QUESTION & ANSWER WITH GURUDEV

POSTED ON: THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2019

Q: What Is Surrender and How to Surrender?

Sri Sri Ravi Shankar:

The Meaning of Surrender

A desire comes into your heart. You don’t know where it comes from, but it comes. And unless and until it gets completed, you are restless. Isn’t this your experience?

What to do then? A desire has already arisen – it may be a silly desire; sometimes, the desire makes no sense. And sometimes, it makes all the sense. But when these desires come to the mind, you are stuck with them. Whether you are sitting, walking, eating, or sleeping, you carry this desire in your heart all the time.

In the beginning, the desire brings a hope, so there is some enthusiasm, some joy, and an expectation. But a little later, that becomes restlessness. And even later, the same thing ferments and becomes pain. At this point, you want to drop it, but you don’t know how to drop it. You read all the philosophical books… this and that, you meditate, and do all the gymnastics and still it doesn’t leave. Even after experiencing pain, it still doesn’t leave, and this is the worst part.

You know that this desire is painful, but you can’t get away from it, and you want to get away from it. Doesn’t this happen? Does this ring a bell? Does what I am saying make sense? Many of you have had this experience!

Here, you forget that there is a loving presence that cares for you, which takes total care of you, like a mother would take care of a baby. Like that, the presence, or consciousness, or a supreme power—call it whatever you like—this consciousness is fully aware and is taking care, like a mid-wife would do at the time of birth. A mid-wife is there, standing and seeing the pain of the mother, helping her in the birthing process. In the same way, a presence is there, and it wants you to learn something.

What is that something? There is a presence – the presence is caring for you, don’t worry. Offer this desire to the Divine. Challenge the Divine – why did you give me this desire in the first place? It is better you take care of it. At that very moment, that pain, or restlessness, or desire transforms into an infinite state of clear awareness, or love. Immense love wells up in you – this is called surrender.

How to Surrender?

Surrender happens spontaneously with the knowledge that you are not in control of anything – not even your thoughts or feelings. You cannot do anything about the thoughts and feeling that come to you. When you realize that you are not in control of your life, but life is governed by some supreme law, then surrender happens.

It is unwise to think that the little mind can do everything in life, or is in control of life. Surrender is a realization that your effort cannot bring forth all that you want in life. The big or great cannot be had by the effort of the small mind. Otherwise it is not great or big. When do you call something a gift? When it is so great that it is beyond your effort.

When you are relaxed, you are in a state of surrender. When you are grateful for all that you have been given in life, then you are in a state of surrender. When you are totally helpless, and you realize your helplessness, then you are in a state of surrender.

You can experience this very well in third-world countries, where things don’t work too well. You don’t know when the electricity will come and when it will go away. You are not sure about water, electricity, buses or trains, or anything. All is left to God.

What I mean is, the more organized your life is, the more of a false idea comes to your mind that you are in control. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take care of things. Take care of things, organize yourself, but at the same time know that you are not in control of anything. Then surrender has happened. And that surrender is unparalleled in this world. It has so much power.

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar