“Master, you are wonderful!” A student, taking his leave, gazed ardently at the patriarchal sage. “You have renounced riches and comforts to seek God and teach us wisdom!” It was well-known that Bhaduri Mahasaya had forsaken great family wealth in his early childhood, when single-mindedly he entered the yogic path.
“You are reversing the case!” The saint’s face held a mild rebuke. “I have left a few paltry rupees, a few petty pleasures, for a cosmic empire of endless bliss. How then have I denied myself anything? I know the joy of sharing the treasure. Is that a sacrifice? The shortsighted worldly folk are verily the real renunciates! They relinquish an unparalleled divine possession for a poor handful of earthly toys!”
I chuckled over this paradoxical view of renunciation, one which puts the cap of Croesus on any saintly beggar, whilst transforming all proud millionaires into unconscious martyrs.
Surrender to God
The Lord knows the course of our thoughts. He does not reveal Himself to us until we have surrendered to Him our last worldly desire; until each of us says: “Father, guide and possess me.”
—Sri Sri Paramahansa Yogananda, “Sayings of Paramahansa Yogananda”
