Surrender

[Guest guest]

Surrender ~ from www.amritapuri.org/teachings/qualities/surrender.php

 

"While God may not be visible to you now, He is always there, guiding

and controlling you, holding the reins of your life. To begin with,

God allows you long reins, and you don't notice that He is actually

in charge. But remember, everything is in God's hands. You are not

aware of it, but as you proceed through life, God is gradually

shortening the reins. Finally, one day you realise that you cannot

move another inch. At that point, when you are utterly helpless, you

will feel God tugging at the reins as He begins to pull you back

toward Him. You may at first put up a struggle, but you will soon

find that the pull is of an unworldly power, and you have no choice

but to surrender to His pull. It is at this point that you begin your

journey back to God, the source of your existence. This journey has

to happen. You will inevitably find that you can't do anything other

than move toward God."

"We must have the attitude of surrender, then He will definitely

protect us. After getting into the boat or bus, you won't still carry

the luggage, will you? You will set it down. Likewise, surrender

everything to God. He will protect us. Have the thought that God is

near you. If there is a resting place nearby, the mere thought that

the luggage you are carrying on your head can soon be unloaded

lightens the burden. The thought that the resting place is still far

away increases the weight. In the same way, when we think that God is

near, all our burdens will diminish."

"Surrender makes you silent. Surrender destroys the ego and helps

you to experience your nothingness and God's omniscience. Once you

know that you are nothing, that you are totally ignorant, then you

have nothing to say. You have only unconditional and undivided faith;

you can only bow down in utmost humility."

"When you surrender to a higher consciousness, you give up all your

claims; you release your grip from everything that you've been

holding on to. Whether you gain or lose, it doesn't matter now. You

don't want to be something any longer. You long to be nothing,

absolutely nothing. So you dive into the River of Existence."

"Amma can say, from Her own experience, that if you surrender

totally to God, He will make sure that you don't lack anything."

"Surrender removes all fear and tension. Surrender leads one to

peace and bliss. Where there is surrender, there is no fear, and vice

versa. Where there is surrender there is love and compassion, whereas

fear results in hatred and enmity. But to surrender one needs a lot

of courage, the courage to give up oneself. It demands a daring

attitude to sacrifice one's ego. Surrender means welcoming and

accepting everything without the least feeling of sorrow or

disappointment."

"The past loses its grip on a person who has surrendered everything

at the feet of the Lord. Such a person glides into a forgetful state

about his entire past, and he starts living in the beautiful present

where he sees only the Lord and His enchanting form. The fearful

dreams about the past completely die in a surrendered soul, and he

will definitely feel God's grace guiding him throughout."

"Life is a mystery. You cannot understand it unless you surrender,

for your intellect cannot grasp its expansive and infinite nature,

its real meaning and fullness. Bow down low and be humble; then you

will know life's meaning."

"If a thread is thick or out of shape, it will not pass through the

eye of the needle. It has to be compressed into a slender shape

before it can pass through. That surrender on the part of the thread

enables it to sew together countless pieces of cloth. Similarly,

surrender is the principle that brings the individual self (jivatman)

to the Supreme Self (Paramatman). All this is within us, but in order

to bring it out, we need to put forth ceaseless effort."

Content comes only when you surrender ~ "Contentment comes only

when you are surrendered, only when you have the attitude of complete

acceptance. It arises only when you can welcome impartially every

experience in life. You can be fully content when you can smile at

and even welcome death. And even if surrender does not happen

immediately, one must at least have the willingness to surrender to

the Supreme will. Only then will one be able to enter into that state

of everlasting contentment. If one develops this attitude of

acceptance, the moment will eventually come when one becomes

eternally content. Do not idle away your time in waiting for

contentment. Nothing will happen. Discontent will prevail in a person

who waits without doing anything. Prepare your mind and try to

develop the willingness to accept and surrender. Try to welcome and

receive both the good and bad. Try to build up an attitude that

allows you to smile even at death. This is the way to contentment."

"Death will snatch away all that we have. This body that we love and

care about so much will not come with us. We cannot take even a

needle with us when we die. Understanding this great truth, take

refuge at the Supreme Lord's feet and be content and happy with

whatever comes to you."

Surrender comes through the realisation of your own helplessness

~ "Children, surrender comes through the realisation of your own

helplessness. The realisation that all that you claim as yours — your

intellect, beauty and charm, your health and wealth — are nothing

before the great and imminent threat of death. Death will snatch

everything away. This realisation wakes you up. You become alert. You

realise that you are laying claim on things that are not really

yours. Therefore, surrender. You can enjoy life's many pleasures, but

you should do so with the awareness that it may all be taken away at

any time. If you live life with this awareness, surrender will

follow."

"It is when you have tried and failed that you are truly able to

surrender. Though you fail time and again, you continue to try until,

finally, there comes a point when you accept your failure; you fully

experience and understand your incapacity to move forward. It is at

that point that you surrender. So keep trying. That ultimate sense of

failure must come to everyone, either today or tomorrow."

"Once the transitory nature of the world is understood, once this

helplessness of the ego is realised, faith arises. Because you know

then that you are nobody and a nothing in life, you realise that you

want help from a supremely powerful being. This clinging to the

Supreme Power leads you to faith and surrender. Proper

discrimination, which springs from proper understanding, will help

you to develop faith and love. Through faith, self-surrender happens,

and through self-surrender one can definitely attain the state of

Self-realization."

Krishna and Arjuna on the battlefield ~ "Only when Arjuna stopped

speaking on the battlefield, did Krishna begin to speak to him. In

the beginning Arjuna had countless misconceived ideas. He talked and

philosophised endlessly. Finally, he was exhausted and felt utterly

helpless. He dropped his weapons to the ground and stood quietly next

to Krishna. His bow and arrows symbolised his ego — the intellect,

the feeling of "I" and "mine," the attitude that "I" can fight and

win. He dropped the ego and stood quietly in a state of utter

despair. His worldly knowledge, his royalty, his strength and skills

as a great warrior couldn't help him now. He had no choice but to

accept his total failure, and having done so, he exposed his sense of

helplessness to Krishna. Only then did the Lord speak, because now

Arjuna was open enough to listen. That silent stillness is the state

of surrender."

Prostration Is a Symbol of Surrender ~ "Prostration is a symbol of

self-surrender. The physical prostration becomes meaningful only when

you surrender your ego at the feet of the Guru or God. When you

prostrate, you are inviting the Guru or God to trample your ego. The

Guru or God will not do that to an ordinary devotee, but they will

ruthlessly do it to a true seeker. If you still fear for your

security and comfort, if you are still after honour, status and

position, the Guru or God will wait. But the day will come when you

will renounce all fear for your worldly security and turn fully

toward the Satguru or God. Until you realise that you are helpless,

that your ego cannot save you, and that all you have acquired is

nothing, God or the Guru will keep on creating the circumstances

necessary to make you realise this truth. When that happens, you

surrender. That is when you cast off all your fear and let the Guru

or God dance on your ego while you lie low at His feet. That is when

you become a true devotee. This is the real meaning of prostration."

Surrender Is the final stage of Evolution ~ "Everybody is being

prepared to reach this final state of dropping all worldly

attachments, all ego. It must happen because that is the final stage

of evolution. You cannot avoid it. Consciously or unconsciously, you

may try to avoid it today, but sooner or later you are going to lose

your grip on everything, possessions, wealth, body, all that you

claim as your own. You think there is infinite time for you to live.

But the awareness is growing each moment, even without your

knowledge. The final destiny for all souls is the dropping away of

every obstruction to peace and contentment. When that moment comes,

the ego is dropped, and you won't struggle any more. You will neither

protest, nor will you even pause to think whether you should let go

or not. You will just bow down and surrender. Deep within, every soul

is waiting for this great letting go to happen. Most people do not

feel this now because their awareness is so low, but that urgency

will come one day."

Surrender and the Guru ~ "The Guru does not want anything from you.

He does not have any personal interest, nor does he have anything to

gain from your surrender. He is ever full and complete. The Guru

knows only how to give, and he goes on giving. The Guru does not need

any of the external things that you might give him. The giving up is

for your inner growth, for your own peace of mind and for your own

bliss. It is for the unfolding of your little self into the big

Self."

"The outer form (of a mahatma, or great soul) is certainly beautiful

and spectacular, and outer association is relatively easy, whereas

inner contact is not that easy. It can be compared to swimming and

diving. Swimming on the surface of the ocean is a pleasant and joyful

experience. But diving can be a far greater experience. It is an

adventure. As you dive in, you are entering an entirely different

world of experience. You are going to explore the unknown and

mysterious realms of the ocean. But it needs a greater effort than

just swimming on the surface. You have to hold your breath and bow

down before the ocean as you go beneath the waters. The swimmer thus

surrenders to the ocean. And when you surrender, the ocean reveals

its hidden treasures to you."