Course V - Teaching 5: Possessive Effectiveness of Renunciation

Renunciation is the only truth that a man can know because is the opposite attachment –which is falsehood and ignorance–, on which men establish their knowledge.
To desire a permanent life and to believe that the world is a lasting good brings every misery, pain and evil to the world. The Universe is nothing else than a great becoming, continuous change, beginning and end, and birth and death. Man founds all his knowledge on illusion, as if the world were not the becoming but permanence, as if goods were not variable but steady, and as if he possessed life.
This illusory and ignorant sense of permanence and steadiness on earth is cause of attachment of men to material things, and of making the difference between him and others. This difference makes him believe that he possesses something. As he wants to possess something, this brings so much ignorance and more and more attachment to momentary things, which do not belong to him, although he may believe otherwise.
Renunciation is the truth because separates the soul from illusory inner and outer objects. But this admirable detachment from all things, this divine gift of leaving during life all those things that sooner or later one has to leave behind, this precious Renunciation that is detachment has to establish in the soul something immutable that never changes and remains: the absolute certainty of possessing the Truth, of possessing the only good, that is, the good of Renunciation.
It is beyond imagination that an Ordained Son, eventually attached to worldly things, may dream about the illusory possession of something on earth. Men suffer from their many attachments, and we understand it because their knowledge is based on falsehood and ignorance. They do not see the sun but its shadow on the wall. Their attachments are cause of their pains, and their misery is cause of their ties. But this misery may be justified, and one can even admire their courage and integrity. But attachments of this kind reveal real unfaithfulness in consecrated souls that know the truth. Although certain sentimental attachments –that sometimes the very Son cannot discriminate– are tolerable and forgivable, in no way attachments of knowledge or mind can be tolerated.
Once a Son asked his Spiritual Director if he did not wished to learn certain language. He stared at this being that had taken Vow of Renunciation and even asked if he liked a subject, and replied: “Perchance when I was ordained did I admit that I would like something? Of course, I would do, but an Ordained Son cannot attach to knowledge. In my youth I liked travels, study, knowledge, et cetera, but I studied what was necessary to fulfill my mission and nothing else”.
The concept of detachment must be clear and strong in the Sons to avoid any attachment to something, even to an intellectual attachment, over all in matters of knowledge. You may be without material attachments but you can have attachments to higher things, that is, spiritual things.
Detachment in the Son must be spontaneous, natural and continuous, impeding any infiltration in his heart and any deviation from an absolute surrender to the Divine Simplicity, to the divine freedom, because he knew the Truth through the Vow of Renunciation and hence he got the grace of detachment –without compounds of ignorance and knowledge, like or dislike, and making and not making– which enables him to contact the perfect simplicity without compounds or mixtures.
In Community, the heart not only is detached from affections and the mind from the egocentric will because Daughters and Sons are not attached to worldly things but also they remain far from the world on a Radius of Stability, make a loving offering for Humanity and stay voluntarily cloistered. They not only are not of the world, but also have left the world behind. Here is one of the greatest and most wonderful gifts of the Divine Mother.
Sometimes, seemingly they do not deserve this gift, which brings an internal comfort and leads them to state separate from beings and entirely outside to pains of the world, although many times the Son’s mission leads him to help and save the world; but this image of isolation is only apparent.
But, even living separated in the Radius of Stability, the mind, particularly fantasy and imagination, sometimes comes back continuously to the world, to things of the past, of which they were detached. And then we can ask: “Son, if your detachment is real, perhaps did not remain a little of attachment, unknown to you, with such a continuous return of your mind to the world and with the appearance of images of the past? Beware, oh consecrated soul, because ignorance and illusion build many bridges to attain the soul and enter the Radius of internal Stability and the untouchable chamber of the sanctuary”. Illusion has many means and these means, almost ever internal, appear there, in the background of the soul.
The soul continuously needs a bath in the waters of this divine and perfect simplicity and an entire surrender to this sense of renunciation and detachment, and must drive away whatever may disturb him or interfere like a little drop of colored liquid trying to fall in the purest water of a consecrated soul.
It is not totally true that a soul that has taken Vow of Renunciation may be entirely detached; what this soul possesses is an absolute conviction and knowledge that detachment is the only truth and the only good, already possessed internally and spiritually to the full. Later this knowledge gradually should be acquired by the psychic parts of being. But… without delay! because illusion and ignorance could captivate and darken the knowledge again.
“Consecrated souls, be very careful because the enemy of Humanity continuously prowls round his souls to devour them; but the soul that resists will be steady in Faith”. These words have an extraordinary sense. Faith is the gift of the truth, because faith is only perfect Renunciation.
Renunciation is the Truth, gives the Truth, and makes participate and live in God and save souls. But man lives in the world of illusion and ignorance, and this gift of Renunciation must be acquired by continuous efforts. Life does not emerge from experience, but from continuous efforts, from a continuous habit of the Truth, and from an affirmation and demonstration of our own belief through our own life. This is the way to possess the gift of faith.
Many spiritual persons say if you are in contact with the world, you take part of its life and miseries. But an Ordained Son does not want to live in the world, but to save it: to save the human kind and souls, without any participation in their miseries. Because ignorance and attachment in this world bring separation: everything becomes “yours” and “mine”, “this one” and “that one”; two different things finally collide and destroy one another.
But where is separateness based? On sensations; without sense of differentiation, there is no separateness. And how do sensations move but through senses?
Man says, “Cogito, ergo sum”. I think, so I am. But what is this affirmation but to think by means of sensations, by means of senses: by sight, ear, smell and touch? Human knowledge is false because is based on separateness, and man only knows through sensations manifested by senses.
Everything is illusion; the spirit is entirely hidden and separate. One cannot take part in the misery of the world because senses are the rulers.
Never say God makes wars, kills people and does evil. Ignorance is the cause of all this. God gave to man a heavenly gift and means to practice the good in life, and man took and transformed them into a fundamental entity; so man betrayed God at once.
When man returns to God, he wants to do through senses, but he sees only an illusion of God and does not see the pure, simple and true God.
If the Son acts through his senses, he will fall in separation and will be entirely distant from its true life of renunciation. A person can affirm himself and find the Truth only through habit and strength. The Sons of Cafh cannot take their Vow of Renunciation if do not control and subdue their senses.
So, as soon as these people enter the Seminary, their senses must be controlled not only by their minds, but also by their habit. Very often a glance, a word or a sensation is enough to throw down the work of one month, or perhaps, of a whole life. It is likely that the Sons that despise virtues, which allow them watching over their senses, are quite strong, but beware, they may stumble.
All movements of the world, and also all falsehood, ignorance and worldly evil enter through senses. He who does not control his senses is a man or a woman of good will and nothing else, and deprived of realizations; his life will remain static and will not be a fully spiritual life. In short: it will be an adhesion, an effort, but never a realization.
Mainly in Seminaries one can see the importance of controlling one’s senses: it is indispensable for mystical death and for achieving the plenitude in the Vow of Renunciation.
It is well known how difficult is to keep one’s sight on one place; seemingly this is insignificant, but our sight continuously wanders. You know that if the Son does not achieve this habit in the Seminary, he will be unable to get it later through intensive work. You know how difficult is to practice this virtue and how much good it offers to the soul. The world abandoned by man will not set easily free its prey.
How many times certain Seminarians have said to their Spiritual Director: “I do not know why… I have seen a door; this door brought me the image of another door, later that of a person… In short, it has taken me to the world.” Or he has seen a person in the street, and his thought has returned to the world. But when one asks: “How did you spend your day today?” and whether has looked at someone, he replies: “Today I have been tranquil and content”.
Senses bring infinite sensations. Attachments are manifested in many ways: One receives a letter from home and after its reading one forgets it entirely. Some days later one casually one sees that letter and suddenly remembers his family, troubles and difficulties. Then you seek that letter, you read it, you look at it and remember… so sensations come back.
A Son remains detached from all things and burns all his memories, even the most insignificant, because they provide the sensation of what one made, left and lived.
But a Son is not insensible to everything because is detached from his senses.
A man of the city, even wearing spectacles, in the country does not see a league away and at most sees a blur. But a countryman sees an animal, a car or a walking person in that blur. A man that controls his senses does not lose them, but learns how to see greater and loftier things. He will not see illusory fantasies of the world, but the true needs of those poor beings, that he left there, who believe that their situations can be arranged by means of sentiments; that man will see it if his sight is true, that is, a sight acquired by controlling his senses.
Now the Sons do not have certain sensibility to take part of worldly tastes and pleasures, but will possess hands to alleviate evil and to bring peace and quiet to a sorrowful mind. They are not able to listen to noises from far away, but will listen to the Masters’ voice, the Message, the word that they have to give to Humanity.
Really you should understand that he was given senses to be aware of life, and not to be tyrannized by them, or to disappear as a spiritual being and live like a sensible being, or to transform outer and inner senses into absolute owners of being. What Vow of Renunciation would a Son have taken if he lived like men? One must control his senses and fight to interrupt anything coming from an outer sensation. A brave Son, a consecrated soul cannot attach to childish things that again provide material sensibilities, but must burn anything and cut any tie to remain pure and steady in the Island of the Lord.
Renunciation breaks separateness: only God remains in front of the eternal becoming of the Universe.
You must observe certain examples of great beings in order to see how high spiritual state and moral concept implies to control senses and have a true sense of Renunciation. To find these examples you should seek in the inexhaustible sources of Buddhism whose principles of morality, control of senses and separateness, and charity cannot be found in any other religion or philosophy.
A young man, wishing to follow the path and teaching of the Blessed Buddha about Renunciation, but being subject to family duties, he expected to arrange his things someday. But the Buddha said: “Even before you enter the Community, you can live the divine life if you are detached from all worldly things and your life is pure, caste and self-denying”. Many women went to the store of this young man to buy perfumes. A famous courtesan of the city fell madly in love with this young man who refused any illusory and external enchantment, remained ever decent, and just had eyes for God. Then she sent one of her servants with this message: “My lady wants to offer you her love”. And the young man replied: “Say to your lady I have no time for these things”. The unhappy woman urged again thinking that the young perhaps could not afford to contact her, and sent the word that he should pay nothing. But the young man replied: “Say to your lady I have neither time nor interest in these things”. That woman got furious and wanted to take revenge slandering him everywhere, but he kept his mouth shut. This woman, because she hated a man and had a powerful friend, instructed his friend to kill the young man. But the judge of the city, who was a very righteous, discovered her and his sentence was terrible: to lead her to the cemetery and to cut there her feet, hands, nose and ears. This sentence was carried out. The good young man heard about it, and said: “When this poor woman offered me the illusory beauties of her body my duty was not to pay attention to her, but now I must run to offer her my love”.
He went there and when the unhappy woman cried in despair: “Why do you come, perhaps to scoff? Why did you refuse when I was totally able to give pleasure and happiness?”, he replied: “I do not come to laugh at your evil. I come to ask your pleasure. Now you can give me true pleasure, that of understanding of the soul. The beauty of your body had to finish, but that of your heart and soul will never perish. Here is my offering. Let me give you a kiss”. In her agony she quivered and through that kiss, she found again peace and understood the vanity of the world.
According to the Buddhist book, as soon as she died, this salvation kiss expanded her soul in the Eternity.
Renunciation does not annihilate senses but vivifies and liberates them from worldly ignorance, and this way they are useful to fulfill the work in the world by means of the Truth.
In times of the Venerable Buddha, a very wise king practiced the law of the Master, educated his son in His doctrine, and always said: My son, someday you will be a King, but remember this: all is impermanent and perishable in this world. What is a kingdom on this earth for a Prince that is bound to die and can be betrayed and even defeated in war? True kingdom is that of the spirit, where you know that all is impermanent and perishes. Never be self-conceited. Everybody flatter and offer you pleasures, but remember that all this brings grief. The truth is the law of the Buddha; man should be attached to nothing on earth, but except to the Eternity”.
This young, educated in this doctrine, was able to know how to be a Prince.
But the wife of this quite wise king, who got married a second time, had a morbid passion for the Prince and at the same time a terrible hatred for his unrequited love. So the Prince asked to go to distant lands. As soon as he left, this wicked woman got a royal order so tear off his eyes for betrayal. The frightened advisers of the young Prince were amazed and did not dare to mention it, but finally he saw it, quivered while reading it, but later said: “It is a law, and must be fulfilled”. None wanted to do, but at the end they found a poor leper who was ready for this terrible task. But his man quivered before executing this order, but the Prince said: “These eyes are perishable, and some day must rot in earth. Also, my eyes are immortal, as my father –that now sentences me– has taught me; everything is perishable, nothing lasts or remains”. When his first eye was torn off, he said: Oh perishable eye, what are you now but a useless and disgusting thing?” And when his second eye was pulled off, he said: “Now I know not only the truth, but feel the truth, the truth that everything dies: it is, it is, and I believe it”.
After a pilgrimage walking hand-in-hand with his young wife, he arrived at his father’s lands. As soon as the King saw him was appalled and wanted to punish this wicked woman, but his son refused and said: “Father, you did not teach me this. This woman is just an instrument of the ignorance and illusion of men. She made me a great good. Before I just knew that all is perishable, but now certainly I know it: I see it, I have it, I possess it; I am happy”.
This young Prince was an Ordained Son! He had achieved detachment and Renunciation to the full!
Renunciation is a good without attachment, selfishness, differentiation, parts, and compounds.
Renunciation is Truth, unique and absolute good, separated from any material and mortal thing. Even from the greatest and loftiest: it is a Gift of Perfect Simplicity.