Q&A with Swamiji .....259...Challenge facing Westerners

[Guest guest]

Question from Steve:

>From your view, what is the single most significant challenge unique

to Westerners desiring to follow the Eternal Way?

 

Swamiji's response:

The single most significant challenge unique to Westerners is the

concept of surrender. In English, both language and customs,

surrender is what we do after having exhausted all other

possibilities. When we have no other alternatives, no other

options, when our back is against the wall, we raise our hands into

the air and say, "I surrender!"

 

In Sanskrit we surrender when we have complete trust, when we have

total love and respect, when we only want to become the reflection

of the Grace of the Guru. This understanding presents a significant

challenge.

[Guest guest]

Swamiji,

 

This is a most interesting answer. I myself have struggled with this

word: "surrender." It almost seemed like, loss or defeat. Then what

must be intended is, something not on the order of egoic failure, but

exiting the realm of winning and losing and entering another place

altogether.

 

Trust. Yes. How rare this is in the West, where we are forever buying

and selling, or attracting, or negotiating for our favor. At times it

seems, trust is nowhere apparent, until we finally can settle down and

look within ourselves.

 

At times I thought perhaps the word "surrender" was not the correct

translation, although it is so widely used, as the perjorative slant

to it in our secular lives might make for some confusion. When TRUST

is joined to SURRENDER, that reveals some other shades of meaning.

 

The heart wants to say, "I love you, I can give in and trust you, I

surrender."

 

Steve

 

, "chandimaakijai"

<chandimaakijai> wrote:

>

>

> Question from Steve:

> From your view, what is the single most significant challenge unique

> to Westerners desiring to follow the Eternal Way?

>

> Swamiji's response:

> The single most significant challenge unique to Westerners is the

> concept of surrender. In English, both language and customs,

> surrender is what we do after having exhausted all other

> possibilities. When we have no other alternatives, no other

> options, when our back is against the wall, we raise our hands

into

> the air and say, "I surrender!"

>

> In Sanskrit we surrender when we have complete trust, when we have

> total love and respect, when we only want to become the reflection

> of the Grace of the Guru. This understanding presents a significant

> challenge.

[Guest guest]

Yes,

 

I think it has a great deal to do with cultural expectations

surrounding religious values and spirituality. In the East the idea of

becoming divine is ingrained in the cultures of those influenced by

primarily Buddhism and Hinduism, but others too. In the West, I think

the idea of becoming divine has largely disappeared from the common

culture of religion and spirituality, though it is found here and there.

 

If one has a true belief in the reality of spiritual transformation

leading to divinity, I think the idea of surrender, whether to God or

Guru, follows naturally.

 

There are those in the West, of course, who believe in divine

transformation but believe they can transform themselves. To a large

degree, I think these people suffer from a lack of pure examples. If

you have never been exposed to the example of a living saint, or can

discriminate between those spiritual writings written from a position

of personal realization, and those written by dreamers and profit

mongers, there is really no conception of the discipline and real

purity required.

 

Of course, even those of us who recognize the value of surrender

sometimes find it difficult to follow such discipline and purity. It

is hard to surrender if you do not feel yourself up to the task.

 

Chris

 

 

, "chandimaakijai"

<chandimaakijai> wrote:

>

>

> Question from Steve:

> From your view, what is the single most significant challenge unique

> to Westerners desiring to follow the Eternal Way?

>

> Swamiji's response:

> The single most significant challenge unique to Westerners is the

> concept of surrender. In English, both language and customs,

> surrender is what we do after having exhausted all other

> possibilities. When we have no other alternatives, no other

> options, when our back is against the wall, we raise our hands into

> the air and say, "I surrender!"

>

> In Sanskrit we surrender when we have complete trust, when we have

> total love and respect, when we only want to become the reflection

> of the Grace of the Guru. This understanding presents a significant

> challenge.