Bringing Out the Mind of Renunciation

Master Long Shu was truly compassionate and deeply earnest, expounding on this point again and again from every angle. His sole purpose was to awaken within us a profound weariness of this Sahā world and a longing for the Land of Ultimate Bliss. Consider how, over countless kalpas, we have wandered through the entanglements of the five desires and six sense-objects, amid love and hatred, self and other, right and wrong—so that it is exceedingly difficult to give rise to the mind of renunciation. That is why these patriarchs and great masters, relying on the Buddha's authoritative teachings and drawing upon their own practice and realization as well as the power of their awakened nature, strive to kindle within us ordinary beings this very aspiration to break free.

In truth, all sentient beings possess the Buddha-nature. Possessing it means that the longing for liberation is inherent within us. What is this "renunciation"? Sometimes it is called weariness and detachment. Why should we feel such weariness? Because we possess a pure Buddha-nature. When that nature is revealed to some degree, we naturally perceive the filth and defilement of our bodies, our minds, and the world around us, and recognize that none of it is worth lingering in. Only by anchoring our lives in that which is pure, unborn and undying, in the state of nirvana itself, can we do justice to the life we have received and live up to the Buddha-nature we already possess. That pure realm of nirvana—that is where the true value of our existence lies, the very source of every blessing and peace.

This sense of weariness is itself an innate drive within all sentient beings to seek happiness and avoid suffering. Yet more often than not, it is obscured by our discriminating thoughts, our self-clinging, and our afflictions. That is why, through long ages, we have found it so hard to give rise to the mind of renunciation.

We must realize that in this turbulent world of the five turbidities, our resolve on the path reveals itself directly through this mind of renunciation. And this mind of renunciation is itself an expression of prajñā wisdom. Only with renunciation can a reference frame grounded in our Buddha-nature emerge—only then can the mind of renunciation truly arise.

Now, ordinary people in everyday life may suffer misfortune and hardship, and they may feel that life itself is meaningless—so much so that they contemplate suicide. Yet what drives someone to take his own life is not the mind of renunciation; it is despair. A person with the mind of renunciation has hope. He knows there is a wonderful destination, a place worth going to. The despairing person has no such vision.

Therefore, when we read the teachings of these patriarchs and great masters, let us awaken our own mind of renunciation! And we must merge all of this back into our own nature and seek to truly understand it.