Is It Necessary To Renounce (Leave) Society To Experience A Spiritual Lifestyle?

A good meditator is one who has a mental link or union with the  internal self and the Supreme Soul or God who is the source of all  goodness. This, along with an understanding of the laws of action or the  laws of ‘karma’, which govern the behavior of souls, means that one  does not have to renounce or leave society in order to achieve  enlightenment. Rather, the soul filled with spiritual illumination  faces society directly with understanding and the generosity to serve it  and to elevate (improve) it.
The soul becomes elevated not by the renunciation of responsibilities or worldly duties but by a renunciation of the negativity that exists within the role being played by it in society. A good meditator does not try to escape social obligations (duties) but rather purifies those duties by becoming filled with light, love, peace and happiness. The stage of self-awareness and God-communication injects a subtle richness into one's life-patterns.
There are those who believe that the elevated state is beyond society  and its duties. They find a quiet spot in the jungle or an ‘ashram’ and  contemplate (think about) deeper things. There are others who are stuck  in the quicksand of their problems, and believe that those who leave  society and take up a spiritual lifestyle are saints. However, holiness and virtue are qualities attained in one's life situations,  not in running away from them. The elevated state is not merely a  matter of elevated thoughts (which can be experienced in a ‘sanyas’),  but elevated actions also, for the benefit of the self and the world. We  are what we do and not so much what we imagine ourselves to be.   

Source:In Spiritual Service,Brahma Kumaris