Surrender is a key concept prescribed by all religions. Why? What is so important about it that all religions unanimously discuss it? And how exactly does one surrender? Is it a physical ritual to be done daily or twice a day? Can we do 10% just as we are taught to donate 10% of our earnings/wealth or time in service of the Lord? Let us understand this important concept as this is what bhakti is all about.
The fundamental principle of all religions is that knowledge leads to faith, faith leads to love, and love leads to surrender. This is true for daily, materialistic life and the spiritual life as well. All religions teach us to love God and to the extent we love Him, we surrender. For example, in our daily life, we love our children. When the child wants something that we do not wish for them, we give-in and go along with their wishes. It is no different in the spiritual realm. As explained in verse 18.62 of the Bhagavad Gita, following are the six aspects of surrender:
To desire only in accordance with the desire of God. By Nature, we are his servants, and the duty of a servant is to fulfill the desire of the master. So as surrendered devotees of God, we must make our will conform to the divine will of God. A dry leaf is surrendered to the wind. It does not complain whether the wind lifts it up, takes it forward or backward, or drops it to the ground. Similarly, we too must learn to be happy in the happiness of God.
Not to desire against the desire of God. Whatever we get in life is a result of our past and present karmas. However, the fruits of the karmas do not come by themselves. God notes them and gives the results at the appropriate time. Since God himself dispenses the results, we must lean to serenely accept them. Usually, when people get wealth, fame, pleasure, and luxuries in the world, they forget to thank God. However, if they get suffering, the blame God for it, “Why did God do this to me?” The second aspect of surrender means to not complain about whatever God give us.
To have firm faith that God is protecting us. God is the eternal father. He is taking care of all the living beings in creation. There are trillions of ants on the planet earth, and all of them need to eat regularly. Do you ever find that a few thousand ants in your garden have died of starvation? God ensures that they are all provided for. On the other hand, elephants eat mounds of food every day. God provides for them too. Even a worldly father cares and provides for his children. Why then should we doubt whether our eternal father, God, will take care of us or not? To have firm faith in his protection is the third aspect of surrender.
To maintain an attitude of gratitude toward God. We have received so many priceless gifts from the Lord. The earth that we walk upon, the sunlight with which we see, the air that we breathe, and the water that we drink, are all given to us by God. In fact, it is because of him that we exist; he has brought us to life and imparted consciousness in our soul. We are not paying him any tax in return, but we must at least feel deeply indebted for all that he has given to us. This is the sentiment of gratitude.The reverse of this is the sentiment of ungratefulness. For example, a father does so much for his child. The child is told to be grateful to his father for this. But the child responds, “Why should I be grateful? His father took care of him and he is taking care of me.” This is ingratitude toward the worldly father. To be grateful toward God, our eternal Father, for all that he has given to us, is the fourth aspect of surrender.
To see everything we possess as belonging to God. God created this entire world; it existed even before we were born, and will continue to exist even after we die. Hence, the true owner of everything is God alone. When we think something belongs to us, we forget the proprietorship of God. Let us say that someone comes into your house when you are not at home. He wears your clothes, takes things out of your refrigerator, eats them, and sleeps on your bed. On returning, you ask indignantly, “What have you been doing in my house?” He says, “I have not damaged anything. I have merely used everything properly. Why are you getting annoyed?” You reply, “You may not have destroyed anything, but it all belongs to me. If you use it without my permission, you are a thief.” Similarly, this world and everything in it belongs to God. To remember this and give up our sense of proprietorship is the fifth aspect of surrender.
To give up the pride of having surrendered. If we become proud of the good deeds that we have done, the pride dirties our heart and undoes the good we have done. That is why it is important to keep an attitude of humbleness: “If I was able to do some good, it was only because God inspired my intellect in the right direction. Left to myself, I would never have been able to do it.” To keep such an attitude of humility is the sixth aspect of surrender.
In order to surrender, we must be vigilant and constantly assess if we are violating any of the above principles. We should view all our thoughts and actions from the lens of these six principles. In doing so, we come to learn that surrender is a state of consciousness, an all-or-nothing state because either we are surrendered or we are not. There is no 10% or 90% or 99% surrender. Furthermore, it is not a physical ritual rather it is an attitude or a thought process we choose to adopt. With a new year coming up and a time for new beginnings, let’s choose to adopt a new attitude as well!
