All men are born in delusion. The delusion of separateness. There is no one, not even the world's greatest 'sinner', and that includes a mass murderer, who cannot, in this life now, attain enlightenment. Man is not required to renounce anything but ignorance.

All men, because of 'oneness', are born in a state of grace and will die in a state of grace and there is, in reality, no such thing as spiritual development. There is, however, the development of wisdom, compassion and love.

"Have you realised? That we are punished by our sins, not for them, That if any man be unhappy it is by reason of himself alone. That all that happens happens right. That life, is One, and all its forms are therefore brothers. That there is nothing infinite apart from finite things. That Self is the Lord of self; what other Lord should there be? That enlightenment is a process which is happening now. That compassion is no attribute; it is the Law of Laws. There in only All That Is." SANTANA

It is both sad and glorious that a pop-musician (Santana) has understood what even most preachers fail to grasp. For those of us who still think that self-denial is noble, here is the mystic William Law's understanding:

"The great danger of rules and self-denials is that such disciplines are seldom based on kindness and charity and too few play any real part in our sanctification. "Hence we learn the reason why many people not only lose the benefit, but are even the worse for all their mortifications. It is because they mistake the whole nature and worth of them. They practice them for their own sakes, as things good in themselves; they think them to be real parts of holiness, and so rest in them and look no further, but grow full of self-esteem and self-admiration for their own progress in them. This makes them self-sufficient, morose, severe judges of all those who fall short of their disciplines. And thus their self-denials do only that for them which indulgences do for other people; they withstand and hinder the operation of spirituality, and instead of being self-denials, they strengthen and keep up the kingdom of self."

It is time to surrender form, penance, mortification and self-denial. Obey the natural laws and live freely with joy and a sense of wonder, for you are already that which you seek.