The Wisdom of Renunciation

Commentary on the Dhammapada–by Swami Nirmalananda Giri

“The good renounce everything. The pure don’t babble about sensual desires. Whether touched by pleasure or pain, the wise show no change of temper.” (Dhammapada 83)

This eighty-third verse is not a simple one, and the translations of even very qualified scholars can vary. Rather than pick what seems to me to be the best, I am going to give the differing translations so you can see what I mean.

The good

Jesus said: “There is none good but one, that is, God.” (Matthew 19:17) At that time in parts of the Mediterranean world the word “good” was never applied to anything or anyone but God. That is why the Eastern Orthodox compendium on mystical life is called Philokalia, “Love of the Good”–that is, Love of God. So the good are the godly. Buddha has something to say about them: “They renounce everything.” So translates John Richardson. Narada Thera has: “The good give up everything. Harischandra Kaviratna: “Good men abandon lusting after things.”

There is no use ignoring the fact that we live in a thing-obsessed society. And it is risky indeed to assume that we have not been influenced by its material philosophy, both consciously and subliminally. So when people hear about “giving up” or “renouncing” they become unsettled–unless at the moment they are unhappy through being let down by something or someone. Then truly only “at the moment” they agree and make noise about “chucking it all away” and suchlike. It will not be long, though, before they are pursuing another form of what made them miserable.

The plain truth is, we cannot live without material things. Even if we could remain forever in samadhi without breathing or eating, we would still be “in the body” and would have to sit or lie upon the earth. So good sense tells us that whether we externally rid ourselves of many things or whether we retain them, Buddha is definitely speaking of our attitude toward them. Perhaps the best explanation of this is to be found in the words of Sri Ramarkrishna.

“If one is sincere one can realize God even in the world. ‘Me and mine’ make ignorance. ‘O God! You and yours.’ This is knowledge! Live in the world like the maid servant of a wealthy man. The maid servant does all household work, brings up children and calls the master’s son, “My Hari,” but she knows very well at heart that neither the house nor the boy belongs to her. She does all the chores but her heart is always in her country home. Likewise do all the work of the household but keep your mind on God. And know that the house, the family, the son and all the rest are not yours but God’s. And that you are only God’s servant.

“I ask people to renounce mentally. I do not ask them to renounce the world. If one lives in the world with detachment and longs for God from the heart one can realize him.” (The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, Volume 2, Part 15, Chapter 2)

“The tortoise moves about in water but do you know where its mind is? It is on the land where its eggs are. Do all the duties of the world but keep your mind on God.” (The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, Volume 1, Part 1, Chapter 5)

“I say to those who come to me, ‘Live in the world; there is no harm in that. But keep your mind on God while living in the world. Know that house, home, family are not yours. All these belong to God. Your home is near God.’” (The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, Volume 1, Part 10, Chapter 8)

This is possible only to the yogi. For all others this is mere juggling with the mind.

The Venerable Thanisarro Bhikkhu’s translation sums it up very well: “Everywhere, truly, those of integrity stand apart.” “Integrity” means to be self-contained, self-sufficient. This the wise always strive to be–not scattered or diluted or weak and dependent. The worthy find all they need within. By their very nature they “stand apart.” The Gita gives a perfect picture of them:

“Master of ego, standing apart from the things of the senses, free from self; aware of the weakness in mortal nature, its bondage to birth, age, suffering, dying; to nothing be slave, nor desire possession of man-child or wife, of home or of household; calmly encounter the painful, the pleasant; adore me only with heart undistracted; turn all your thought toward solitude, spurning the noise of the crowd, its fruitless commotion; strive without ceasing to know the Atman, seek this knowledge and comprehend clearly why you should seek it: such, it is said, are the roots of true wisdom: ignorance, merely, is all that denies them.” (Bhagavad Gita 13:8-11)

The pure

“The pure don’t babble about sensual desires.” Narada Thera: “The saintly prattle not with sensual craving.” Harischandra Kaviratna: “They take no pleasure in sensual speech.” This is really quite clear. The truly pure do not talk about sensual things, because they do not think about them. Speech can deceive, but it can also greatly reveal the hidden contents of the mind. For example, it is amazing how many yoga gurus use sex or sexually related examples when wanting to make a point. Obviously that is what springs to mind–their mind, at least. Our monastic group used to visit the monastery of another tradition. The head of the ashram was highly intelligent and the author of many books. We profited greatly from conversation with him about the meditational and philosophical aspects of his tradition. But every single time we visited he would have to bring up some aspect of sex, and always made reference to male sexual organs. He was amazingly creative in coming up with ways to do this. So you can imagine that we had little interest in anything more than intellectual contact with that group! And eventually we just faded away from their orbit.

“Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also,” said Jesus (Matthew 6:21). And, as he also said: “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” (Matthew 12:34) This applies to teachers who under the guise of teaching morality really only expound immorality. Just as others who under the guise of teaching “truth” only go on and on disproving and denouncing “heresy.” Even worse are those that instead of speaking of God and angels talk only about “the Devil” and “demons.” What we love, that we think and speak about.

Even-mindedness

“Whether touched by pleasure or pain, the wise show no change of temper.” Narada Thera: “Whether affected by happiness or by pain, the wise show neither elation nor depression.” Harischandra Kaviratna: “When touched by happiness or sorrow, the wise show no elation or dejection.”

This has a great lesson for us. The idea is current among many yogis that the wise are simply numb to pleasure or pain–that they never experience such things. But Buddha indicates otherwise. He says that they are “touched” by these things, but they do not respond to them with elation or depression. Krishna said: “Water flows continually into the ocean but the ocean is never disturbed: desire flows into the mind of the seer but he is never disturbed.” (Bhagavad Gita 2:70) This is the state we should seek.