'Yoga as a tradition, lifestyle and philosophy often encourages us to be alive, and to increase our capacity to be aware and alive through physical exercise (asana), breathing techniques (pranayama), mindfulness, meditation (dhrana, dhyana) and social involvement (sangha, yama, niyama).'
The concept of renunciation is common not just in the yoga tradition but also in Buddhism, Hinduism and Taoism. My intuition tells me it is a common thread suturing all religions. I do not have the expertise to ascertain this claim, which I will defer to those who know more on the subject.
Renunciation often comes from the understanding that nothing is permanent. It also coincides with the Buddhist concept of impermanence (anicca), one of the three marks of existence that characterise life on Earth. The human ego wanting to stay the same, and for other beings, objects and circumstances to stay the same always creates suffering because it is against the law of nature. It is like working against gravity, always trying to prove gravity does not exist when the entirety of our being is governed and defined by such an inviolable law of physics. Getting attached to people and objects, wanting to stay young, wanting our lovers and children to stay with us forever, holding onto our possessions, money and fame, is like that. Happiness and peace cannot come unless we learn how to let go, and accept the natural changes in life.
'To live a life that is restrictive and limiting is to be dead, and is a waste of the body and mind we have been so blessedly given amidst the vast void of the universe.'
Yoga as a tradition, lifestyle and philosophy often encourages us to be alive, and to increase our capacity to be aware and alive through physical exercise (asana), breathing techniques (pranayama), mindfulness, meditation (dhrana, dhyana) and social involvement (sangha, yama, niyama). To live a life that is restrictive and limiting is to be dead, and is a waste of the body and mind we have been so blessedly given amidst the vast void of the universe. Having a body and mind allows us to be involved in various activities and learn through empirical experience. We are encouraged to harness our life force, but the key lies in knowing where to channel this energy to benefit us and others in a wholesome way. This often comes down to learning how the mind and body work, and seeking to control them rather than they control us. It is not unlike learning where the buttons are and getting better at controlling our avatars when playing a video game.
The idea of renunciation, or the resistance to attachment to seek the eternal peace within is often conflated with nihilism, or the idea that because we should not hold onto anything, nothing therefore matters. It is, however, unfair to criticise those who occasionally fall prey to nihilism on their spiritual quest. The fine line between welcoming desires and rejecting selfish desires, being involved and staying unattached is particularly hard to tread. We all need to learn how to be as flexible as an acrobat to slack-line across the steep hills and vicissitudes of life. And if we fall to either side of excessive enthusiasm or nihilistic torpor, it is important to recognise that the spiritual quest is never easy, many enlightened beings too had fallen before they achieved nirvana/samadhi, and the key is to forgive and pick ourselves back up.
The subject of renunciation is something I have meditated on for quite some time. The concept is not hard to understand but its implication and application in daily life is particularly abstract. To renounce worldly pleasures is perhaps straightforward if you are willing to retreat to the forest and lead a life devoid of possessions. But for people living in the civilised world, what place does renunciation have? How does the yogic and Buddhist philosophy translate into the late-capitalist culture of consumerism?
'To be able to love the change we witness in our loved ones, even through separation is a sign of true love, or mahakaruna (great compassion), mahamaitri (great love), limitless and noble qualities that define the bodhisattva.'
Yogis and bodhisattvas whom we have been so blessed to have since the 20th century have shed their varied but equally brilliant lights on the matter for us to better understand what this means on our own unique paths. Osho, who famously called himself the 'spiritual playboy' would advocate freedom of the mind and body to pursue our own desires as long as we are not attached to them. Thich Nhat Hanh, the zen Buddhist monk, on the other hand, would suggest simplicity and the intentioned withdrawal from desirous activities that would only rile up the natural peace of the mind unnecessarily. But the duty to make sense of all these variegated narratives of how and what it means to be an enlightened being in the contemporary world always comes back to our own shoulders. There is no one way of doing yoga or achieving peace because everyone seeks different things. But one thing all these gurus have taught me is that the task is always to tell part desires from selfish desires, to love without getting attached, and to seek something without fixating on the consequence. It is okay to love someone but if life does not guarantee permanence, which it oftentimes doesn't, one should accept the change that comes into us naturally through departures, old age, sickness and death. To be able to love the change we witness in our loved ones, even through separation is a sign of true love, or mahakaruna (great compassion), mahamaitri (great love), limitless and noble qualities that define the bodhisattva.
How does this translate into work? We are all in a sense required to have a 9-5 job because the structure of capitalism defines such a way of life as a basic in sustaining our economy and civilisation. Oftentimes, we have little agency in choosing our work. Some of us might be lucky enough to have been able to choose their professions (many of us don't), but the everyday duties of what we do are also often arbitrary and seemingly irrelevant to our personal goals and growth. How do we square the gulf between spiritual growth and work that is often geared towards money, fame and material-making?
This gulf or the lack of spiritual relevance in our work is often a source of emptiness and frustration. If life was the ocean, work would be our boat that protects us from the wild entropy of life and offers us the space to exercise our focus and meditation. We all need a boat to navigate life because it gives us a structure within which risks can be taken sensibly and safely to continue on our quest. Going outside of this structure, precarity and danger descend, making our lives too unstable to host any mental concentration for spiritual growth. In the wild, we could be eaten by a tiger. While this is an extreme analogy, it is simply to argue that it is harder to focus on mental clarity and meditation when we are constantly worrying about our physical safety and meeting our basic biological needs.
'All (good) relationships give us structure, and enable us to busy ourselves on a specific task from which we can practise our ability to focus and detach from selfish desires.'
By work here, I do not solely mean our jobs, but also our family and relationships. Family takes work to maintain, so do any romantic and platonic relationships. When Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, was asked if relationships are conducive to the spiritual path, he replied 'it is better to walk alone than to walk with a fool'. But not everyone is a fool, and we have all met people who have taught us invaluable lessons just through their aura and presence. Let us also be wary of the danger of limiting our potential through isolation. Good relationships should give us structure, and enable us to busy ourselves on a specific task from which we can practise our ability to focus and detach from selfish desires. No matter how important or trivial our work might be, from washing the dishes to making decisions that affect thousands of people's livelihood, we can apply the same principle of non-attachment. Focus and invest our life force into our work, but reduce attention to the consequences bit by bit as we progress on our paths to non-attachment. Love our lovers, family and friends but welcome them as they change into ways that might be less endearing or favourable to us. Allow them to change and even leave because our love for them transcends the physical form. Love does not cease after someone's departure. It continues after death as all beings and energies already reside within our consciousness, be it in the form of our memories, feelings, thoughts or simply the force of life.
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