Two Paths to Joy
When Gandhi was asked, “In three words, what is your philosophy of life?” he replied, “Renounce and enjoy.” This quote speaks to the wisdom of non-attachment, to seeing through the illusion of a separate doer acting and reacting in a separate world. The renunciation is not of the world itself, but of egoic attachments.
A similar nondual invitation is to “welcome and enjoy,” which implies a level of nonresistance to all that unfolds. If reality is a singular, indivisible consciousness, and everything is an expression of one awareness, one being, then there can be nothing separate from awareness. “Welcome and enjoy” offers more than letting go of attachments; it signifies a radical acceptance as well as an engagement with experience. This kind of acceptance is not passive; it comes from a place of openness. Being open does not mean that we say “yes” to everything, but rather that our actions arise from an open heart rather than a closed heart. So even if we say “no” to a situation, the response comes from a place of wisdom.
The enjoyment here is not contingent upon specific conditions being met. It is simply the joy of being, acting while resting in a growing sense of clarity, contentment, and peace.
While both perspectives may lead to relief from psychological suffering, the distinction lies in their emphasis. “Renounce and enjoy” implies a conscious act of stepping back from identification with egoic impulses and attachments in order to become inwardly free, and this is a valid step for those entangled in the illusion of separation. “Welcome and enjoy,” however, is not about detachment from life as much as it is about engagement with life, as life. To welcome is to remain open to that which unfolds, recognizing that there is no separate entity doing the welcoming, only aware presence unfolding within itself as the welcoming. To welcome and enjoy signifies an acceptance that transcends even the concept of renunciation, because fundamentally there is no separate thing to renounce. The enjoyment, then, arises not from the desire to be free of an egoic grip, but from realizing that egoic grips and their release have a role to play in the unfolding reality.