05/04/2023 “Renunciation… it’s a scary word” with Diane Wilde

Because so many people have serious reservations about the idea of doing without, Dharma teachers in America are often reluctant to teach renunciation.  Renunciation, or nekkhamma in Pali, often conjures a life made up of “good and the bad”  an almost puritanical way of living life. This is a mis-understanding of the practice of renunciation.  The Buddha did not teach renunciation as a form of denial or asceticism but rather taught letting go as a way to achieve a greater good, a greater happiness, and ultimately to attain what might be called the “sacred” dimension of liberation. Our resistance or our acceptance of nekkhamma is an indicator of how our practice is really taking shape. Tonight we will discuss the various ways we can practice renunciation as lay people, and the joys and benefits that it offers.