Wise Words
The Beauty In Surrender
Neelam Nimare
*This articles discusses the questions around the word Surrender on the Spiritual Path. What is Surrender? Whom to Surrender? How to Surrender?* Being on a spiritual path, we so often hear the word Surrender. It immediately triggers the conventional understanding of surrender as meaning giving up something, or stop trying or accepting defeat etc. For a seeker on the spiritual path of Knowledge, it will be worthwhile to know about what is Surrender and what is the beauty of it. Several things have been said about Surrender everywherelike Surrender to the Path, Surrender to the Knowledge, Surrender to the Guru, Surrender to the Self, Surrender to the flow of life or Surrender the Ego. Wow, so many Surrenders! The seeker may think with all this surrendering, will anything of me be left. Well, all these seem different but essentially one. The ignorant mind holds many misconceptions and beliefs about Surrender, like Surrender is losing your will, or obeying an authority, or let go and do nothing or avoid responsibility or action. Let us arrive at what is Surrender. What or whom is the seeker surrendering to? How to surrender? ### Surrender to Self Surrender to the Self means dissolution of individuality into ones true nature, the Self. Surrender is the dissolution of Ego, the sense of a separate identity I, Me or Mine It is the realisation that the Self is not the Person or its identity There is no separate individual. Individual is one with the existence. It is dis identification with the body mind. It is not an act of surrender to an external force but rather realising that the separate Self never truly existed. The individual is illusory and false.Whatever is there is the Existence. Here the seeker surrenders the egoic self to the True Self. Surrender is seeing through the illusion of body mind and realising that I am not this limited person but Pure unlimited Self. When there is realisation that there is no existence of a separate person, It is also realised that there is nobody carrying out the actions. It is letting go of the belief that I am this body mind. There is letting go of the illusion of doership and that I am the actor doing and controlling the actions and their outcomes. There is recognition that all action is just happening. We often believe that we are the doer of the actions. True surrender means realising that all happens spontaneously within the existence and the individual has no real control. This is also commonly said as going with the flow of life. It is recognising that life unfolds perfectly without control. There is no need to struggle. Everything is already happening and there is no one doing it. ### Surrender to the Guru The Path of Knowledge also mentions about Surrender to the Guru. Guru here refers not just the Teacher in human form, but also as a living embodiment of Existence itself. Surrender to the Guru can be in many forms. It may mean the Seekers willingness to Trust the Gurus guidance as mirror reflecting his True Self. So Surrender to the Guru is ultimately surrender to the Self and not just the Person Guru. The Guru is the pointer to your True nature and not an external authority. True Guru is the Self or the inner Guru. The role of the external Guru is to awaken the seeker to this inner Guru. Surrendering to the Guru is also willingness of the seeker to let go the resistance of the Ego to the teachings, even if they challenge his deeply held beliefs. The Guru points to the seekers blind beliefs which are the cause of his ignorance. When ignorance is dismantled, the fundamental cause of suffering is got rid off. Surrendering personal will to Gurus guidance weakens the grip of the ego and paves the way towards the True Self. The Surrender is to the teachings and not the person. Focus on the Gurus message rather than the external form. Gurus grace also helps bypassing intellectual struggles. Here surrendering to the Guru does not mean some kind of blind obedience or slavery. Surrender is conscious, active and with discernment. The seeker retains his critical thinking but trusts the Gurus wisdom. This surrender is rooted in wisdom and not blind faith. Surrender without discernment can be risky. It may lead to exploitation or harmful practices. A True Guru always encourages freedom and not dependency. The goal of surrender should be Self realisation and not over devotion or worshiping the person .Worshipping the Gurus personality instead of teaching reinforces duality. Ultimately, surrender is realisation that there is no You to surrender and there is no Guru to surrender to, both are not two but one. ### Surrendering to the Path or Knowledge Surrender to the path means allowing truth to dissolve the ignorance and egoic resistance. It is not about submission to something external. It is about letting go of false concepts and personal identification. Surrender to path and knowledge means surrendering personal beliefs and conditioned views. The mind holds many conditioned beliefs about itself or world. Surrender to knowledge means letting go these preconceived notions and being fully open to the teachings on the path. Open mindedness is an essential quality required in a seeker on the Path of Knowledge. In Surrender to the Path, there is letting go of conceptual knowledge for Direct experience. Intellect is important and useful in PoK but clinging to intellectual concepts can be a trap. It slows down the progress of the seeker. Surrender to knowledge is also allowing the knowledge to transform you. Many may resist the Truth because it threatens the egos identity. Surrendering means accepting the transformative power of the knowledge even if it dissolves the previously constructed sense of self. Surrendering also means not clinging to the path. Once the Truth is realised, the search must end. Highest surrender to the path is when the seeker and seeking dissolves. The one who wanted to surrender disappears. ### Misconceptions around Surrender Surrender has many misunderstandings around it. These misunderstandings arise from confusing surrender with passivity or blind obedience or resignation rather than seeing it as a conscious act. Surrendering may also be interpreted as authoritarianism. The misconceptions and limiting beliefs in surrender can be like - I should stop trying, or put no effort or accept defeat. I can just let go everything and do nothing.The reality is that True surrender is active trust and not passive resignation. Surrender always aligns effort with wisdom. For example the athlete trains vigorously but surrenders the anxiety about the results. He stays unattached with the winning or losing. Another misconception on Surrendering is erasing individuality. One may think I will lose my identity or free will. It is to be understood that surrender surely dissolves the identity but it is the false identity or the ego and not your True.The True nature or essence cannot be dissolved. It is Unchanging. Like the wave surrenders to the ocean to realise it is the ocean. Some seekers may misunderstand surrender as blind faith in the Guru, like I must obey the authority without question. However, healthy surrender is discernment based. The path of knowledge always requires and encourages critical thinking and balanced scepticism in a seeker. Surrender may be considered as escapism too. The belief can be that I will use surrender to avoid responsibility or difficult emotions. On the contrary, surrender is taking life as it comes. It is experiencing all the challenges and privileges equanimously. There is not a denial or preference of anything. This is a state of Bliss. It is the natural state of being, unaffected by suffering and joy. Surrender can also be mistaken as pessimism. There may be a belief that surrender means accepting mediocre life. In reality, surrender unfolds more creativity and fearlessness. By releasing the control one can tap into higher wisdom. ### Non surrender How to identify if there is surrender on the part of the seeker? Is there something like non surrender? Non surrender means the egos refusal to let go of the false identity, attachment and illusion of control. This resistance becomes a significant obstacle to the progress of the seeker. The ego insists on maintaining the sense of doership that I am the doer,I am the one acting. It fears losing its identity or control. The ego fears surrender as it sees its death. What dies is only the illusion of separation. How to identify if there is non surrender? Non surrender on the path can manifest in many ways. It can lead to intellectual arrogance where the seeker accumulates knowledge and uses it to feed the ego.There is pride in the self proclaimed spiritual progress. An example of this is debating without humility and contemplation. The seeker remains trapped in intellectualization and becomes like a scholar who quotes knowledge but still exhibits the egoic tendencies. The ego uses knowledge as a shield against transformation and leads to spiritual stagnation. ### How can the seeker allow surrender to happen Surrender is not forced. It happens naturally as the seeker progresses on the Path. It is also that the seekers earns through grace. Surrenser happens through the awareness practice. Remain as the witness all thoughts, emotions and actions without attachment. The Ego resists surrender, so discarded all the false identities that created the ego. Once they are gone the egos grip weakens. Through continuous listening, abiding and contemplation, surrender happens. ### What is the beauty of Surrender? Surrender is beautiful as it ends suffering and return to ones natural state.It reveals the blissful state of oneness. There is nothing to fight, nothing to hold on to and nothing to become. There is effortless inner peace, transcendence of struggles and fears. It dissolves anxiety and fosters a sense of being guided or held by grace. Surrender nurtures humility and trust which boost the progress of the seeker. When surrender happens, the noise stops. There is only silence that remains. In this silence, clarity, wisdom and unconditional love arise naturally.
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