So, renunciation. Renunciation is not about saying, “Now, I am going to stop doing what I love the most. I am going to suffer in order to be happy.” That is not renunciation.

Renunciation is, also, not about, “Now, I am going to take a lot of pain in order to feel renunciation.” It is not like that. It is not about the extremes.  It is about the balance.

So, if you can start seeing more the whole process of how we interpret the experience of life, then, we start to get more renunciation in a sense that we do not grasp or get so attached to material objects or formless aspects of our self. Because we are aware of the reality, we can enjoy. We can experience it but without the grasping mind because we understand the reality.  So that is, also, renunciation. It is not complete renunciation, maybe, but it is a start.  It is a beginning.

The word renunciation is not a correct translation from nge jung. At least, I do not feel it is a complete translation. It is one aspect of it, but there is much more to it.

So nge jung keyba, also, means like this. So, like, when you see that when you are really, really attached to something, like a chocolate cake, so much, you have so much attachment, so much grasping, if you  are aware, though, that this chocolate cake, by itself, is empty from its own side, this is a start to renunciation.

The fact is that this cake depends on everything interdependently in order to exist. That hallucinated seeming solid and real aspect is empty. It is empty from its own side. It does not exist independently. It is a collective. It is a part. So, when you start seeing things, like breaking down the appearance of the cake and doing analytical meditation and questioning reality, all of those aspects, it will help you transform it because the chocolate cake in itself and the experience to the chocolate cake are temporary.  I repeat:  the chocolate cake and the experience to the chocolate cake are temporary. 

Just like the suffering, there is temporary suffering and temporary pleasure. We get so attached that even sometimes we get attached to suffering. We get attached to being toxic, somehow. It is a habit.  It is a pattern. We create neuro pathways. Then, we follow them. It is like a path in the forest. If nobody walks through the forest, everything will grow.  You cannot see any path. If you walk the same direction every day, same place, that path will maintain itself. Then, it is very fast. You can use and walk the path very fast. You do not have to go with a machete chopping down things, right?

It is the same way in the brain.  The neuro pathways are like that. The more you use them, you create the habit, the easier it is to go back to that. That is why it is very important to be aware of your habits. That is why I offer a course called Habit Alignment.  We try to create new, positive habits so we can take those new, helpful habits into our everyday life and incorporate them.

OK. So, part of renunciation is to recognize it is just temporary pleasure.  Part of renunciation is not to be attached to that temporary pleasure.   Let it pass like the thoughts. Let it pass like the clouds in the sky. They come.  They go. Try not to grasp. Try not to catch them because there is nothing to take.  There is nothing to catch. You cannot catch these thoughts, but you have this concept that you can. It looks solid.  It looks real.  It looks like it is permanent but that is wrong.