going and see what transpires. I am open to learning and try to have an open mind but I do have limits to what I can believe. I donāt believe a person - at least not this person - can force themselves to believe things that they really donāt feel. I tried that for many years and was miserable.
2 Likes
This quote resonates with me. I have been in recovery for two years. Renunciation doesnāt feel like ālackā it feels like fulfillment, like Iāve plugged into this energy source. Describing the feeling seems challenging. But itās almost impossible to put into words this process.
1 Like
Skye, I wish I could source the quotes directly but I believe Ram Dass addresses this in one of his lectures. Church trauma is real. I too have experienced the process of recovering from Christianity. Sending you light and love. 
4 Likes
This is wonderfully relevant to this topic of renunciation ~ from a brilliant poet and pastor 
"Dearly Beloved,
Grace and Peace to you.
Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs in the realm of heaven.
āMatthew 5.3
Eternal God,
humbly confess my riches,
illusory as they are,
to which I cling:
that I am right,
that I am acceptable, or ought to be,
that I have reason to be beloved,
or to be abandoned.
I have hoarded worthiness
and unworthiness.
I have kept account.
I am sorry, and I renounce
my whole account,
and all to which I cling.
I repent of the wealth
of what I think and what I fear
and what I want.
O I am truly poor; I have nothing
but this one breath, and its release,
and my openness to you.
Bereft as air, I await
the song of your grace
to fill me, bless me, redeem me.
Keep me free,
and sustain my blessed poverty,
an open hand,
reaching out in this present moment,
to your open hand."
~ Pastor Steve Garnaas-Holmes
1 Like
Hi Rea!
Thank you so much for saying hello!
How beautiful that even though that religion didnāt resonate with you, that you still brought Jesus with you, and that you love him and reach for him. So wonderful! 
I also do not connect with substitutionary atonement, but maybe for different reasons than you.
If you have specific questions about how I have navigated combining the path of Bhakti and being a follower of Christ, Iād love to continue the conversation! 
Renunciation in the context of the dharma, for me, represents insight into interdependence, emptiness, and dependent origination. Moving beyond rigid principles, policies, procedures, instructions, and roadmaps in the pursuit of nobler aspirations. The whole is greater than the sum of its structural components. The practice is similar in that the teachings, insights, and guidance are tools on the path but should not themselves be confused with the being on the path. Over attachment to the tools of āxā can result in them being used unskillfully. In a modern environment that desperately seeks to be virtuous these teachings can become weapons. Wisdom is required
Iāve been on the journey of embracing the concept of āThy Will, not mine, be doneā, for about 20 years nowā¦ and up until about 4 or 5 years ago it was mostly just me contemplating the idea of embracing the concept rather than actually putting it into practice.
Due to some extreme challenges of this earthly experience (thank goodness) I finally started to honestly mean it when I asked for āThy Will, NOT mine, to be done,ā and its since changed my life trajectory from hopeless to joy filled.
These days, more often than not, I completely welcome the adventure of life unfolding as it will, rather than as Iād like it to. Iām aware that my little plans and designs are just that, LITTLE. And I fully trust, even though I may be afraid at times, that the Universe always has something in store for me thatās better than I could/would ever put together myself.
That being said, Iām still just an infant at āletting go and letting Godā, but SO grateful to be on the path of practicing rather than still thinking about getting on the path 
Progress IS perfection.
5 Likes
This lesson resonates deep because practicing renunciation and being in the present moment is easy for me when lifeās distractions are low (the kids are asleep: morning meditation!) and the hardest to find at times when I need it the most (post-work, post-commute, kiddo bath time after a petty argument with my wife).
I like the idea Ram Dass presents of working with these hard times by thinking of them as moments of intense practice. My intent is to flip the negative outlook of stressful situations into that of them being gifts for working on my mindfulness and renouncing myself into the present moment, however uncomfortable it may be.
These controlled burns will help me get better at staying calm and present when the fires that come with living in the world are raging.
2 Likes
Giving up the sense of Ā« I Ā». By becoming the witness, there is the possibility of recognizing the bondage of self in every moment. I know this is a stretch. If I go for continual awareness, I may be lucky enough to get there 3% of the time. I donāt know. But I donāt want to be sucked into the illusion every minute of every day, which is where all this began. The perspective that Aham Brahmasi, I am Brahman, that this is my true self where there is no fear, no anger or longingā¦ this calls me. So my renunciation is about the the myth of my identity, that I am me. No, my choice will be to remember instead that I am Thee. - Radha in LA
2 Likes
It is so difficult to let go. We desperately want to hold to things the way they are, but nothing will stay the same. Everything flows and is impermanent. I try to deal with that, but itās not easyā¦.
1 Like
For me it resonates in a way that I know when my automatic defense systems go off in my customer service duties. When I sense anger or frustration come up I fall back to the witness state and the beautiful mantra " Love Serve remember" and keep in mind that all my anger and frustration would simply be directed to another version of myself. Therefor the witness senses the anger coming, and reminds me to Love, Serve, Remember and therefor renounce the anger and frustration to another place.
It is still amazing how much energy is inside those emotions.
Itās amazing the that the key to renunciation is letting go and not clamping down. I did the same as you for years: trying to beat my desires and wants into submission and destroy them. Once I began to, instead, examine them, see what was behind them and treat them as friends they became so much less potent and had much less power over me. I was reflecting that everything (not just everyone) responds well to being loved. This even includes the parts of ourselves we donāt like or the clinging we want to get rid of. Itās amazing.
I reflect on another teaching where Ram Dass talks about having once seen his neuroses as monsters but eventually he was able to transform them in old friends who stop by for tea occasionally.
2 Likes
I too follow Jesusā teachings and he is teaching all the same stuff as all realized beings. You can follow Jesus without being part of a religion. Jesus did not found Christianity ā his followers did and then it fell into the hands of people who wanted power. So I read his words and try to understand them and I carry him in my heart ā he is with me always. All of what he taught is the same as Maharaji, Krishna, and the great Indian Saints.
1 Like
This is a difficult practice. Step one is seeing how attached I am in the physical body, to things like good food, the earth, nature ā sensate things.