Daily Lessons from
Sivaya Subramuniyaswami's
Master Course Trilogy

The Ideals Of Sannyāsa

The Śaiva sannyāsin states at the time of his initiation, “All that I have and all that I am I now give unto my God, my Gods and my guru. I have no family except the Divine Father Śiva and Mother Śakti who dwell in Kailāsa, and on Earth the saṅgam of Śaivite devotees.” This is the ideal of not only the swāmī, but of all monastics. Therefore, a state of aloofness from blood ties must be maintained on the part of each monastic. This is reflected in the protocol of the monk’s not referring to relatives as “my father,” “my brother,” “my mother,” but by formal, impersonal names and common courtesy titles, such as Mr. Sivanesan, etc. This is an affectionate detachment, a lovingly detached attitude, from the gṛihastha community. It is a detachment from joint or extended family, which includes former friends, seeing guru as mother and father, and fellow monastics as family, aadheenam devas as dear relatives, and Gods as close, not far away. Each family learns to respect this renunciate attitude. This is the fabric of monastic life, both for sannyāsins and postulants, for in our community, all monastics are on the path of renunciation. Some have received sannyāsa dīkshā and others are preparing for it by fully living the life of the one who has renounced the world in one-pointed quest for service and God Realization. Because training must be given when the nature is still young and pliable, I do not accept candidates for monastic life who are over the age of twenty-five.

All must always remember that it is a family’s greatest blessing for a son to become a sannyāsin. But a word of caution must follow. Though a young man may be raised and trained to one day become a monastic, it is he himself who must have the burning desire for ultimate, transcendent realization of Paraśiva. It is he who must have a heart full of selfless service and vairāgya, the spirit of renunciation. It is he who must have the prārabdha karmas that would allow him to be the ideal sannyāsin his parents would hope for. Becoming a monk is not simply a matter of moving from his family home into a monastery. Various tests must be met and passed. The entire monastic community has to be convinced of the young man’s sincerity and strengthened by his presence. Such potential sannyāsins are watched closely and expected to dissociate themselves from gṛihastha impulses such as claiming “my things, my space, my career, my advancement and my exclusive duties.” They are examined for the qualities of true sannyāsa, tested often as to their flexibility, their ability to instantly renounce attachment to position and job security without residual resentments, the fluidness to release awareness and move transparently from one area to the next as needs arise.

How does a monastic serve his guru in daily life? He must take every opportunity to be open. At the first level, that of a young aspirant, the mom and dad give him over and say, “The guru is now your mother and father. Go and be with him.” Then it is up to the young man to think of his guru as mother and father and not think of them as his parents anymore. That is what they expect. They are thrilled that they could produce a son who could be a spiritual man, thrilled that their son might be accepted. The next step is on the part of the son himself. In living in the āśrama the son only sees the guru in his mind. He doesn’t see anybody else. When he starts seeing others, finding fault and liking some more than others, that’s when the trouble begins. Rather, he serves the guru’s mission exclusively, in his whole mind, even while he is working with others. He treats everyone equally, with kindly, affectionate detachment. He fulfills each duty wholeheartedly and harbors no preferences for one type of service over another. He doesn’t use the facility as a trade school to improve his skills, just in case monastic life doesn’t work out. Finally he attracts the guru’s attention, and the third stage begins. He is given special small tasks to accomplish by the satguru, and when successful given larger and more difficult tasks, as the guru guides him in strengthening his willpower. From that point on, his life unfolds from stage to stage as he purifies himself and brings forth his Divinity in his service and striving.

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NANDINATHA SŪTRA 334: HUMILITY IS THEIR HALLMARK
Śiva’s monastics never boast of their accomplishments, knowledge, position, equipment, money they handle, places they have been or people they know. Self-effacement—yea, self-erasement—is their hallmark. Aum.

Disciplined Leadership

Monastics are the religious leaders of Hinduism. Continuing this noble renunciate monastic tradition is essential for the perpetuation of the faith. Therefore, when a young boy expresses the desire to become a monk, parents should never discourage that inclination, but strongly encourage it in all ways. It is a great blessing for the family to have a son become a sannyāsin. Each father should guide his sons who express an inclination toward monastic life into learning more of sannyāsa by teaching them of the lives of great yogīs and swāmīs, encouraging them in the arts of meditation, haṭha yoga and personal purity, having them read and study the Vedas, and bringing them to receive the darśana and advice of the satguru and swāmīs whenever possible. They regard any son destined for the monastery not as their own child, but as the satguru’s spiritual progeny in their trusted care. They work closely with the satguru in guiding his training so as to cultivate skills and character traits that will enhance his future as a monastic. Many devout families seek to birth a son for the monastery. Prior to conception, they mix with the swāmīs and pray to the Gods to bring through a soul destined to perpetuate the holy lineage.

Once a brahmachārī has entered the monastery under vows, he is a very special person living a very special life. He should be treated by everyone, including his own family, as a holy person. He now stands apart from family and former friends. Parents when visiting respect his chosen path and keep family problems from his knowledge. They exclude him from news of marriages, divorces, illness, deaths and other householder events. They should show great interest in what he is learning and speak of high philosophical matters.

A life of discipline is not an easy life, but it is a joyous one, with many soul-satisfying rewards. Monastics follow their rigorous twenty-four-hour protocol even in their dreams. Those who are born to perform this service are to be respected and not distracted by family pulls or the desires of former friends. They should be tested, yes, in their beginning years, to be assured that their commitment is firm, their energies secure and their loyalties well understood. Traditionally, at this time family and friends play an important role by bringing temptations to them and valid reasons why they should renounce renunciation. But when their robes turn to yellow or when in white the rudrāksha beads are worn, their path is clear and a new protocol on both sides must be firmly kept. All relationships have now changed.

The power of brahmacharya makes the monks very magnetic, and the temples they serve in powerful. Monastics are therefore careful to keep their distance and not become involved with devotees who attend the temples. In turn, the cultured devotees keep a respectful distance from the monks—physically, emotionally and psychically, not even thinking of them, let alone psychically pulling on them, even in their dreams. Nothing should happen to distract a monk from his chosen path. This code of nonintervention is even more strict for the monk’s parents, who share in his renunciation of worldly life for the life of selfless service to the Sanātana Dharma.

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NANDINATHA SŪTRA 333: SUPPORTING HINDU PRIESTS AND PANDITS
Śiva’s monastics honor and support the good causes of Hindu lay ministers, priests and pandits of all lineages to create a dynamic solidarity in diversity to carry Sanātana Dharma to each succeeding generation. Aum.

An Order of Renunciates

Sannyāsa is the life, way and traditions of those who have irrevocably renounced duties and obligations of the householder path, including personal property, wealth, ambitions, social position and family ties, in favor of the full-time monastic quest for divine awakening, Self Realization and spiritual upliftment of humanity. Traditionally, and in our order, this dharma is available to men under age twenty-five who meet certain strict qualifications. Some orders are more lenient and accept men into sannyāsa after age twenty-five. The rules pertaining to homeless anchorites are, for obvious reasons, more lenient. Other orders will accept widowers, and a few initiate women, though Hindu custom prefers that women who wish to follow the monastic path take simple vows of brahmacharya and not take sannyāsa.

Women in today’s liberal Hindu orders who do take sannyāsa should wear white. Women donning orange robes is a new, very new, fashion. My perception over the past decades is that this generally does not work out well in the long run. Those women of history who have been recognized and honored as celibate seekers, as great souls, even as gurus, have worn the color white. This was then and is still the order of the day and will be far into the future for many very good esoteric reasons.

The householder naturally comes into the sannyāsa āśrama, stage of withdrawal, at age seventy-two, having lived through life’s three prior stages: student (brahmacharya), householder (gṛihastha) and elder advisor (vāṇaprastha). This fourth stage is a time of turning inward, devoting oneself more fully to worship, introspection, scriptural study and meditation. This step for householder men and women may be ritually acknowledged in a home blessing but is not in any way construed as sannyāsa dīkshā, which is a monastic initiation. While traditions vary, after commencing the fourth stage of life, the elder husband and wife, now as brother and sister, turn more fully to religious pursuits while continuing their associations with the family, though they may seek accommodations that offer more privacy for their meditations and worship.

An elder man whose wife has passed on and whose children are grown may upon reaching age seventy-two take up the mendicant life fully and then diligently pursue his spiritual sādhana in a state of genuine renunciation and not in the midst of his relatives. This is expressed in sūtra 210: “Śiva’s unmarried men and widowers may renounce the world after age seventy-two, severing all ties with their community and living as unordained, self-declared sannyāsins among the holy monks of India.” Sannyāsins who were formerly married are not generally afforded the same respect as sannyāsins who never entered the family dharma.

Though it is sometimes done, it must be noted that it is against dharma for a householder to abandon his wife and children on the pretext of renouncing the world. Becoming a self-declared sannyāsin after age seventy-two is also not traditional, for one who has been divorced and whose former spouse is still living. Marriage is a lifetime commitment, and once taken cannot be rescinded.

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NANDINATHA SŪTRA 332: REMAINING APART FROM THE UNQUALIFIED
Śiva’s monastics restrain their support for sannyāsins in saffron robes who are married, who have personal income, live with birth family, deny or dilute Hinduism, have left their guru or are known philanderers. Aum.