Without performance of action, the renunciation of action is impossible; without having a thing we cannot renounce it; to renounce life and the world, because one has sadly been thwarted in one's hopes and ambitions, is not renunciation.
Swami Chinmayanandaji
What makes a person truly senior? It is the end of striving, isn’t it? Retirement is a decision to let it be. “I may not have the most amount of money”, the retired folks say, “but from here on I decide how to spend my time and who to spend it with!”
Don’t get me wrong, one day we may all reach the stage when we decide that ‘enough is enough’. Hopefully this lifestyle will be beautiful and fulfilling for many of us, perhaps it is the feeling to plateau with an amazing scenery and life perspective.
For the time being though, many of us keep going like the energy bunny, still feeling that there is ‘one more thing’ to accomplish, only to find that ‘one more thing’ is waiting for us after that completed mission as well.
Maybe we fool ourselves and are driven by a thirst that can never be quenched, or just maybe this upcoming mission is the very activity that allows us to transcend and renounce our subconscious drive for good.
Staying still while staying active in this busy world is possible. The Zen call this enlightened stage WuWei; Eckhart Tolle calls it The Power of Now, while the Tao Te Ching calls it ‘Resting at the center watching the world spin’.
Being is the Way! Doing is sometimes necessary and sometimes a waste of our precious energy. It is true, we can retire in the busyness of life; that is true renunciation. Don’t try it—be the Way!
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