{"id":1989,"date":"2012-01-02T18:02:03","date_gmt":"2012-01-02T23:02:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/mindfulnessmatters\/?p=1989"},"modified":"2012-01-02T18:02:03","modified_gmt":"2012-01-02T23:02:03","slug":"renunciation-the-key-to-liberation-in-2012-and-any-other-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2012\/01\/renunciation-the-key-to-liberation-in-2012-and-any-other-year.html","title":{"rendered":"Renunciation: The Key to Liberation in 2012 and Any Other Year"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>In our culture of must have, right now, or else I’m gonna freak out, renunciation is a dirty word. Renunciation means giving up something and to give up something means that I have less; and if I have less then somehow I am less than.<\/p>\n

How did we get to this formulation? What if instead of giving up material things, status, and pleasure renunciation meant giving up suffering? Now it is sounding more appealing.<\/p>\n

I’ll make a bold statement: All dissatisfaction, anguish, and suffering stems from a failure to renounce attachment to mistaken views and the behaviors compelled by them.<\/p>\n

If I think that somehow I am entitled to everything going my way, I am mistaken. If I think somehow that the pleasures I have now will last, I am mistaken. If think that somehow there is some “me” out there in the world that experiences these things without being affected by these things, I am mistaken. It’s all just the process of now and if I try to control it, I’m sunk. If I think that I “own” it, I am sunk.<\/p>\n

The alternative is to kiss things as they go by, affectionate, respectful, and cognizant of the passing. This is renunciation. A letting go of futile effort. An allowing to be of this moment as it is without any<\/em> conditions.<\/p>\n

To renounce is to be fluid. To renounce is to be open. To renounce is to be connected. Renunciation is the bridge to this next moment. Life in three dimensions, and perhaps more. By giving up you gain a greater perspective; renouncing encumbrances to happiness right here, right now.<\/p>\n

So think about what you’d like to give up in this New Year. Think about how you’d like to be<\/em>. And, by the way, Happy New Year!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In our culture of must have, right now, or else I’m gonna freak out, renunciation is a dirty word. Renunciation means giving up something and to give up something means that I have less; and if I have less then somehow I am less than. How did we get to this formulation? What if instead…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":268,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,7,9],"tags":[355,350,356],"class_list":["post-1989","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-buddha-101","category-metaphors-for-mindfulness","category-mindfulnesss","tag-355","tag-new-years-day","tag-renunciation"],"yoast_head":"\nRenunciation: The Key to Liberation in 2012 and Any Other Year - Mindfulness Matters<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/2012\/01\/renunciation-the-key-to-liberation-in-2012-and-any-other-year.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Renunciation: The Key to Liberation in 2012 and Any Other Year - Mindfulness Matters\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In our culture of must have, right now, or else I’m gonna freak out, renunciation is a dirty word. 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Dr. Kozak's ability to translate ancient healing traditions into pragmatic applications suitable for modern lifestyles through the use of metaphors have made him a strong voice in healthcare and business. Beginning with a journey to India in the 80\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s where he took the Bodhisattva vows from His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Arnie Dr. Kozak began his lifelong practice in mindfulness meditation. Intent on finding a way to bring the practical healing attributes of mindfulness he began incorporating these techniques in his private practice. In 2002 Dr. Kozak created Exquisite Mind in Burlington, Vermont as a vehicle that could expand his wisdom to larger audiences beyond individual psychotherapy to professionals and corporations, health care providers, public groups and, most recently with Exquisite Mind Golf, amateur and professional golfers. His award-winning new book, Wild Chickens and Petty Tyrants: 108 Metaphors for Mindfulness (Wisdom Publications, 2009) is a thoughtful, funny, and inspiring translation of mindfulness practice through the inventive use of metaphor applicable to our daily lives. In addition to his work with Exquisite Mind, Arnie Kozak, Ph.D., Licensed Psychologist\u00e2\u20ac\u201dDoctorate has been a Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Vermont and is a Clinical Instructor in Psychiatry and Medicine, University of Vermont College of Medicine. He has studied and practiced clinical psychology, meditation, and yoga for more than 25 years. He has studied with several meditation masters, including S. N. Goenka, Larry Rosenberg, Gurumayi Chidvilasananda, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama. After receiving his bachelors degree with honors from Tufts University, he was awarded a Presidential Fellowship to get his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University at Buffalo. He completed his training as a Psychological Fellow at the Harvard Medical School. Prior to founding the Exquisite Mind in 2002, Arnie worked ten years in the private sector for the PKC Corporation consulting on mental health content for this revolutionary software company.","sameAs":["http:\/\/exquisitemind.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/author\/akozak"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1989","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/268"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1989"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1989\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1993,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1989\/revisions\/1993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/mindfulnessmatters\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}