Achieving Renunciation

In my last post I wrote about the elements of Richard Wagner's opera Tristan und Isolde that embody a major tenet of Buddhism, namely, the lovers' realization that, paradoxically, they can find no peace until they renounce their desires and flee into the next world. Another opera, Werther, by Jules Massenet, based upon the novel by Wolfgang von Goethe, The Sorrows of Young Werther, demonstrates a similar theme. Werther, the protagonist, finds himself hopelessly in love with Charlotte, a married woman. Although he strives to rid himself of his desire for her, he finds that he is unable to do so (as she likewise fails to do for him), and ultimately seeks to rid himself of desire through death.

It is interesting to note that both Tristan, Isolde and Werther all see death as almost a sort of refuge--a place where unwanted desires will cease to torment them and where they will find a deep peace born of void and oblivion. In each story, the sufferers seem to view death as a comfort and perhaps even a friend. Sadly, it was noted that in the aftermath of Goethe's publication of Werther in 1774 (written at the ripe age of twenty-four!), there was a rash of suicides in Europe, committed primarily by young men, as readers saw too much of themselves and their personal realities reflected in the novel.

Buddhism, a philosophy that increasing numbers of us have come to respect as a source of inner peace, personal fulfillment and a means of learning to respect and value others, in no way would condone the choice made by these fictional characters (whose depth of pathos have imbued them with a certain reality, like all memorable characters in great fictional works). Rather, I think, Buddhism would encourage each of us to go within and seek renunciation and release from desire through meditation and self analysis. Anyone who has studied Buddhism in more than a purely superficial examination, understands that it is perhaps the most life-affirming philosophy and way of life on our planet. Increasingly, many Christian theologians are beginning to wonder if Jesus may have had some contact with the teachings of Buddhism.

Buddhism does teach that the renunciation of desires is the means to the ending of suffering, but renunciation is not achieved simply through denial, but through the gradual process of coming to realize that, just maybe, what we think we want is sometimes not what we really want. Renunciation must be voluntary and joyfully accepted to be real.

By the way, did anyone notice that the title of this post is something of an oxymoron?

Thanks,
Gary