The Eight Renunciations

"...one commits to practicing the moral conduct of The Eight Renunciations as a support for the return." - Walking the Wakeful Path Home

The Eight Renunciations are:

1. Give up taking life

2. Give up taking things of material value not offered to you freely

3. Give up taking things of socially intimate value not offered to you consensually

4. Give up false and harmful speech

5. Give up relying upon intoxicants

6. Give up unhealthy habits of subsistence

7. Give up relying upon material wealth to fulfill your spiritual needs

8. Give up arriving late and unprepared

May these Eight Renunciations be a reliable walking stick on your way home.

Commentary on the Eight Renunciations:

1. In this commitment, one gives up taking life unnecessarily--incidentally, deliberately, or by causing life to be taken through communicated intention. As the natural continuation of one's own life is necessary to practice the path, one gives up any intention of taking one's own life. As ingesting life is necessary for the natural continuation of one's own life, one gives up any intention to starve oneself of nourishment.
   
   

2. This commitment pertains not only to possessions rendered scarce by the valuation of the human market, but possessions rendered scarce by the valuation of an individual, community, or accountable body of governance. One gives up taking what is not offered freely.
   
   

3. This commitment pertains not only to access rendered scarce by general societal consensus as to its desirability, but access rendered scarce by individual, community, or accountable body of governance consensus as to its desirability. One gives up taking what is not offered consensually.
   
   

4. This commitment pertains to giving up speech that is deceptive, harsh, malicious, intending to mislead, entertainment-seeking at another's expense, insecurity-soothing at another's expense, wrongly timed, or wrongly said.
   
   In an Information Age, it can be difficult to speak definitively about shared topics of knowledge. So one aims to speak from experience, including the experience of gaining knowledge, while working to avoid the appearance of presenting objective truths to one's listeners.
   
   

5. This commitment pertains to giving up developing a reliance upon substances that would interfere with one's livelihood and one's practice. When assessing one's relationship to intoxicants, a good question to ask could be, 'does this relationship allow me my dignity..?' If one needs help answering this question, one should consider consulting a spiritual friend.
   
   

6. This commitment pertains to giving up:

• poor habits of diet--eating or drinking disposable, cheaply-produced food or drink, made with nutrient-sparse ingredients, prepared poorly or mass-produced, and laden with chemicals and sugars.

• poor habits of living--not prioritizing adequate sleep, not enjoying gentle exercise, not maintaining cleanliness and good hygiene of dwelling and of person, not seeking access to clean air and to healthy sunshine, not wearing clean, whole clothes.

• poor habits of participation--not working in a good livelihood or not seeking work in a good livelihood, not meeting one's financial obligations to others and the community, heedlessly incurring debt, not living within one's means, and not reaching out for trusted help well before a looming crisis.
  
  

7.  This commitment pertains to giving up substituting acquisition of material wealth for the discovery of one's authenticity through spiritual practice. This commitment does not imply giving up material wealth that does fulfill one's material needs.
   
   

8. This commitment pertains in a very basic way to giving up being late and unprepared when one is expected by others to be on-time and prepared for a particular, previously agreed-upon appointment. This commitment also refers to being late and unprepared in one's life--rushing from one place to another, taken by surprise and reacting reflexively to external conditions.
   
   Implicit in this commitment is to reduce one's activities to a level that is manageable and natural, even allowing for beneficial boredom from which auspiciousness can arise.

May this commentary on the Eight Renunciations help to clarify how to practice them to good result.