Baba says, ‘make your fortune elevated by renouncing body consciousness‘. You will then become an embodiment of success.

To become a Brahmin requires renunciation of the old world, the world of Ravan. When asked, we say, yes, I have renounced my body, mind, wealth etc. But renunciation is deep, says Baba.

Sometimes, we think that the body is bad, it’s not. It has committed no fault, it is in fact an invaluable treasure to help me make my fortune. It is neutral, an instrument. Rather, the renunciation of the body means to renounce the consciousness of the body.

Renunciation means to let go of everything and every situation, to step away from the feeling of anything belonging to you and to finish your rights to it, says Baba. Maybe it’s a problem, maybe it’s a sanskar – once I’ve offered it to God, it’s His. I no longer try to solve the problem, strategize, or analyze. I don’t feel guilt or shame that I had a particular sanskar and I certainly don’t welcome it back when tempted to (and I will be tempted). I’ve sacrificed it. You cannot even have any thoughts of whatever you renounced, because you cannot take back anything that you have renounced or have promised to renounce – even in your thoughts, teaches Baba.

Sanyasis renounce their physical homes and go to the forest. Now, if they were to then return back, that would be against their rules and they wouldn’t be called a true sanyasi. You are an unlimited sanyasi, Baba reminds me. Your home is the body and different physical senses are the paraphernalia of this home. When you renounce the home, it includes everything in the home. I cannot broker a deal where I say: Baba, this body is Yours but I will use my eyes and You can use everything else! I cannot follow my own dictates in some cases and follow shrimat in some cases. There is not a percentage in renunciation – I either renounce or I don’t.

Sometimes we make the mistake of thinking: it’s okay…I’m doing good on all counts except this one thing, that will fix itself automatically. Baba cautions that in fact, the opposite is true. The attraction of even that one thing, of even one of the physical senses will stop me from belonging to the Father. It won’t allow me to stabilize in a constant and stable stage. If someone has given up all their diamonds, jewels, and palaces but still has some attachment to a broken earthenware vessel, then it does the same amount of damage as the attraction to the diamond. Just as a diamond attracts towards itself, the broken earthenware vessel would repeatedly attract them even more than a diamond. Even against their conscious wish, their intellect would repeatedly be pulled towards it. So if I am still attracted by any of the physical senses, or drawn to a sanskar, then that will repeatedly bring me down and stop me from claiming an elevated status. It will make me unsuccessful.

A tactic to help with renunciation, Baba teaches, is to think of myself as a guest in this body. I have been given this body for a short time by God for service. Renounce the consciousness of “mine”, He says and, while considering yourself to be a guest (mehmaan), use the body for a great task (mahaan). So, take the support of this physical body in order to perform actions and then stabilize yourself in your angelic form. Stabilize yourself in your incorporeal form. Come down from your elevated stage of being up simply to perform actions in a detached manner through the physical organs. This is the first step of renunciation, says Baba.

You are Shaktis, says Baba but without this first step of the renunciation of the ‘mine’ consciousness, you show the wrong form of shakti or power. I’m given a task to do and immediately there are questions of ‘why?’, ‘how?’, and ‘what?’. I solve one question and another one rises. I repeatedly say: That is fine, but what about this? Why is that like that? Why am I not invited where they are? This is called being a Shakti who gives one thing ten heads, says Baba. Shakti means to be co-operative; not a Shakti with the head of arrogance, but someone who always has all arms, that is, someone who co-operates in every situation. Souls who have the ten heads of Ravan never co-operate, they oppose. To renounce the consciousness of the body is to renounce this arrogance of the body.

Renunciation is not hard when I have clarity about what it is that I am renouncing. If I am receiving something new in return for something old and broken down, for something that was more trouble than help, then renouncing it isn’t hard. Baba takes my old consciousness and gives me an angelic consciousness. He takes the burden and gives me lightness, He takes the heaviness and gives me wings to fly. But the condition is that I renounce fully! I cannot have one foot in the old house and one foot in the new! There is pleasure in dying only if you die fully, He says. When I am half-dead, that’s when life is hard, it’s complicated, there are many deep breaths and sighing that takes place. But it doesn’t have to be hard, Baba teaches me. You are not losing anything valuable…see the broken earthenware vessel for what it is and let it go. You are being given thousand-fold in return, He says. Instead if I hoard the old rubbish that belongs in the trash, there can only be stench and mosquitos! And the one it harms is the hoarder!

Renounce the body consciousness- this is for your own benefit, for your own success, says Baba. Without this renunciation, I cannot reach my elevated destiny, my highest potential. It becomes difficult only when the heads of Ravan are created instead of becoming the Shaktis with many arms, He says. Simply take one step of giving co-operation and you receive multi-millions of steps of co-operation in return. You become afraid to take the first step when you forget what you are going to receive, and only remember what you have to give.