Renunciation

Wine’s pleasure,
Love’s intoxication,
Work’s obsession,
Children’s involvement,
Age’s sorrow.
When will craving end?

Originally there was nothing. It is to nothing that we return. Differentiation came out of the interplay of cosmic opposites. Human life became mired in complexities, and this constant diversity is stressful and disruptive. We ourselves add to the problem with our own lusts and ambitions. We intoxicate ourselves, we indulge in sensual gratification, we strive for success in our careers, we commit decades to the raising of children. All this, only to be caught in the closing jaws of old age, gradually hemmed in until there is no alternative other than sorrows, infirmities, and senility.

Duty is inevitable, but we need not saddle ourselves with extra responsibilities. Keep life simple. Give up as much as possible. Renounce unnecessary cravings and desires. Leave behind the trappings of wealth and success. Turn toward the divine. It satisfies, it brings knowledge, and it brings joy.

Deng Ming Tao, 365 Tao

What avail riches for the practice of religion? — Jainism. Uttaradhyayana Sutra 14.16

Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from
the mouth of God. — Judaism and Christianity. Deuteronomy 8.3, Matthew 4.4

Do not race after riches, do not risk your life for success, or you will
let slip the Heaven within you. — Taoism. Chuang Tzu 29

Busy not yourself with this world, for with fire We test the gold, and
with gold We test Our servants. — Baha’i Faith. Hidden Words of Baha’u’llah, Arabic 54

Anyone who is stingy, is stingy only with his own soul. God is Wealthy
while you are poor. — Islam. Qur’an 47.38

Woe is he… who has gathered riches and counted them over, thinking his
riches have made him immortal! — Islam. Qur’an 104.1-3

No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the
other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot
serve God and mammon. — Christianity. Matthew 6.24

When they see merchandise or diversion they scatter off to it, and they
leave you standing. Say, “What is with God is better than diversion and
merchandise. God is the best of providers.” — Islam. Qur’an 62.11

Riches ruin the foolish, but not those in quest of the Beyond. Through
craving for riches the ignorant man ruins himself as he does others. — Buddhism. Dhammapada 355

Many more of these quotes can be found at United Communities of Spirit or World Scripture

Once Hsuan-Sa sat in silence at one of his lectures for a long time and the entire audience left the hall one by one. Hsuan-Sa said, “You are all fools. What a great pity! When I speak, you all gather here and desire to get some sermons which are nonsense, but when I really help you, you all go away.”

Without cause God gave us Being;
without cause, give it back again.
Gambling yourself away is beyond any religion.

Religion seeks grace and favor,
but those who gamble these away are God’s favorites,
for they neither put God to the test
not knock at the door of gain and loss.

Rumi, Mathnawi, 1972-1974, quoted in: Helminski, Kabir (2000). The Rumi Collection. P.163.

And when you get really good at all this, you can renounce renunciation… ;^)