THE SNOW LION NEWSLETTER

Renunciation and Simplicity
by Bhikshuni Thubten Chodron

Renunciation and simplicity are challenging topics for a materialistic, status-conscious culture such as ours, where "more is better." But this is precisely the topic we dove into at the Tenth Annual Buddhist Monastic Conference, held at Land of Medicine Buddha in 2004. During these days, thirty Western monastics from the Thai and Sri Lankan Theravadin, Japanese and Vietnamese Zen, Chinese Ch'an, and Tibetan Buddhist traditions discussed topics such as: What changes occurred for us individually as we went from greed to need and as we transitioned from indulgence to sustenance? What is the value of simplicity? While living a simple lifestyle, how do we handle the complexity of the world? Of our minds?

One afternoon we went to the beach near Santa Cruz CA to do the practice of Water Charity to the hungry ghosts. Can you imagine the display of our various colored robes against the blue ocean and white sand? That same multi-colored display was apparent as the bhikshus and bhikshunis did our Posadha ceremonies-the bi-monthly confession and restoration of precepts.

While summarizing the rich discussions on renunciation and simplicity cannot be done in a short article, sharing a few points is helpful:

The sangha (monastics) works all the time, but our work is not linked to the market place economy. For us, time is more important than money; we don't seek happiness from having possessions, romantic relationships, or societal stature, but spend our time on internal cultivation and benefiting others. Sangha lifestyle is 24-7, and our "job" is to become enlightened.

Renunciation doesn't mean to give up happiness, but to give up suffering and its causes and to cultivate genuine satisfaction and joy. Since cyclic existence continues without break, we aspire to make our Dharma practice just as consistent. We "relax" in a different way from lay people, because we have chosen to abstain from what is usually called "fun."

While as monastics we voluntarily give up certain things according to our precepts. In addition, we may choose to give up other things for a while as a training. For example, by living in community, we explore what happens to our minds when we don't have our own space, our favorite food, or our own vehicle. We watch what our mind does when we give up our preferences and voluminous opinions and follow the abbot's or abbess's instructions.

For photos, see:
www.thubtenchodron.org/BuddhistNunsMonasticLife/buddhist_nuns_monastic_life.html

Thubten Chodron is the author of several books, including How to Free Your Mind: Tara the Liberator, Buddhism for Beginners, Open Heart, Clear Mind, Taming the Mind, and Working with Anger.