With this post we continue Hazrat Inayat Khan’s explanation of the law of renunciation.  Readers may find the recent post of a text by Nargis Dowland on annihilation relevant to the idea of renouncing or letting go.

Renunciation and Loss

There are two different renunciations: one is renunciation, the other is loss. True renunciation is that which a person makes who has risen above something that he once valued; or whose hunger and thirst for the thing are satisfied and it is no more so valuable as it once was; or who perhaps has evolved and sees life differently, no longer as he saw it before.

Renunciation in all these cases is a step forward towards perfection. But the other renunciation is one which a person is compelled to make when circumstances prevent his achieving what he wishes to achieve or from getting back what he has lost helplessly; or when, by weakness of mind or body, by lack of position, power, or wealth, he cannot reach the object he desires. That renunciation is a loss; and instead of leading towards perfection it drags man down toward imperfection.

The wise, therefore, renounce willingly what they feel like renouncing; but they are constantly in pursuit of what they feel like gaining. One or two failures will not discourage them; after a hundred failures they will rise up again with the same hope, and will gain the thing desired in the end.

But there is another weakness, and that is holding what has been gained, and indulging in what has been attained. That limits man to his gain, deprives him of a greater gain, and even prevents him in the course of time from holding the gain he already has.

This philosophy was lived in their lives by the ascetics who traveled from place to place. The happiness, comfort, and good friends they made in one place, they enjoyed for a short time and then left it lest it might bind them forever. This does not mean that this kind of life should necessarily be an example for a wise person; but our journey through life’s experience is also a continuous journey, and the good and bad, the right and wrong, the rise and fall of yesterday one must leave behind, and turn one’s back on them, and go forward with new hope, new courage and enthusiasm, trusting to the almighty power of the Creator in one’s spirit.