[Advaita-l] Re: doubt on the role of shruti vAkyAs : Liberation

[Vidyasankar Sundaresan]

>          Renounce- I said,
>          He said, I renounced,
>          I asked, "What"
>          He said, "house and property"
>          Renounce- I said,
>          He said, I renounced,
>          I asked, "What"
>          He said, "friends and relatives etc."
>          Renounce- I said,
>          He said, I renounced,
>          I asked, "What"
>          He said, "clothes and everything else"
>          Renounce- I said,
>          He said, I renounced,
>          I asked, "What"
>          He said, "everything did I, what else is left"
>          I said, "Renounce, your mind and whatever is is to be renounced 
>from your mind,and what

Dear Shri Wadhwa,

Why is it being assumed that traditional renunciation is limited to house, 
people and property? Why is it being assumed that the traditional 
renunciation does not extend to the mind and its constructions? Why is it 
also being assumed that a newly created emphasis on mental renunciation is 
superior? Also, please let me know if this focus on mental renunciation 
leaves intact the previous externals such as house and property and friends 
and relatives?

Don't take this personally, as these questions are meant generally for many 
others on this list too. Too often we see, on this list, people devaluing 
traditional renunciation and all its associated symbols, while privileging 
an entirely new concept that it is somehow enough to renounce mentally.

While I appreciate that traditional renunciation has often been abused by 
many, I would also say that the modern conception is even more prone to 
abuse by self-delusional people. It is not at all easy to renounce the 
externals of home, family and money if one has also not mentally renounced 
everything. On the other hand, it is easy for the mind to fool itself into 
believing whatever it pleases. Call us stick-in-the-mud or whatever else, 
but there are strong reasons why so many of us on this list value our 
tradition highly.

Vidyasankar

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