Renunciation: –

Renunciation is not about depriving ourselves of that which brings us joy and happiness – that would be absurd; it is about abandoning what causes us the inexhaustible and relentless distress. It is about having the courage to rid us of the dependency on the root causes of suffering. To do this we first have to identify and recognize these causes and then become mindful of them in our daily life. Renunciation involves simplifying our acts, our speech and our thoughts to rid ourselves of the superfluous.

Being free also means being able to follow the path of inner transformation. To achieve that, we have to overcome not only external adversity but also our inner most enemies. Like laziness, lack of focus, and the habits that constantly distract us from or differ spiritual practice.

Nature and Nurture: –

Are we born with varying genetic predisposition to happiness or unhappiness?

How do our upbringing and our life experiences favor or undermine our subjective well-being?

To what extent is it possible to modify our personality traits and generate a lasting sense of satisfaction?

What mental factors contribute to that transformation?

Many researches and studies have answered above questions in following three ways.

1. About 25 percent of our potential for happiness appears to be deter- mined by Genes. Yet genes act more like a blue print that can be ap- plied or ignored depending upon circumstances.

2. Outward conditions and other general factors, such as wealth, educa- tion, social status, hobbies, sex, age, ethnicity and so on have circum- stantial influence, but account altogether for no more than 10 to 15 percent of the variable satisfaction quotient.

3. We can exert considerable influence on our experience of happiness and unhappiness through the way we live and think. How we perceive our life’s events, and how we react to them.