The drive to let go

Notice your breath. Now try not to manipulate it or control it in any way while your attention remains on it.

This inability to surrender control of that which we think should be the easiest thing to let go of (control of the perfectly involuntary and spontaneously orchestrated breath) is in my opinion, the core motivation toward renunciation.

To sell your belongings is easy compared to letting go of control of your breath. It is in fact what you do next when you fail to really surrender.

What if the instruction to control the breath within yoga practice was always an easter egg? Is it possible that the ancients knew, through their attempts, that real surrender was impossible and that the dedicated attempt would illustrate the futility?

Maybe true renunciation is the recognition that the act of renouncing is still a way to try to control.