Oswin Hollenbeck, Rev. Master

A significant event in the life story of the Buddha is his renunciation of ‘the world.’ On one level this refers to renouncing his family and kingdom; on another level it means turning away from one’s karmic inheritance and committing oneself to the search for Truth. The catalyst for Shakyamuni was the sight of a mendicant, a wandering renunciate, who was the last of the Four Guardian Kings in disguise. His earlier encounters with the other three ‘divine messengers’—old age, disease, and death—had primed him for this momentous and dramatic meeting. Seeing a renunciate sparked in him the fire-seed of compassion and knowledge that there is a way to resolve the suffering—our own, that of those we love, and by extension that of all beings.

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