Today, let us understand the concept of Sharanagati: Surrender to God. Does surrender to God mean simply keeping quiet? No, it does not mean being passive. It means, you accept everything as God’s prasad with complete awareness. You are aware that God knows what to give you and how to give it. You are aware that there is a divine purpose behind everything. Hence, you are not being passive, but lively, alert and always open to learning. When any situation confronts you, don’t indulge in knee jerk reactions. Receive it calmly as God’s prasad (Grace). This is what all the scriptures and the Mahatmas—or Enlightened Beings—tell us. For instance, when somebody calls you a fool, how will you react? Angrily or calmly? (Jesus Christ told his disciples, “If someone slaps you on one cheek, show them the other.”
This means that one never loses one’s equilibrium. When the mind is unperturbed, it sees the solution that is always hidden in the problem itself. It is to demonstrate this to people that Mahatmas or Enlightened Beings are confronted by trying circumstances. The best gift that we can give to God is total surrender. Unfortunately, very few are willing to offer this gift to Him.”
But seekers often wonder whether they have the great mental strength that surrender requires! I always assure them, “You are assuming that you don’t have that much strength. How do you know whether you are weak or strong? You will never know your own strength till life tests you. At this very moment someone may be saying good things about you or abusing you somewhere. You are not aware of this, so it doesn’t affect you. When you hear of it later, a negative statement made by somebody many days ago will give you pain. It may spoil your peace of mind for days together. And yet that sentence was uttered by that person only once! Why do you recall it again and again? Why are you so obsessed with it ? Why are you so unwilling to let go of the past? A mind that clings tenaciously to the past is a weak mind. A person with a strong and stable mind may feel bad for a few moments when he hears something negative. However, he quickly forgets all about it and moves on. Nothing can perturb him for long.
Ask yourself, if I scold you today, will you brood over it till the next time we meet? Watch how your mind responds to such situations and you will know its strength. Realise the power of your Soul with the act of surrender. Don’t think. Just Surrender.
ashram-india@shrinimishamba.org