The Buddha taught us that there are ten perfections that we must acquire to free ourselves from suffering. After the first perfection, the perfection of generosity, comes the perfection of moral conduct. The third perfection we should acquire is the perfection of renunciation, followed by the perfection of wisdom.
Different forms of renunciation
The desire for security and safety is a primary desire that dominates our lives. We are willing to give up a lot to gain security and we are willing to give up a lot for it. Wanting to gain something and giving up something else for it is not the form of renunciation that leads to liberation from suffering.
Right motives
The form of renunciation that leads away from suffering is a form of renunciation that is motivated by completely different motives.
You don’t have to be Enlightened to know that everything is impermanent, everyone can agree with that from ordinary general experiences. You can give this awareness of impermanence a positive twist, for example by saying that changeability ensures growth and evolution. And if it concerns something unpleasant, you can say that this allows you to appreciate the pleasant things more.
The problem with this is that, regardless of this positive interpretation, we measure the situation against our own experiences, reinforcing the idea that there is something unchangeable at the core of our being. Even when we think that there is an ‘I’ that does or fails to do something, we reinforce this idea. Therefore, renunciation that assumes that there is an ‘I’ that renounces, is not the form of renunciation that leads away from suffering.
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The form of renunciation that is meant is the form of renunciation that can be described as ‘going ahead ‘. The awareness, already during the action, that the action can lead to suffering, that the suffering will continue and return, causing the action to be stopped and renounced: a step deeper within.
This form of renunciation is an inner act, measured by whether or not something is conducive to progress. This is in contrast to renunciation of outer actions that result in an inner conflict.
The chicken and the egg
It is important to realize that desire and dissatisfaction have a reciprocal relationship with each other. Here it does not matter which came first, the desire or the dissatisfaction. As long as we feed the chicken (the senses), another egg (dissatisfaction) will be able to emerge. So to end this situation, we must not address the dissatisfaction, but the desire .
Authority
You are not meant to just believe what I write here. The Buddha has urged us not to accept anything on blind faith. The Dhamma, the teachings of the Buddha, is a path of experience. You have to try it and experience it yourself. Just look within yourself and face how easily a desire that is blocked can turn into a fierce hatred. If you really dare to feel that, you will come to the conclusion that you are better off without those desires.
Until you can let go of your desires, you can do a lot by starting to give up the most harmful desires.
Spiritual urgency statement
When you truly want to free yourself from suffering, you will experience this as a spiritual declaration of urgency. And this spiritual declaration of urgency is the immediate cause of renunciation. You can recognize someone who has mastered renunciation as someone who withdraws from things, someone who renounces naturally. This starts by having fewer preferences and that can apply to anything: food, clothing, housing, etc.
Result
The result of the practice of renunciation is an increasing sense of security. This certainty arises because you will be less and less preoccupied with the fear of losing things or not getting things. You spend less and less time thinking about what you want from others. Instead, the attitude of wanting to be of service to others arises.
You will not always walk around smiling friendly, real helpfulness comes from objectivity and caution.
The fourth perfection: panna or wisdom
Buddhism distinguishes between two types of mental states. One state of mind is called samsara, the other nirvana. Samsara is the state of mind that we normally experience. Nirvana is the state of mind in which we are freed from suffering . To achieve this state of mind, we must make an effort.
The effort
The effort we must make is to acquire the ten perfections. The first perfection we must acquire is the perfection of generosity. Next and consequent, the second perfection is the perfection of moral conduct. The third perfection we should strive for is the perfection of renunciation. Next comes the perfection of wisdom.
Samsara
So Samsara is our normal state of mind and we generally don’t mind it.
On the contrary, most of the time we like this state of mind.
- We are happy about things that, upon closer examination, are not joyful at all.
- We think things are permanent which, upon closer examination, are not permanent.
- We perceive things as sustainable, while those things turn out to be unsustainable.
The mind is also a prisoner of its own frame of reference, for example the concept of ‘time’. You can experience this if you are thinking about the past, while all things considered you can only experience the present. And if you happen to not be thinking about the past, you are making plans for the future.
In the meantime, you try to learn everything as quickly as possible, without paying attention to whether acquiring this knowledge contributes to happiness, peace and harmony in your life. And it certainly doesn’t occur to you that all that knowledge you collect could be an obstacle to experiencing happiness, peace and harmony.
Wisdom
The reason why knowledge can be an obstacle to inner peace is that it is worldly knowledge and therein lies conflict and uncertainty. The knowledge and wisdom that the Buddha taught to all who wanted to learn it is a form of knowledge and wisdom without conflict. It is a form of wisdom that eliminates ignorance and wrong understanding. A form of knowledge and wisdom that provides certainty, because it is not susceptible to vicissitudes.