Sadhu, Beware! A New Approach to Renunciation

by Kriyananda

This is a fresh, contemporary re-imagination of the meaning and practice of renunciation.Sadhu, Beware! is the training manual for the Ananda monastic order, founded in India,with branches forming across the globe. This groundbreaking book is a completereformulation of the archaic rules of the monasteries of yesteryear, updating them for the 21stcentury and beyond. Whether you are or would like to become a formal renunciate or arealready married with a family, this book is certain to deepen your spiritual life.Topics covered include how to develop humility and transcend the ego the advantages anddisadvantages of formal renunciation how to practice bramacharya simplicity vs. poverty howto deal with money obedience vs. cooperation developing right attitude attunement with yourspiritual teacher, and many more.

Genres: Spirituality

128 pages, Paperback

First published November 28, 2005

About the author

See also: J. Donald Walters

Kriyananda (born James Donald Walters; May 19, 1926, Azuga – April 21, 2013, Assisi) was a direct disciple of the yogi Paramahansa Yogananda, and the founder of the Ananda, a worldwide movement of spiritual intentional communities based on Yogananda's World Brotherhood Colonies ideal. Yogananda made Walters a minister for his organization, Self-Realization Fellowship (SRF).

Reviews

[Brian Erland · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Out Of A Thousand, One Seeks God" ~ Energy, Consciousness And The Joy Of Needing Nothing

`Sadhu, Beware' by Swami Kriyananda (aka: J. Donald Walters) is a beautifully presented, unexpectedly subtle and highly accessible book that I would wholeheartedly recommend to anyone no matter where they may find themselves on the spiritual path. The central focus of this slim, 127 page paperback is renunciation and non-attachment. As we all know, the subject of renunciation is something quite foreign to contemporary American consciousness. In a nation with so many things to busy ourselves with, or so much stuff to accumulate we have come to equate possessions and outward activity as the reason for why we exist.

Thus being the case, Swami Kriyananda has definitely taken on a difficult task to try and convince the modern consumer that there is a better way. He points clearly to the crux of the problem as the battle between individual ego-conscious and infinite Divine consciousness and offers suggestions on how to reach that higher octave.

The author communicates with simplicity, clarity and loving intent, covering such essential topics as:

-Pros and cons between formal & informal renunciation
-The need of balancing the masculine & feminine aspects within
-The important distinctions between poverty and simplicity
-Humility as self-forgetfulness and vehicle to self transcendence
-Obedience vs. dependence
-The sleeping dragon (kundalini) and how to detect unwanted chakra activation
-Developing one's own unique attunement with God
-The three great delusions

For a short book it's certainly filled with a wealth of information that the reader will return to over and over again for spiritual renewal and periodic internal inventory. As Swami Kriyananda so apply points out in quoting from the Bhagavad Gita, "Out of a thousand, one seeks God". Maybe that one is you?

[Tandava Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is an essential manual for anyone seeking to reform their consciousness in order to find God, whether in a formal monastic setting or not. Not for beginners, it assumes an existing level of understanding and commitment, and then just dives right in to the nitty gritty, with advice on humility, obedience, sex, money, attitudes, and more. If ego-transcendence is a project you take seriously, then you should read and re-read this book, constantly checking yourself against all the points, suggestions, and guidelines.