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Non-possessiveness - a universal framework
heart, then adopting the vow is just an external charade. It has no meaning and is futile.3
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What a clear vision! One who understands the negative consequences of possessiveness will naturally retreat from it. Even if he is caught in the framework of familial needs, he will always refrain from accumulating unnecessary possessions and will accept his wealth like a bitter pill or a necessary evil.
One must always be watchful of whether the wealth which is still in the possession of the aspirant is riding on the aspirant or whether the aspirant is riding on it. Be it a horse or a vehicle, it is for you to ride upon, not the other way round.
There have been great emperors and kings in India, but when the impulse of renunciation arose in them, they did it instantly. Like a snake which sheds its skin without looking back, they renounced their wealth and adopted monkhood. When they became monks, they kept a few vessels and clothes, but without attachment to these objects. Where there is no attachment, there is no possessiveness.
An ascetic and a layperson, both have needs. It is not as though one wears clothes woven by the gods and the other by a weaver. A cloth is always woven by a weaver, whether it is adorned by an ascetic or a layperson. Then, how is it that the clothes of a layperson are considered objects of his possessiveness and the clothes that belong to an ascetic not so? Food when consumed by a householder is considered as greed and when it is put in a monk's vessel, simple alms?
An ascetic only keeps those objects which are required for his existence as subscribed by the scriptures. He renounces all his possessions through the three channels of body, mind and speech. Therefore, it cannot be said that he operates from a stance of possessiveness. By adopting the vow of non-possessiveness, he has vowed neither to acquire possessions by himself or through others nor to affirm those who indulge in such acts. Therefore, his meagre belongings are not considered as objects
cittentargrantha-gahane bahirnirgranthatā vruthā
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