Reflective Paper: Renunciation

Running Head: REFLECTIVE PAPER: RENUNCIATION

Reflective Paper: Renunciation

Ken McDonald

PSYB 214 A

March 2, 2008

Reflective Paper: Renunciation

Pema Chodron begins her essay on renunciation in this way: “Renunciation does not have to be regarded as negative. I was taught that it has to do with letting go of holding back. What one is renouncing is closing down and shutting off from life. You could say that renunciation is the same thing as opening to the teachings of the present moment” (Chodron,1991, p. 51). As I see it there are two actions that work hand in hand in renunciation, one is the mental and spiritual act of abandoning firm and hard concepts or ideas of life, and the other is the opening up to new ideas, new feelings and new teachings. So, there is a conscious awareness of leaving or closing and welcoming or opening.

When I contemplate closing or shutting the door of hardness and stubbornness, I can’t help but think of the cocoon. Living in the cocoon is the way of enclosure; no vision outside of what exists within. For me, renunciation is part of dismantling the cocoon. It is that action of saying: “I don’t want life like this anymore. I am tired of living a stifled life where the price for safety and comfort is ignorance and sloth”. Renunciation is brave and courageous. Renunciation is the first step in allowing the Great Eastern Sun into the cocoon room, it is the act of raising the blinds and allowing light into your life.

The second action in renunciation is opening up. So, as you close the door on ignorance, you open the door to new ideas. This also takes courage and warriorship. Sometimes new ideas can be frightening; they challenge us to look at life differently. We are sometimes tempted to reject an idea because we are unfamiliar with the concept, we have prejudices about a topic or it takes too much work to think out of the box. Renunciation says: all things, all people, all creatures, all ideas are part of life and therefore I should not be afraid to visit them and see them as they are. As an example, when I was young I was taught that Mormons were strange, money hungry people who were pseudo Christians in cult like groups. For years I maintained that opinion and looked down at these people for their strange