NTRODUCING THE SONG OF THE SANNYĀSIN IS NOT ALL THAT EASY TO DO, BUT I SHALL GIVE IT A TRY BY FIRST SAYING THAT RENUNCIATION OF THE WORLD IS NOT FOR EVERYONE, BUT IT IS FOR MANY. FOR INSTANCE, IF TWO THIRDS OF THE people on this planet were the spiritual leaders and had nothing on their mind but to spread the dharma of right thought, right speech and right action, would we have a most wonderful world or not? It truly would be a global village, a haven, a wonderland. But during this yuga, it may not be possible because younger souls inhabit the planet in abundance, and their only method of discipline among themselves is with the hatchet, the whip and harsh, insulting words. In this way they accrue much karma to be worked out in another birth. This makes a lot of sense, for if they did not make new karma they would not reincarnate and never become older souls. It is the tragedies, the hurts, the fears, the arguments that remain unresolved, that goad the young souls onward. They learn by their own mistakes, but very slowly, taking the lessons out of their experiences and always blaming on others what has happened to them. This and most of the above is how we come to distinguish an old soul from one in the intermediate grade and those who are unverified. ¶The intermediate souls struggle with their emotions; they hurt themselves more than others. Misunderstanding is not their enemy. It is their teacher of new discoverings. Theirs is the never-ending search. Theirs is the never-ending not being able to reach the end of their search. Unlike the young souls, their desires are well-defined. Unlike the young souls, their intellection has some development, maybe not keen but usable. For them, religion is an acceptable solution. They are not superstitious, meaning believing in what they do not understand, as are the young souls. They must be satisfied with adequate reasons of why, how and what the future holds. The intermediate souls all have to learn not to drag the past through life with them in the form of resentment, unforgivingness through unforgettability. This one lesson and this alone distinguishes them from their older examples. But they do look to the older souls for help and for solace, seeking to hold their hand, lean on their shoulder and share with them some of their experiential burdens. §
Sannyāsa is for the older souls. These forgiving, intelligent beings rely on the memories of their past when they were young souls. They rely on their memories of the past when they were intermediate souls. They rely on their superconscious abilities to look through and see into every situation, happening, of past, present and future. Their test, and their supreme test, is to balance their inner and their outer life. So, they renounce the world, and in their renouncing, the world they renounced renounces them. Their humanness is still there, their striving is still there and their seeking elucidation is still there. But what is not there is the sense of their small self. The sense of the little I-go. The sense of “me and mine” is replaced by “us and ours.” §
Not all old souls are ready for the holy orders of sannyāsa, but some of them are, and these rare few have special qualities. Loyalty to their lineage is one of the most important, and another is love in their will. This means that they do make happenings happen in the external world. They do effect change, but they do not claim reward or recognition. They do not sulk if appreciation is not forthcoming. They move on, ever impelled by their spirituality, that ever-moving force of inspiration that does good rather than harm, that ever-moving spiritual force that quells the external ego and gives credit to others. That rewarding ability to see into the future, prepare for it and to guide others into it is theirs to develop. §
Young souls merge with each other. Intermediate souls merge with projects and learning new things, merging with the mind and the intellect. Older souls, seeking the Self beyond, merge with the Spirit and with things spiritual. For them, a pure and nearly perfect life calls. They intuitively know that the profound merger of jīva in Śiva is no easy task, to be accomplished in a weekend seminar or yoga class. So they go farther, they renounce, they take up the ideals of the four Vedas–not to parrot them, but to live them, just as did the ṛishis of yore. That leads to the path of the renouncer, to the sannyāsin, in the Indian tradition. §
Though you may not formally renounce the world, you can benefit your search immensely by knowing how the great ones live and respond to life. You can find ways in the midst of your life to follow their example. §
Realize that the sannyāsins, the sādhus and the host of nameless mendicants from the traditional orders of Hinduism (there are estimated to be three million) do have built within them the spiritual, social, cultural structure that has survived siege and pestilence within the countries they serve. But most importantly, they have survived the siege of their lower self, the pestilence of their own mind, and risen above to the heights. This book, Merging with Śiva, contains within it the wisdom which, once read and understood, becomes knowledge to make the conquest of all conquests, the victory over the instinctive-intellectual mind and all that it contains. All this and more is summed up so eloquently in the “Song of the Sannyāsin,” a stirring poem by Srila Sri Swami Vivekananda Maharaj (1863-1902), composed in July, 1885, at Thousand Island Park, New York. Live it, just live it, and try to fulfill in your life these high ideals. Proceed with confidence, for merger with Śiva is assured and certain. That’s the way it is, and that is the way it is. Aum.§