Dear Friends,

Our Renunciate Order is becoming more and more magnetic and expansive, and so we thought we would create a monthly newsletter to serve as an inspiration to all of us. Through the words of Master and Swamji, and to create a greater connection among us. 

Also, through our testimonials we will be able to share how we experience renunciation, the sense of lightness, joy and inner freedom that it brings to our lives.

The Vow

The vow is something sacred and special, a covenant that our soul makes with God, and by which we show Him that we are ready to take responsibility for our lives and our growth. 

Making a vow is a very, very special action: almost certainly this is not the first life in which we put our lives in God’s hands and affirm, with a lovingly open heart, “Here I am, here I am, ready to do my part!” When we pronounce a vow out loud we are activating the creative power of Om. It is much more than a simple affirmation (which also has its own power); with the vow we are speaking to God, we are making a commitment to Him, we are contracting a spiritual marriage, which on our part we will carry out with a willingness to hold fast to it, while God will give us His loving protection and unseen help. 

Swami Kriyananda, in the book A Renunciate Order for the New Age says:

Any pledge one takes — what to speak of any vow? — should have the force behind it of personal conviction.

A mere pledge states, “I am not yet certain, for I don’t fully know myself in these matters. But this is the direction I would like to take.”

A vow should have more force behind it than a pledge. The vow of brahmacharya or tyaga must be backed by sufficient conviction to be able to say, “I am sure, now, that this is the direction I want to go, and I will build my life around it.” This vow, in other words, implies more than the mere statement, “I will try.” One has walked the length of the counter, and has made his decision.

We must always accept the truth, however, that the growth to perfection is directional: it is not a sudden leap from the valley to the mountaintop. Only those can make such a leap who are highly advanced already, and who don’t really need any vows at all, for they have attained the very purpose of those vows.

There is always the temptation, on the upward climb, to turn back in discouragement and declare, “Oh, but I find that it really is, after all, too high for me!” There is a possibility of discouragement, of intense fatigue, and even of such thoughts as, “I wonder if I locked the back door of my house; maybe I’d better go back and make sure everything is still safe” — a reawakened desire, in other words, to return to the lowlands of maya.

A vow is important. Verbalizing a commitment gives it extra force. The spoken word directs power, and reinforces one’s determination to be true.

When one starts up a mountain side, however, no matter how strong his initial will to climb it, he can’t know everything that awaits him farther on; he can only deal with the present, and with his expectations of the journey. As the way grows steeper, he may have to check his heart, his breathing, his muscular endurance, to see whether he is in fact up to the whole climb. The more obstacles he overcomes, of course, the greater the confidence he gains.

First, however, he must pledge himself to make a valiant attempt. It is useless to make firm promises until one has reached a level of such inner certainty that, for him, the only alternative to the climb is death itself.

It doesn’t matter to him, then, that he isn’t fully aware of what lies ahead. What if he finds he must scale a steep cliff? What if he falls, and goes crashing onto the rocks below? His courage must be such that he will press forward no matter what the difficulties. The true renunciate is one who is willing to face any obstacle in his struggle to reach the goal, for he knows that there is no acceptable alternative. Even if he slips, his intention never falters. And even if he is killed, he knows that he belongs utterly and completely to God alone. He is fully determined to reach God, no matter how many lifetimes it takes, and never to accept a lesser ideal. He vows never to stop until he reaches the top.

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We asked some members of this Order to share with us how they live some aspects of their vow of renunciation, and here are their inspiring testimonies:

Pilgrim

I understand, and intend from now on to live by my understanding, that life is a pilgrimage, of which
the final goal is to find and  merge back into God…

Testimony of Sujesh, Pilgrim

“Ever since I took the Pilgrim’s Vow, I have immediately felt in my heart the desire to turn these words of the vow into a prayer that could remind me today not only of the meaning of being a Pilgrim but the meaning of Life itself.”

✪

Tyagi

… I will view my partner as a channel of God’s blessing and will strive always to be a similar channel in return. I will endeavor always, through the love and respect I feel for my partner, to reach out in love and service to all humanity…

Testimony of Vinaya Serra, Tyagi

“With Tyagi’s vow, I really understood that everyone’s purpose is to seek God. I feel it within me, I feel like I have deeply connected with others, and I can sense that we all really just want God.”

✪

Brahmachari

I understand, and fully accept, that the true purpose of life for all human beings is to
seek God. In pursuit of that goal, I offer my own life unreservedly to seeking
my Divine Source…

Testimony of Gaia, Brahmacharini

Anything we think we are doing by our own strength alone is heavy to bear, and it is even more so if the purpose of our actions is aimed at satisfying personal desires and needs that come from the ego.

✪

Nayaswami

From now on, I embrace as the only purpose of my life the search for God… I accept
nothing as mine, no one as mine… but everything as Thine alone.

Testimony of Clarita, Nayaswami

Ever since I understood years ago that this life, which seems so very real, is actually God’s dream, I have tried to live by stepping back, as if a part of me was observing what was happening. This practice helps me to be less attached to things and people and to remember that it is all His.

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UPCOMING APPOINTMENTS:

  • BHARATI AND JANAKA for the Satsang of the Month (in-person and online)

SEPTEMBER 25 

6:00 – 7:30/8:00 pm: 

The theme will be the 6th point: 

They are indifferent to others’ opinions of them

In addition, we are already notifying you now, so that you can make arrangements, if you would like to participate in presence:

November 18-20, 2022 – 1st RETREAT OF RENUNCIANTS EUROPE 

A retreat for all Renounciates and for those who would-be Renounciates, to magnetize the New Order and pray for the world.