“Once you inculcate the attitude of TOTAL SURRENDER, no other special discipline is necessary as this attitude itself is the culmination of all religious practice.”
–Shree Gajanan Maharaj; 1986 in Akkalkot, India.
The word surrender is on the lips and minds of more of us, more often these days. This is especially true where I sit at Ecovillage Bhrugu Aranya in POLAND, about a two-hour drive from the Ukranian border.
For years, adherents or followers of Fivefold Path read and meditated on the concept of TOTAL SURRENDER, which recently morphed into RADICAL SURRENDER.
Our free will being a form of baggage or blessing—depending on how we look at it– on first glance, surrender seems counterintuitive to free will. Which is it, wave a white flag or fight on or be complicit or just what?
The dictionary defines surrender in several ways. The one I think is most relevant here is: “to give (oneself) over to something (such as an influence).”
May I suggest that spiritual seekers, Light Workers, and those conscious of being children of God, are, in essence, surrendering their “stinking egos”—as Shree Vasant called them in the 1970s– to the influence of Higher Self, Higher Power, God.
So as in a war, one side SURRENDERS totally or radically thus giving up aspects of freedom in exchange for cessation of hostilities.
From freedom of outgoing mind tendencies, to relief from alluring hormonal influences, to more of a semblance of balance among (lower) emotions and spirit, between right brain and the other side, between right and wrong, between evil behaviour of some of our brothers and sisters and world leaders with integrity and conscience– and others seemingly at the mercy of their debased minds and spirit,
I want the freedom to return to my Father in heaven while still loving and respecting my mother on earth, to quash or at least greatly calm my less than optimal behaviour, to be an instrument of the Divine which is infinitely different than being a slave to my mundane thoughts, feelings, actions and ego.
May I suggest that spiritual seekers, Light Workers, and those conscious of being children of God, are, in essence, surrendering their “stinking egos”—as Shree Vasant called them in the 1970s– to the influence of Higher Self, Higher Power, God.
So as in a war, one side SURRENDERS totally or radically thus giving up aspects of freedom in exchange for cessation of hostilities.
From freedom of outgoing mind tendencies, to relief from alluring hormonal influences, to more of a semblance of balance among (lower) emotions and spirit, between right brain and the other side, between right and wrong, between evil behaviour of some of our brothers and sisters and world leaders with integrity and conscience– and others seemingly at the mercy of their debased minds and spirit,
I want the freedom to return to my Father in heaven while still loving and respecting my mother on earth, to quash or at least greatly calm my less than optimal behaviour, to be an instrument of the Divine which is infinitely different than being a slave to my mundane thoughts, feelings, actions and ego.
In short, I want peace and serenity, In return, I shall attempt SURRENDER—radically and totally.
Fortunately, we have been given some tools with which we may make inroads–improve–on our quest to surrender,
In short, each of the five steps of the Fivefold Path provides great opportunities to make progress towards “Love thy neighbour as thyself,’ surely an important aspect of surrender.
Step 1–YAJNYA
The purification fires we do–sunrise/sunset Agnihotra being the core fire–help not only the environment but as well, we humans whose minds need assistance (especially in today’s world) to react with Love in all circumstances.
Step 2–DAAN
Sharing our assets in a spirit of humility. Doing so greatly helps reducing our attachment to objects–including the land of neighbouring countries.
Step 3–TAPA
Self-discipline done with the cooperation of our minds to help us reduce impediments to our goal including, anger, greed, jealousy, lust, pride and greed. Hmmm….
Step 4–KARMA
An inviolable law of the universe–what goes around, comes around–that if followed by world leaders as well as those they lead, would yield peace, love and harmony–hardly the stuff of today’s headlines.
Step 5–SWADHYAYA
Self-study or self-development which, among other things, would help us love ‘thyself.’
Despite or notwithstanding past karmic attachments and old impressions on the mind (samskaras), we can start from this moment to improve. What else can we do? What else is there to do?
