Many monks and spiritual aspirants in their search for God attempt to renounce the world. The problem is that they still think about and long for the things that they give up. This is intensified when they attempt to give up biological desires. These desires include the desire for food, air, and sex.
When biological desires are in balance they are not a problem. But like a pendulum, the more you push these desires to one side, the more they want to swing to the other. That’s why when monks give up food they think about and long for food. And when Catholic priests give up sex they think about sex and long for it even more. And that’s why the alleged problems that Catholic priests are having with sex and children. Is this a sign from God that priests should get married? I think that a loving relationship is much closer to God than a priest struggling with repression and indulgence.
With this being said, I should remind you that sages such as Shankara, Buddha, and Christ have said that if you want to find God or your own Self-Nature you have to renounce the world. So if renunciation gives so many people so much trouble, what could they mean by renunciation?
Happiness comes from what you are
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They meant giving up the notion that happiness comes from what you see or what you do. Fortunately this is easy because when you examine your actual experience of happiness you find that happiness comes from what you are.
Happiness is so close that we overlook it
But here’s the real mystery. Happiness is so close that it is easy to overlook. We are so busy looking to things in the world to provide our happiness that few people ever look to the source of happiness, which turns out to be the place where they actually experience it.
As an example, when we finally build the house of our dreams, and everything is cleaned up, at that point we look at our new house with a sense of great satisfaction. Where do we feel the happiness? Surely we don’t feel it at the upstairs bathroom, in the master bedroom or in the shiny new windows.
Similarly, when we get married, we don’t feel the happiness in our spouse’s face or in his or her hair. That place where we actually feel the happiness, the sense of peace and fulfillment — that is the source of happiness — the Kingdom of Heaven within.
Nothing can obstruct the happiness that is at our core
This place of happiness is so close to us that it is before anything that can obstruct our happiness, like our thoughts. So we can let our thoughts flow like a river flows. We can let the good ones and the bad ones flow on through. In fact, this state of bliss that comes from the source of our experience is so powerful and so real that we can give up doing anything with our thoughts.
We can now let happiness return to its rightful place
Before these thoughts ever came to our attention, peace was there; when they arose, peace was there; when they seemed to snatch away happiness, peace was still there, and when they dissolved back into the place where they came from, peace remained. So if we gave our thoughts the power to take away our happiness, we can now let happiness return to its rightful place.
Once we get a sense of where happiness comes from we can explore this: when the house burns down or the spouse goes away, is there a place of peace inside that’s so deep and so steady that it doesn’t go away?
Now, of course when our house gets destroyed, we will not be jumping for joy. However, there is a place underneath the emotions like the depth of the ocean, or rooted deep in the ground, which is still and at peace — no matter how big the storm above.
Living from this place of happiness is finding a live center that cannot be shaken no matter what the ups and downs of life may bring. Living from this place, the mind naturally tends to release back into its natural state — a state of peace and happiness.
Swami Dyananda used to tell this story:
One day two acquaintances got on a train to take a long trip across the country. As a matter of fact, the trip was so long that it would take three days and three nights. So they decided to share a room. One of these men was a very rich man and the other was a thief. When the thief entered the room, the rich man was counting his money. The thief then went to wash up and when he got back the rich man was fast asleep.
The thief tore the room apart, but could not find the money. The next morning when the thief woke up, he saw the rich man counting his money. Again, on the second night the same thing happened. The thief was getting more exhausted as he searched harder and harder. By the time the third morning rolled around, the thief was so exhausted and so frustrated that he blurted out: “Where did you keep your money!” — The rich man answered, “Under your pillow.”
In the same manner, we are so busy in our attempt to find lasting happiness in the world that we never look under our own pillows —the very place where we experience of happiness. So as for renunciation, I don’t recommend forcefully giving up objects. In the long run repression will just lead to indulgence. Rather when you get what you think you wanted, just notice where you actually experience the happiness. Is it in the object that you see or is it in the core of your being?
If you meditate like this you will find that in time the world will come just to the right balance and you will be able to look within and find God, which turns out to be your own Self-Nature.
Feel free to ask questions
Now I want you to experience your true identity in its full glory. So please
feel free to continue asking questions. I’m always glad to hear your
reactions and clarify my answers. Unlike the path of faith, on the path
of Self-Knowledge it is curiosity that destroys limitation and allows
you to abide in your natural freedom.
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Best Wishes,
Michael Gluckman
