Question
Can a 24 year old renounce the material world and live a life solely dedicated to realization of God through meditation?
Answer
Ramakrishna Paramahamsa says (Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, Chapter 8):
There are three or four varieties of renunciation. Afflicted with miseries at home, one may put on the ochre cloth of a monk; but that renunciation doesn't last long. Again, a man out of work puts on an ochre wearing-cloth and goes off to Benares. After three months he writes home: 'I have found a job here. I shall come home in a few days. Don't worry about me.' Again, a man may have everything he wants. He lacks nothing, yet he does not enjoy his possessions. He weeps for God alone. That is real renunciation.
There is a saying when it comes to renouncing the world - 'Better too late than too soon.' What it means is it is better to renounce later rather than too soon - you don't want to renounce and then discover that you have a deep hankering for some worldly desire, and rather than thinking of God, your heart and mind are filled with unfulfilled desires.
Many monastic orders require new members to spend many years as a brahmachari living with fellow monks before granting final vows so that a person can wrestle with the idea of what true renunciation means. This also allows the mind to adapt itself to the daily regime of being a renunciate.
One suggestion is to go to a math for a month or two and see if you find the life of a renunciate fulfilling.
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