We have recently been looking at teachings of Hazrat Inayat Khan on the law of renunciation; the most recent post may be found here.  It is a topic which can make students uneasy, for we begin to puzzle over what – if anything – we should renounce, and what aspects of life we may leave as they are.

The Necessity of Renunciation in Life

The saying, “There is no gain without pain,” when rightly interpreted would mean that everything costs something and has its price; and it is this law of nature that teaches one that for every kind of attainment in life, from the highest to the lowest, renunciation is necessary. It may be in the form of patience, in the form of service, in the form of modesty, it may be in the form of sacrifice; in whatever form it happens to be, it has to be for some purpose. When attaining something in life one always risks or meets with some loss. It does not appear loss in the presence of an immediate gain; but in things that take time to gain and conditions that require patience for their attainment, an immediate and seeming loss means a bitter renunciation.

Therefore, it is justifiable if a person shows a tendency to find a reason before renunciation of any kind. But his difficulty is that he will not be able to attain things that are abstract and things beyond ordinary comprehension, for he will not risk renouncing anything for such gains. And those who renounce without reason lose also; for they renounce and yet may not gain anything. That is why the success of renunciation lies in the renunciation itself; to be pleased with renunciation, and not to renounce for gain. That renunciation alone is the renunciation which may be called virtue.

There are four desires that man may pursue: pleasures, wealth, duty, and God; and every one of these attainments cost something, and nobody should deem it possible to attain any one of these without renunciation. Therefore, though renunciation is the last lesson, one must begin to learn it from the beginning.