What does it really mean to truly surrender? If your ego was to answer that inquiry it would say to give up or give in, a sign of character weakness. Of course the ego would say this. It cannot imagine any awareness outside of itself. If your Spirit were to answer it would say to surrender is to release and let go into an intelligence larger than your personal self. True surrender has nothing to do with weakness and everything to do with courage and faith. A willingness to let go of your impulses to control everything you experience which is a grandest of illusions and grow past your egoic limitations.
The biggest challenge to surrendering to what is , is our own resistance. Our personal patterns of believing if we 'resist' a feeling, a thought , an experience, we fool ourselves into thinking that experience is held at bay away from us. How do we commonly resist? By blaming, judging, through sorrow or indignant outrage. These are all patterns of ego to actually control NOT FEELING things as they are. Ever noticed how some peace protesters carry more anger and division than the object of their protests? The ego loves slogans like " don't worry, be happy!" as if that could replace genuinely experiencing what you are truly feeling in any given moment ! Nothing could be further from the truth.
When you resist anything, it persists and gains momentum increasing our level of suffering. Yes, thats how it works . We increase our suffering by resisting what we feel . This habit or belief causes our suffering. The Buddha taught that the path to liberation and joy is through suffering. Suffering in this view is believing in your ego as a separate self. Separate from unity consciousness. The radical discovery Gautama Buddha realized is that THERE IS NO SEPARATE SELF! If your ego is pushing back on this right now, thats to be expected. Once you understand the terrain or operating system known as your ego, you begin to discern that the ego is not who you are but more like who you think you are. The gap between those two perceptions is defined as the spiritual path.
Our egos project thoughts, patterns and conditions through personalities that masquerade as a separate self. The only way to truly discover your True Self is to relinquish all attempts from your ego to control or resist experiencing what is. Resistance to experiencing things exactly as they are is just a way of saying' NO' to life as it is unfolding moment to moment. The illusion of a separate self is perpetuated by this habit of the mind. Adyashanti, a contemporary western, realized spiritual teacher states this limited condition of the ego is like looking into the vastness of the universe with a pin prick size flashlight and believing thats all there is.
To surrender is to let go into a deeper truth beyond the limits of your constructed ego. It takes a lot of courage to deeply let go as Lord Buddha did . To sit down under the Bodhi tree and declare that is where he would be until he awakened from the illusory world of Maya (ego). He and many other enlightened beings let go and surrendered into the awareness beyond ego. They did not do this by struggling, fighting or resisting. They did this by non-doing, allowing and surrendering. This is not to say that non-doing, allowing and surrendering and being present to what is, is easy. Your ego will battle you every step of the way !If we hold the tapas discipline of our practice, inspired by the awakened beings that show us the way, the unsustainable structure of the ego gradually begins to deconstruct, as we are no longer feeding it with our attention and beliefs. When the ego is purified from self identification, you open to Self Realization as pure consciousness beyond form. The ego will still be with us as a useful support to move our consciousness within this human life, but it will no longer hold us in a trance of believing we are our egos.
The biggest challenge to surrendering to what is , is our own resistance. Our personal patterns of believing if we 'resist' a feeling, a thought , an experience, we fool ourselves into thinking that experience is held at bay away from us. How do we commonly resist? By blaming, judging, through sorrow or indignant outrage. These are all patterns of ego to actually control NOT FEELING things as they are. Ever noticed how some peace protesters carry more anger and division than the object of their protests? The ego loves slogans like " don't worry, be happy!" as if that could replace genuinely experiencing what you are truly feeling in any given moment ! Nothing could be further from the truth.
When you resist anything, it persists and gains momentum increasing our level of suffering. Yes, thats how it works . We increase our suffering by resisting what we feel . This habit or belief causes our suffering. The Buddha taught that the path to liberation and joy is through suffering. Suffering in this view is believing in your ego as a separate self. Separate from unity consciousness. The radical discovery Gautama Buddha realized is that THERE IS NO SEPARATE SELF! If your ego is pushing back on this right now, thats to be expected. Once you understand the terrain or operating system known as your ego, you begin to discern that the ego is not who you are but more like who you think you are. The gap between those two perceptions is defined as the spiritual path.
Our egos project thoughts, patterns and conditions through personalities that masquerade as a separate self. The only way to truly discover your True Self is to relinquish all attempts from your ego to control or resist experiencing what is. Resistance to experiencing things exactly as they are is just a way of saying' NO' to life as it is unfolding moment to moment. The illusion of a separate self is perpetuated by this habit of the mind. Adyashanti, a contemporary western, realized spiritual teacher states this limited condition of the ego is like looking into the vastness of the universe with a pin prick size flashlight and believing thats all there is.
To surrender is to let go into a deeper truth beyond the limits of your constructed ego. It takes a lot of courage to deeply let go as Lord Buddha did . To sit down under the Bodhi tree and declare that is where he would be until he awakened from the illusory world of Maya (ego). He and many other enlightened beings let go and surrendered into the awareness beyond ego. They did not do this by struggling, fighting or resisting. They did this by non-doing, allowing and surrendering. This is not to say that non-doing, allowing and surrendering and being present to what is, is easy. Your ego will battle you every step of the way !If we hold the tapas discipline of our practice, inspired by the awakened beings that show us the way, the unsustainable structure of the ego gradually begins to deconstruct, as we are no longer feeding it with our attention and beliefs. When the ego is purified from self identification, you open to Self Realization as pure consciousness beyond form. The ego will still be with us as a useful support to move our consciousness within this human life, but it will no longer hold us in a trance of believing we are our egos.
The practice of surrender is a deeply courageous path to take that will return you to your True Self. Its a practice of honoring the wisdom of the spiritual heart over the thinking head. Practice being present to what is happening moment to moment without grasping for pleasure or resisting pain. Be present and feel what is here right now, just as it is without editing or story telling. Include everything especially the thoughts, memories, feelings and conditions that scare you. . Nothing excluded. This is the path to awakening . Challenge yourself to be present today. You will get a glimpse of what living is really about.
" A weak person cannot surrender. When you let go of all tension, fear, anxiety, and small mindedness, what dawns in you is freedom, real joy, real love . That is surrender!" Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Namaste and Blessings for a day of surrender!
" A weak person cannot surrender. When you let go of all tension, fear, anxiety, and small mindedness, what dawns in you is freedom, real joy, real love . That is surrender!" Sri Sri Ravi Shankar
Namaste and Blessings for a day of surrender!
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