Indeed, in Wagner, supreme power is gained only through the renunciation of love.
The authors use Patrick's story, along with those of the biologists Joshua Lederberg and Matthew Meselson, to sketch the contours of that program from its origins during World War II, through the renunciation of offensive biological warfare by the Nixon administration, to the focus on defense during the last decades of the cold war.
These complications compel some Americans living abroad to cut their ties to the US altogether, according to John Richardson, a Canadian-based lawyer who coaches clients through the renunciation process.
Another subject of "Chi-Raq" is stopping the killing of black people by black people (a "self-inflicted genocide," Father Mike says), not through repressive policing but through the voluntary renunciation of violence and surrendering of guns.
Hinduism had always cultivated a sublimation of the self, aimed at realizing moksha, or liberation, through transcendence and renunciation of the material world, which Hindus saw as illusion.
The artists produced images that subtly explore a wide variety of human situations, from ascetic renunciation through portraits of compassionate Bodhisattvas of otherworldly beauty swaying on the threshold of Enlightenment, through to more earthy scenes of courtly dalliance in long lost ancient Indian pleasure gardens.
It suggested the promise of a beyond that might be attained through life and energy, instead of through death or worldly renunciation.
James understood this fear and saw the potential for transformation "through a passion of renunciation of the self and surrender to the higher power".
But Mr. Thile and Mr. Daves can also play with restraint and delicacy, as they did in "Silver Dagger" and "Bury Me Beneath the Willow," making regret and renunciation shine through.
