Renunciation, Dedication and Exploitation

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   My Guru, B.R. Shridhar

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   My guru used to tell me that the real path is one of dedication. He explained that most people think of spiritual life in terms of giving things up, renouncing the world. Shridhar Maharaja had a tendency towards "self-abnegation" as he put it. He wasn't interested in the things of this world. But he explained that real spiritual life is not a question of renunciation. He put it like this: “Between Scylla and Charybdis.” Do you know this expression? Near Italy in the Mediterranean, there is hidden rock named Scylla near a whirlpool named Charybdis. When a ship goes between them, if it is too near Scylla, it will strike against the rock and be ruined, and if it is too near Charybdis, it will come under the course of the whirlpool and go down. So, this is like bhoga and tyāga. On one side is bhoga—exploitation, selfish enjoyment—and on the other side is renunciation. Both renunciation and exploitation are dangerous, but renunciation is more dangerous than exploitation. It is a more powerful enemy to devotion to Kṛṣṇa than the weak, though chief enemy of exploitation.  Often times I've been told that Shridhar Maharaja's discourse was too high. I can't count the number of times I've heard, "We need to break it down and make it simple so that people can understand." But no matter how I try to break it down, people just don't get it. So I'll translate the above into plain English. Nowadays we don't say, Scylla and Charabdis, but "between a rock and a hard place."  As George put it, "between the devil and the deep blue sea." The Scylla was a fiend, like the devil. Charabdis was a whirpool, or "deep blue sea." The devil represents karma, the world of exploitation. The devil is an obvious fiend. The Devil We are all captive to the devil's spell. And in our devilish moods we get too caught up in the world of exploitation, the world of karma. So much so that we forget who we are. We even stop searching. We identify as Americans, as Russians, as Mexicans, as men or women, old or young. But we forget our own self-interest, being caught up in the enjoyment of the senses. We get involved in exploitation. We want satisfaction and we don't care who suffers. So exploitation is an obvious evil.  But what about renunciation? What if we give up the world, or renounce the devil and all his works? Unfortunately renunciation is no cure for our identity crisis. In fact, as Shridhar Maharaja explains, "Renunciation is more dangerous than exploitation." Why? With renunciation, one becomes proud. Pride is the chief enemy of one who renounces the world.  Between the devil and the deep blue sea Anger and self-righteousness  are by-products of pride and false ego. So if renunciation is not a cure, why not just stick with exploitation? Actually this is just what happens. On one side is bhoga—exploitation, selfish enjoyment—and on the other side is renunciation. Disgusted with exploitation we "renounce" only to find that temptation calls sooner or later and we return from renunciation to exploitation. This is a vicious circle, or as Shridhar Maharaja puts it "between Scylla and Charabdis." Between the devil and the deep blue sea Charabdis is a whirlpool. Shridhar Maharaja used to speak very exactly. His use of the word "whirlpool" means that the soul is actually caught between the devilish life of exploitation and the whirlpool of nonexistence which is the impersonal Brahman realization or the nirvana or void of the Buddhists.  His point about "renunciation" is well-taken. Voidism is no solution. It is something like spiritual suicide.  Nihilism, Voidism, Buddhism, Nirvana. Nothingness. These are really more dangerous than karmic nonsense, since they are destructive to the spirit. The real solution for the soul's tragic sense of life is dedication.  In Sanskrit this is bhakti, while exploitation is karma, and renunciation is tyaga. Dedication may involve some renunciation or sacrifice, just as a mother will do anything for her beloved child. But renunciation is never an end to itself. I leave you with some charming videos. The World of Exploitation ex·ploi·ta·tion ˌekˌsploiˈtāSH(ə)n/ noun 1. the action or fact of treating someone unfairly in order to benefit from their work. "the exploitation of migrant workers" synonyms: taking advantage, abuse, misuse, ill-treatment, unfair treatment,oppression "the exploitation of the poor" 2. The action of making use of and benefiting from resources, abuse of nature. The world of dedication ded·i·ca·tion ˌdedəˈkāSH(ə)n/ noun 1. the quality of being dedicated or committed to a task or purpose. "his dedication to his duties"