6. Renunciation II

Q6. Don't the scriptures talk about renouncing the world?

A6. No.
As explained earlier (#5), they refer to the renunciation of the "fruit" of action.

To a child, toys are very dear. When the child grows up, he does not long for those toys any more. Did the adult renounce toys? The adult's needs simply changed. It changed to a higher level of need. Same way, in spiritual growth, the need and interest change to a higher level of need and interest. Some of the passions that were of interest in young age may not be that interesting any more. When a flower blooms, the petals fall off. Just like that, when one continues to reach higher level of understanding, lower levels just fall off. There is no effort required here. The experience is not painful - it is quite pleasant.

Same way, spiritual growth may simply lead to falling off of certain other desires. Many have misunderstood this phenomenon with "renouncing the world". That is farthest from the truth. There is no renunciation of the world. There is only falling off of certain desires that are of no interest any more.

In fact, the process of discovering the truth (which is "Happiness") cannot be painful or difficult. It has to be a happy and fulfilling process as well. If this process is followed, the end-result (the "fruit") does not really matter. Because the process itself is beautiful, delightful, full of happiness....."Journey IS the Destination".